Air France has announced it will expand its regional network to the Caribbean by launching a new international milk run route between Point-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, Cayenne, and finally, Belém, in Brazil. This new service will allow customers from Guadeloupe and Martinique to travel to Brazil without having to make a connection.

Air France’s newest milk run route

This week, Air France announced a new international route connecting Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana with the largest country in South America, Brazil, in a direct service.

This new route will be introduced on May 5th, 2023. The carrier will employ an Airbus A320 based in Pointe-à-Pitre for this service. The flight will take off from Pointe-à-Pitre and fly to Fort-de-France, Cayenne, and then Belém. Air France’s Airbus A320 is equipped with a capacity of 168 seats (12 in Business, 156 in Economy) and offers onboard WiFi.

The new flight will be operated on Fridays. Service AF602 will leave Cayenne at 15:40, arriving in Belém at 17:15, the airline said. AF603 will leave Belém at 09:35 the next day, arriving in Cayenne at 11:10. Bookings are already open.

In theory, passengers flying to Belém with Air France could connect further through the airline’s codeshare agreement with GOL Linhas Aéreas. The Brazilian carrier operates eight routes from Belém, flying to these destinations: Brasilia, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Manaus, Macapa, Paramaribo, and Santarem. Nonetheless, Air France did not officially announce the new route would be added to the codeshare agreement with GOL.

Belém is the capital city of the state of Pará, located at the mouth of the Amazon and near the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second most populous city in northern Brazil.

A deep look at Air France’s capacity and routes in the Caribbean

The French carrier operates 96 weekly flights departing from the French overseas departments in the Caribbean and South America, according to data from Cirium. The airline operates two routes departing from Cayenne in French Guiana. One goes to Fort-de-France, with nine weekly flights, and the other to Paris Orly, with seven weekly flights.

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Air France also flies four routes from Fort-de-France, going to Cayenne (nine weekly flights), Paris Charles de Gaulle (seven), Paris Orly (six), and Pointe-à-Pitre (nine). The airline also offers five routes from Pointe-à-Pitre, flying to Paris Charles de Gaulle (seven), Fort-de-France (nine), Miami (two), Paris Orly (seven), and Montreal (two). Finally, Air France also flies ten weekly services from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Saint Martin, the Caribbean island divided between the Netherlands and France, and administrated as an overseas collectivity.

The airline operates three additional routes to the Caribbean, but these routes do not pass through any of France’s overseas departments or collectivities. Instead, they connect Charles de Gaulle with Havana, Punta Cana, and Santo Domingo.

As of March 30, 2023, Air France will also adapt the schedule of its Pointe-à-Pitre-Miami route to allow customers from Fort-de-France and Cayenne to travel to Florida. There will be two weekly flights, also on an Airbus A320 with 168 seats.

What do you think about this new route? Let us know in the comments below.

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  Air France

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  AF/AFR

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

  Year Founded:

  1933

  Alliance:

  SkyTeam

  Airline Group:

  Air France-KLM

  CEO:

  Anne Rigail

  Country:

  France

  Region:

  Europe