• Air France Tile
    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

It has taken a decade, but Air France will resume Paris CDG to Newark this winter. Of course, it's not this straightforward. Yes, Air France stopped the route in March 2012, having opened it 16 years earlier, according to Department of Transportation figures. But it was taken up by fellow SkyTeam member Delta Air Lines from June 2013 to October 2018. Now it's coming back.

What's happening?

On December 12th, Air France will recommence Paris CDG to Newark after a nearly 11-year absence. Its launch in the festive month means it'll cater to the higher Christmas demand. Running 1x daily, Newark will see three-class B777-200ERs. The route is scheduled as follows, with all times local:

  • Paris CDG to Newark: AF62, 12:30-15:00 (block time of 8h 30m)
  • Newark to Paris CDG: AF63, 17:05-06:05+1 (7h)

Analyzing schedules shows that the 12:30 departure time from CDG falls just before Air France's peak period for North America flights, normally with seven winter flights leaving between 13:00 and 13:30. (SkyTeam's peak is between 10:00 and 10:40, with up to 14.)

Air France Paris CDG to Newark
Flights begin on December 12th. Image: GCMap.

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SkyTeam: 10x daily NYC flights

The return of Newark means that Air France and Delta will together have 10x daily flights from Paris to Greater New York. That's the highest amount ever and a huge number for wintertime.

When non-SkyTeam airlines are included, there will be up to 15x daily (not quite hitting the previous record of 17x), as summarized below. Note that new entrant Norse Atlantic has expressed a keenness to launch Paris, although it hasn't yet announced further details.

  1. United: Newark-CDG, 1x daily (down from 2x daily in summer); exclusively B787-10 from December
  2. American: JFK-CDG, 1x daily; B777-200ER
  3. French bee: Orly-Newark, up to 5x weekly; A350-900
  4. La Compagnie: Orly-Newark, up to 2x daily; all-business A321LRs
Air France Boeing 777 Vincenzo
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

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Here are the 10x daily

Based on the week starting December 12th, SkyTeam's flights from France are organized as follows:

  1. Air France: AF22, CDG-JFK, 08:00-10:40; B777-200ER
  2. Delta: DL263, CDG-JFK, 10:20-12:50; A330-300
  3. Air France: AF14, CDG-JFK, 11:20-14:00; B777-300ER
  4. Air France: AF62, CDG-Newark, 12:30-15:00; B777-200ER
  5. Delta: DL265, CDG-JFK, 13:20-15:50; A330-300
  6. Air France: AF32, Orly-JFK, 14:15-16:55; B777-200ER
  7. Air France: AF6, CDG-JFK, 14:20-17:00; B777-300ER
  8. Air France: AF10, CDG-JFK, 15:40-18:20; B777-300ER
  9. Air France: AF16, CDG-JFK, 18:30-20:45; B777-300ER
  10. Air France: AF8, CDG-JFK, 19:20-21:55; B777-200ER
Delta on Newark-Paris CDG
This looks at the June 2013-October 2018 period when Delta served the route. You can see how winter demand was often far lower than summer, but that seat load factor was often pretty poor due to excessive capacity – and not just in winter. Reducing winter frequency and changing to the B757-200ER helped with the seasonal changes, as can clearly be seen on the right. Source of data: Department of Transportation.

A look at Delta's CDG-Newark

Delta replaced Air France on the 3,649-mile (5,872km) airport pair. The US carrier launched service in March 2013, and it ran for 65 months, ending in October 2018. It was mainly 1x daily by the B767-300ER, but flights reduced in the depths of winter. Towards the end, the B757-200ER replaced the widebody in winter, helping to increase seat load factors and improve yields. But clearly, it wasn't enough.

Department of Transport figures show Delta carried 582,390 passengers between Newark and Paris. It had 691,745 seats for sale, achieving an average seat load factor of 84.2%. As you'd expect, some summer months saw 90%+.

What do you make of Air France's return to Newark? Let us know in the comments.