Air France is the third-largest European airline by flights between Europe and North America this winter, beaten only by British Airways and Lufthansa. But unlike them, Air France's winter services have grown strongly versus the pre-pandemic. It's from the reintroduction of Paris CDG to Newark, from Dallas Fort Worth being served in the off-season for the first time, and big growth to JFK, Los Angeles, and Miami.
A record-breaking winter
Air France has 3,541 departing flights from France to the US and Canada between October 30th and March 25th, OAG data shows. That's 22% more than it had in winter 2019 and its highest volume ever.
As the figure below indicates, it is overwhelmingly from growth to the US (seasonal flights are up by 601 or 25%), although Canada has risen too (up by 29 flights; 6%). Note: figures don't include fellow SkyTeam partner Delta.
Across all airlines between Europe and North America, winter services are down by -0.18%. Indeed, analyzing schedules information on September 20th shows that only half of the top 10 airlines have grown. With 630 additional flights, Air France's growth is behind only Turkish Airlines (+733).
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Five routes stand out
Five things drive the growth. Firstly, the resumption of Paris CDG to Newark, back after last being served by the SkyTeam airline in March 2012. It was taken over by Delta, which operated it between June 2013 and October 2018. From December 12th, in time for Christmas, Air France will run 1x daily using B777-200ERs.
Secondly, CDG to Dallas Fort Worth will no longer be summer-seasonal. The route, launched in March 2019, will run throughout the winter with 3x weekly flights. Lower than the 5x weekly in summer, yes, but an important next step. It'll use both 280- and 312-seat B777-200ERs.
Then there's CDG to New York JFK, which jumped from 4x daily in pre-pandemic winter 2019 to 6x daily this winter, a continuation of its summer 2022 frequency. Los Angeles joins it at a median of 3x daily (up from 2x) and Miami at a median of 2x daily (up from 1x).
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18 routes to North America
Air France has 18 nonstop routes to North America this winter: 15 to the US and three to Canada. These include four roundtrips to Las Vegas in January for the electronics show and two roundtrips to New Orleans in December. The 18 are as follows, organized below by total flights.
Air France's new, three-class, 369-seat B777-300ERs are scheduled to JFK (1x daily; AF8/AF9) and Vancouver (just three times; Nov. 13th/20th/27th).
Air France: Paris CDG to... |
Total winter departures |
Winter departures |
Aircraft (ordered by flights) |
---|---|---|---|
New York JFK |
873 |
6x daily |
B777-300ER, A350-900, B777-200ER |
Los Angeles |
399 |
2x to 3x daily (mainly 3x) |
B777-300ER, B777-200ER |
Miami |
306 |
2x to 3x daily (mainly 2x) |
B777-200ER, B777-300ER |
Montréal |
304 |
1x to 3x daily (mainly 2x) |
A350-900, B787-9, B777-200ER |
Atlanta |
294 |
2x daily |
A350-900, B777-200ER |
Washington Dulles |
207 |
1x to 2x daily |
B777-300ER, B777-200ER, A350-900 |
Boston |
147 |
1x daily |
B787-9, B777-200ER |
Houston |
147 |
1x daily |
B787-9, A350-900 |
Chicago |
147 |
1x daily |
A350-900, B787-9 |
San Francisco |
147 |
1x daily |
B777-300ER |
Toronto |
142 |
6x weekly to 1x daily |
A350-900 |
Detroit |
132 |
5x weekly to 1x daily |
B777-200ER |
Newark (from December 12th) |
102 |
1x daily |
B777-200ER |
Seattle |
63 |
3x weekly |
A350-900, B777-200ER, B787-9 |
Vancouver |
63 |
3x weekly |
B787-9, B777-200ER, B777-300ER |
Dallas |
62 |
3x weekly |
B777-200ER |
Las Vegas |
4 |
Out on Jan. 3rd/4th/7th/8th |
B777-300ER |
New Orleans |
2 |
Out on Dec. 8th/13th |
B777-300ER |
Where else would you like Air France itself to serve in North America in winter? Let us know in the comments.