Summary
- Air France will have more US flights and routes than ever this summer.
- Its network has seen one new destination added annually since 2021, with Phoenix coming this year.
- However, the carrier no longer serves Philadelphia, Orlando, or Cincinnati.
Air France's next US route will be Paris CDG to Phoenix. Set to begin in May, the service will run three times weekly year-round using the Boeing 787-9. It will be one of 17 US airports served by the SkyTeam carrier. Booking data shows that the Arizona airport was CDG's third-largest unserved US market in the past year, after Orlando and Las Vegas.
Other destinations have joined Air France's network since 2021:
- Raleigh Durham in October 2023 (which replaced Delta)
- Newark in December 2022 (last served in 2012)
- Denver in July 2021
Given this one-route-per-year expansion, Phoenix might be it for 2024.
A record number of flights
Examining Air France's schedule for July 2024 based on data as of January 27th shows that the airline will have 203 weekly departing flights from its Paris CDG hub to the US. (This excludes partner and fellow SkyTeam member Delta.) As always, data is accurate at the time of publication, with plans always subject to change.
Frequencies to American destinations will be at a record high this year. Scheduled flights are up from 178 weekly (+14%) in July 2023 and from 'just' 148 weekly in 2019 (+37%). This means that Air France will now have an average of 29 daily services each way, but as many as 30.
Air France's US network: July
The carrier's CDG routes in July are detailed below, although you will not see Las Vegas listed. This is because it has never been a regular part of Air France's network: it has only been served very briefly for the enormous Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
- New York JFK: six daily; 777-300ER (three daily), A350-900 (two), 777-200ER (one)
- Los Angeles: three to four daily; 777-300ER (three), A350-900 (up to one)
- Atlanta: two to three daily; 777-200ER (one), 787-9 (one), A350-900 (up to one)
- Boston: double daily; A350-900
- San Francisco: double daily; 777-300ER (one), A350-900 (one)
- Washington Dulles: double daily; 777-300ER (one), A350-900 (one)
- Miami: one to two daily; 777-300ER (one), A350-900 (up to one)
- Chicago O'Hare: daily; A350-900
- Dallas Fort Worth: daily; 787-9
- Detroit: daily; A350-900
- Houston Intercontinental: daily; A350-900
- Minneapolis: daily; 787-9
- Newark: daily; A350-900
- Raleigh Durham: daily; A350-900
- Seattle: daily; 787-9
- Denver: four weekly; 787-9
- Phoenix: three weekly; 787-9
Which destinations have been cut?
Analysis of US Department of Transportation T-100 data shows that, of regular services from CDG, Air France no longer serves the following American cities:
- Philadelphia (2000-2009)
- Orlando (2011-2012)
- Cincinnati (2000-2006)
Close partner Delta took over flying to Philadelphia (2009-2017). It still serves Cincinnati-CDG, which is currently an A330 service; the route started in 1997 when Cincinnati was a hub. On a very time-limited basis, Air France has also flown to the following US cities:
- Las Vegas (from CES for the CES; see earlier)
- New Orleans (two roundtrips in 2022; seemingly for the American Society of Hematology convention)
- San Diego (2018/2022; apparently also for the hematology convention). Bloody hell, that's great!
Where else would you like Air France to fly in the US on a regular basis? Let us know in the comments section.