With a successful first year, Air France has announced they will increase Phoenix service to Paris five times weekly beginning May 2025.
The new nonstop service between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France was launched May 23, 2024, and has been served three times a week.
This marked the first time there was nonstop service between Phoenix and France. The service originally launched with a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner aircraft that had 279 seats. Due to the successful launch of the route, Air France increased the size of the aircraft for the winter season to a Boeing 777-200 with 328 seats.
When the service frequency increases for the summer season in May to five times weekly, the route will be served with an Airbus 350-900 that has a larger business class (34 seats) and a total seat capacity of 324 seats.
“Within one year since the launch of their Paris service, Air France will have almost doubled the capacity on the Phoenix-Paris route. The airline has been a fantastic addition to our airport, and we are grateful for their confidence and investment in our market,” said City of Phoenix Aviation Director Chad Makovsky.
“This increase means our passengers will have more options and competitive fares to not only fly to France but to the other 190 destinations that Air France serves beyond Paris.”
The increased service on the A350-900 will begin May 5, 2024. Flights will leave Paris at 10:45 a.m., arriving in Phoenix at 12:50 p.m. then depart Phoenix at 3:05 p.m., arriving in Paris the next day at 10:10 a.m.
The aircraft will have a three-class configuration, with 34 Business seats, 24 Premium Economy seats and an Economy class offering 266 seats. In total, the flights will have a capacity of 324.
“Air France is very pleased with the Phoenix-Paris route and we are excited to increase the frequency,” said Boaz Hulsman, Vice President of Commercial, North America at Air France-KLM.
“This capacity increase symbolizes our commitment to enhancing the transatlantic travel connection. We look forward to soon providing more passengers from Phoenix with an experience embodying the best of French elegance.”
America’s Friendliest Airport® offers nonstop service to more than 140 destinations across the United States and internationally. This service is in addition to existing transatlantic service between Phoenix and London Heathrow on American Airlines and British Airways as well as nonstop service between Phoenix and Frankfurt on Condor Airlines.
The increased frequency will also allow for easy connections in the U.S. with Air France’s codeshare partner Delta, and destinations in Europe and abroad with their other partner, KLM.
Phoenix international flights add more than $3 billion to the local economy each year per the Airport’s most recent economic impact study. The year-round, three times weekly service was estimated to have a $70 million annual economic impact.
With the increase in both frequency and aircraft size starting in May, the route will now have an estimated $103 million annual statewide economic impact.
