summary
- Air France has officially begun service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, becoming the 16th airline to operate from there.
- The new Air France route will initially operate three times a week, with a transition to daily direct flights from 2024.
- The service is part of Air France and Delta’s long-standing partnership, offering a wide range of flight options for travelers from North America to Europe.
Air France, an airline based in Paris, France, has officially begun service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). On Monday, October 30th, an Air France flight departed from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina later that day. This means Air France will become the 16th airline to fly from Raleigh-Durham Airport. The airline also launched the route as part of an active partnership with Atlanta, Georgia-based airline Delta Air Lines.
new international service
Air France’s new operations will be three times a week. Service runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, from the winter season onwards, this flight will be operated as a daily non-stop flight. This he is scheduled to start on March 31, 2024.
Photo: GB-Photographie | Shutterstock
Michael Landgas, president and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, spoke about the new flights from RDU. he said,
“RDU welcomes our new partnership with Air France on our signature routes to Paris. Air France’s services will strengthen our ability to connect RDU travelers to hundreds of destinations, including Europe, India and more. will spread.”
Raleigh-Durham Airport recently set new records for a number of international destinations. This includes Cancun, London, Montreal, and Toronto. Icelandair began flying to Reykjavík last year, and Lufthansa will soon start flying to Frankfurt, Germany, next June.
First flight to Raleigh
Air France will operate this route with one Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The plane accommodates a total of 279 passengers and is divided into three sections. The first section is business class, which seats 30 passengers in open suite-style seating. The aircraft also has 21 premium economy class seats, with the remaining seats in standard economy class.
Photo: Raiken Martin | Shutterstock
The first flight on this route took place on October 30th. The flight, registered as AF-692, departed Paris Airport at around 14:15 local time, approximately 45 minutes late from its scheduled departure of 13:30 local time. The plane flew for eight and a half hours and arrived in Raleigh at around 17:50 local time. I was about 15 minutes late from the originally scheduled time.
The return flight was registered as AF-693 and departed Raleigh-Durham later that day at approximately 20:47 local time. It was about an hour past the scheduled departure time of 19:45 local time. The plane arrived in Paris around 8:25 a.m. the next day, 6 hours and 40 minutes later.
Ongoing partnership with Delta Air Lines
Air France will take over this service from the Atlanta-based carrier as part of a joint venture agreement between the two airlines. Delta Air Lines originally began operating this route in 2016. It was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Delta Air Lines resumed the route in spring 2021. Additionally, Delta previously operated this route with one Boeing 767, but this was the only time it operated the route. It carried 234 passengers.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flight
Air France and Delta Air Lines have had a long-term partnership since the summer of 1999. This partnership ultimately led to the formation of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Together, the two airlines operate more than 600 flights a week from North America to Europe.
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