Air France to fly 65% of pre-COVID capacity this summer 

Air France plans a relatively robust summer schedule, saying it will operate to nearly 200 airports worldwide, including 110 destinations in France, Europe and north Africa.

In July and August, Air France plans to operate 65% of its 2019 capacity.

The carrier will fly 81 seasonal routes this summer. Compared with summer 2019, Air France said it will increase capacity to Greece by almost 80% and capacity to Portugal by nearly 25%.

“On long-haul routes, the removal of the ‘essential reasons’ [requirement] to travel to most French Caribbean destinations will allow us to increase capacity on these routes that are essential to ensuring territorial continuity,” Air France said in a statement.

Air France plans this summer to operate “up to” 3X-daily flights from Paris airports to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (PTP), Fort-de-France, Martinique (FDF) and Saint-Denis de la Réunion (RUN) in the Caribbean.

“To support the increase in [flying], the Air France maintenance teams are working hard to bring 10 medium-haul and 12 long-haul aircraft out of storage,” Air France said. “In total, 181 Air France aircraft will be in operation this summer.”

While much of the ramp-up will be a resumption of routes operated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Air France also plans to operate new routes this summer to: Corfu (CFU) and Rhodes (RHO) in Greece; Helsinki (HEL); Las Palmas, Spain (LPA); Malta (MLA); Pisa, Italy (PSA); Agadir (AGA) and Tangier (TNG) in Morocco; and Monastir, Tunisia (MIR).

Photo credit: Joe Pries

Aaron Karp

Aaron Karp is a Contributing Editor to the Aviation Week Network.