Air France became the 16th airline at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) when its flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) arrived Monday. The airline will connect central and eastern North Carolina to the French capital when it takes over the Paris service as part of its partnership with Delta Air Lines, who had flown the route since 2016.
Air France will fly the Paris route three days a week until March 31 when it begins daily nonstop service between Raleigh-Durham and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG). The Paris service is timed to provide ideal connections from CDG to Air France’s network of nearly 200 destinations and 89 countries. Air France took over the route from Delta Air Lines, its joint venture partner. Air France and Delta Air Lines together offer more than 600 weekly departures from North America to Europe.
The service will operate on a Boeing 787-9, the first aircraft of this type to service RDU. The Boeing 787-9 has 279-seats, more than the aircraft that previously flew the Paris route. The airport now serves a record number of international destinations including Cancun, Freeport, London, Montreal, Paris, Reykjavik and Toronto. Lufthansa will begin flying to Frankfurt, Germany in June 2024.
“RDU welcomes its new partnership with Air France on our signature route to Paris,” said Michael Landguth, president and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority. “The Air France service broadens our ability to connect RDU travelers to hundreds of destinations, including Europe, India and beyond.”
“Air France continues to invest in our expansion in the U.S. market, and we are pleased to launch the newest direct route from RDU to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. The Raleigh-Durham area is among the most dynamic regions in the Southern U.S., filled with tradition, history and modernity. Recognized nationwide as a hub of education, research and innovation, the direct service will allow easy connectivity not only to Paris, but to Air France’s wider global network in Europe and beyond,” said Eric Caron, general manager for North America, Air France-KLM.
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