- Chidozie Uzoezie
Air France Expands Network, Returns to Cape Town

Just a few days after Air Belgium reconnected Europe and South Africa with flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, another European carrier, Air France, has announced plans to resume flights to Cape Town.
Flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Cape Town will resume on 30 October 2022. It will initially operate 3 times a week using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The service had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When relaunched, the Paris-Cape Town flight will compliment the existing daily service between Paris CDG and Johannesburg, South Africa.
The resumption of flights to Cape Town is part of Air France's larger plan to reopen and significantly expand its network following a summer marked by strong demand for air travel.
Winter 2022-2023 will be marked by an extension of Air France's offer to destinations and North Africa. From 30 October, Air France will launch a new route between Paris-Orly and Casablanca, with one daily flight operated by Airbus A320.
The summer routes Paris-Orly - Tunis (Tunisia), Marseille - Algiers (Algeria), Toulouse - Algiers (Algeria) and Toulouse - Oran (Algeria) will be extended for the winter season.
During the 2022-2023 winter season (November 2022 - March 2023), the airline will serve 171 destinations, including 86 long-haul and 85 short- and medium-haul. The airline’s entire fleet will be in operation and capacity levels across the network will be close to those of winter 2019.
In North America, Air France will launch a daily non-stop service between its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub and New York-Newark Liberty Airport (EWR) on 12 December 2022. Flights to Dallas will be extended for the winter season with 3 flights per week.
For the second winter in a row, Air France will also operate a direct service between Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Montreal (Canada) from 22 October 2022 with two flights a week operated by Airbus A320.
In Europe, Air France will spread wings to four new destinations on 10 December 2022, including Kittilä in Finland and Tromsø in Norway as well as Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria.
The seasonal Paris CDG - Rovaniemi (Finland) route will resume on 27 November, 2022. From 30 October 2022, Nice-London Heathrow route will become a year-round service.
By the end of the year, Air France will launch its new long-haul cabins. The airline is pursuing its strategy of moving upmarket and is gradually installing a new Business seat which transforms into a real bed on 12 Boeing 777-300ERs.
A new sliding door makes it possible to completely privatise the seat area, preserving it from the rest of the cabin. The first flight will take place in the coming weeks to New York-JFK.
Details of the flight schedule, days of operation and fares are available on airfrance.com.