Air France To Triple Domestic Capacity Ahead Of Christmas

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4 years ago

While international travel restrictions are present for a good deal of travel to and from France, its national carrier is gearing up for increased domestic activity for the Christmas season. Air France and its regional subsidiary HOP! will be tripling its capacity on its domestic networks compared to its heavily-reduced lockdown operations.

Air France’s domestic operations are mostly carried out through its regional brand and subsidiary, HOP! Photo: Laurent ERRERA via Wikimedia Commons

Service resumptions

According to Aviation24.be, Air France is tripling capacity on its domestic network relative to its operations during the current lockdown. While it’s a big boost from current levels, it’s a far cry from its 2019 schedule during the same period. In fact, this ‘increased capacity’ is only as much as 55% of the same period last year.

The resumption of services includes the following routes:

Bordeaux-Marseille
Bordeaux-Nice
Lille-Marseille
Lille-Toulouse
Lille-Nice
Lyon-Biarritz
Paris CDG-Biarritz
Paris CDG-Rennes
Paris Orly-Pau
Rennes-Toulouse
Strasbourg-Toulouse
Strasbourg-Nice

Some routes, such as Paris to Pau, are operated by Air France’s A318s. Photo: Getty Images

Season domestic routes

Air France will also operate 13 seasonal domestic routes running from December 18th through to January 3rd:

Biarritz-Nice
Bordeaux-Lille
Brest-Toulon
Caen-Marseille
Caen-Nice
Strasbourg-Marseille
Strasbourg-Biarritz
Strasbourg-Brest
Strasbourg-Pau
Rennes-Marseille
Rennes-Nice
Paris CDG-Ajaccio
Paris CDG-Bastia

Increased capacity to overseas territories

And finally, Air France will add capacity to its overseas territory services. This includes flights from Paris-Orly to Cayenne, Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, and Saint-Denis de La Réunion.

Furthermore, from December 14th, Air France will operate flights from its Paris hub at Charles de Gaulle to Pointe-à-Pitre and Fort-de-France. The addition of the Charles de Gaulle services will offer easier connections to the rest of Air France’s network, which includes destinations in Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia.

The Boeing 777 is often used for service between Paris and its overseas territories, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: Rafael Luiz Canossa via Wikimedia Commons

As mentioned in a previous article, the Boeing 777 will operate the flights to overseas territories. These widebodies are equipped with business, premium economy, and economy cabins.

There are multiple configurations for Air France’s 777-300s. Some are in the 468-seat configuration, which divides into 14 business class seats, 32 premium economy seats, and 422 economy seats.

Masks mandatory across all Air France flights

At the end of May, the French government made the wearing of a surgical mask or a filtering facepiece mask without a valve mandatory on board flights. Air France strongly recommends wearing one upon arrival at the airport.

“Even though the quality standard of the air ventilation equipment used renders the risk of viruses and microbes spreading impossible, physical distancing on board aircraft is not always possible and wearing a mask, combined with respecting the basic hygiene rules, is an effective protection.” -Air France

Because of the current ever-changing situation, Air France has been reminding its customers that they can book their flights confidently. If customers need to cancel or change flights, it can be done at no extra cost until March 31, 2021.

Will you be traveling within France or to/from French overseas territories this holiday season? Let us know in the comments!

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