Air France Ups Paris-Phoenix Route To 5x Weekly From May 2025

After a successful year of operating flights between their Paris CDG
hub and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
, Air France
has made the decision to up service on the route to five times weekly beginning in May 2025. What makes Phoenix such a popular city for the French national carrier?

Coming 2025: service increase and equipment swap

Approaching its one-year anniversary of operating Paris CDG to Phoenix flights, Air France will be swapping their Boeing 777-200ER
aircraft for the Airbus A350-900
effective May 5, 2025. The airline’s A350-900s offer more business class seats, but with a similar economy class capacity, resulting in the loss of only four seats per flight in each direction on the A350 as compared to the 777-200ER.

When combined with an increase of flights from three to five times weekly, Air France will almost be able to double seat capacity on their Phoenix route.

Boaz Hulsman, the Commercial VP for North America at Air France, had this to say about the update to the route:

“Air France is very pleased with the Phoenix-Paris route and we are excited to increase the frequency…This capacity increase symbolizes our commitment to enhancing the transatlantic travel connection. We look forward to soon providing more passengers from Phoenix with an experience embodying the best of French elegance…”

Along with an equipment swap and increase in frequency, Air France will also be adjusting the departure and arrival times for its summer Phoenix flights from what they are now. Currently, Air France operates its Paris CDG to Phoenix flights as follows:

Over the summer season 2025, Air France will amend its flight schedules for Phoenix flights as follows:

As is the case with all transatlantic flights over the summer, westbound flight times are around 30 minutes less than during the winter due to the weaker westerlies that summer brings, allowing for faster flight times going west.

A little background

Prior to the launch of their Paris CDG to Phoenix route, data had shown that the Phoenix Arizona area was Air France’s third-largest unserved market in North America. So, when the French national carrier finally launched its Phoenix route in May 2024, it quickly proved its popularity with both business travelers and tourists alike.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal, around 80 French companies do business in Phoenix and its surrounding cities, employing over 3,500 workers. As for tourists, the capital city of Arizona is just a few hours’ drive away from major tourist sites such as the Grand Canyon National Park and Saguaro National Park.

Initially, Air France operated its 279 seat Boeing 787-9
Dreamliner aircraft to the Valley of the Sun. However, after a very busy summer season, the airline made the decision to swap equipment on the route to its higher capacity 328 seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft this November in anticipation of what the airline perceived to be an even busier winter season.

Codeshares and competition

As of December 2024, Air France remains one of two airlines to serve Europe to Phoenix flights on a year-round basis, along with competitor British Airways
. Air France provides the SkyTeam
alliance with an important foot-hold in Phoenix, as the airport acts as a hub for competitor and oneworld
Alliance member American Airlines
.

In Phoenix, Air France passengers can connect onto Delta Air Lines
flights to numerous destinations across the US such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
and Salt Lake City International Airport
. Likewise, passengers flying to Paris CDG can connect onwards to Air France-KLM’s vast European route network.