Air France to Increase Service to Canada this Summer

DALLAS — French flag carrier Air France (AF) has announced that it will increase Canada's capacity for its summer 2023 schedule.

In addition to resuming flights and increasing frequencies between Canadian cities and France, the carrier is also adding a new route between Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) and Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (YOW) in June 2023.

Air France will be the only airline operating flights between Canada's capital and Europe. The airline will begin operations on June 27 and will operate the flight five times a week. AF364 will depart Paris at 1:10 p.m. and arrive in Ottawa at 3:05 p.m.

The return flight AF361 will depart Ottawa at 5:05 PM and arrive the following day in Paris at 6:15 AM. An Airbus A330-200 will operate the route. The aircraft has a capacity of 224 seats in a three-class layout, including 36 lie-flat business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 167 seats in economy.

The carrier has been offering a shuttle bus service between Montreal and Ottawa free of charge for passengers and says that it will continue to operate this twice-daily route. The airline also operates a similar connection between Montreal and Quebec City.

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Canadian Frequency Increase

The airline will also increase frequencies to Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver from CDG, which all operate year-round. AF will now serve Montreal with up to three flights daily, Toronto with two daily flights, and Vancouver with one daily flight. For the summer 2023 schedule, the French airline will operate 50 weekly flights between France and Canada.

Air France will also bring back the seasonal route between Paris and Quebec City, which became very popular last summer. Beginning on May 2, AF will resume the route with a three times weekly service between the two cities using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. AF 352 will operate on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 8:45 p.m. and landing in Quebec at 9:55 p.m. The return flight AF 353 will depart Quebec at 11:55 PM and arrive at 12:20 PM the next day.

The Paris-based airline will be the top European carrier in the summer of 2023 in terms of capacity between Europe and Canada. With the addition of Ottawa, AF will fly to five Canadian destinations, including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and seasonally to Quebec City.

The carrier's Netherlands-based partner, KLM (KL), will operate in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Edmonton this summer from its hub in Amsterdam.

Featured image: Air France F-GZCH Airbus A330-200. Photo: Tony Bordelais/Airways