Summary
- Air France has officially began service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, becoming the sixteenth airline to operate from there.
- The brand new Air France route will initially operate thrice per week, with plans to transition to day by day nonstop service starting in 2024
- This service is a component of a long-standing partnership between Air France and Delta Air Lines, offering travelers from North America to Europe a big selection of flight options.
The Paris, France-based airline Air France has officially begun service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). On Monday, October 30, an Air France flight departed Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina, later that day. Which means Air France is the sixteenth airline to fly out of Raleigh-Durham. The airline has also begun this route as a part of its lively partnership with the Atlanta, Georgia-based airline Delta Air Lines.
Latest international service
The brand new operation for Air France will likely be operating thrice per week. The service will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Nonetheless, after the winter season, the airline will operate this flight as a day by day nonstop service. This is about to start on March 31, 2024.
Photo: GB-Photographie | Shutterstock
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, Michael Landguth, spoke in regards to the recent flight out of RDU. He stated,
“RDU welcomes its recent partnership with Air France on our signature path to Paris. The Air France service broadens our ability to attach RDU travelers to lots of of destinations, including Europe, India, and beyond.”
Raleigh-Durham has recently reached a brand new record for quite a few international destinations. This includes Cancun, London, Montreal, and Toronto. Icelandair recently began operating to Reykjavík last yr, and Lufthansa will soon begin a service to Frankfurt, Germany, in June of next yr.
First service to Raleigh
Air France will operate this route with one in every of its Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This airplane holds a complete of 279 passengers and is split into three sections. The primary section, which is business class, holds 30 passengers in open suite-style seats. The aircraft also has 21 seats in premium economy class and the remaining seats are in standard economy.
Photo: Ryken Martin | Shutterstock
The inaugural flight for this route occurred on October 30. The flight, registered as AF-692, departed from the Paris airport at roughly 14:15 local time, about 45 minutes later than its scheduled departure of 13:30 local time. The aircraft conducted its eight-and-a-half-hour flight before arriving in Raleigh at around 17:50 local time. This was about quarter-hour later than the originally scheduled time.
The return flight, registered as AF-693, departed Raleigh-Durham later that day at roughly 20:47 local time. This was about an hour past its scheduled departure time of 19:45 local time. The flight arrived six hours and forty minutes later in Paris, at roughly 8:25 the next day.
Continued partnership with Delta Air Lines
Air France is taking on this service from the Atlanta-based airline as a component of the three way partnership agreement between the 2 airlines. Delta initially began operating this route in 2016. Even though it was later canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta began the route again within the spring of 2021. Moreover, Delta previously operated this route with one in every of its Boeing 767 aircraft, which only carried 234 passengers.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
Air France and Delta have had a long-term partnership for the reason that summer of 1999. This partnership would eventually result in the formation of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Combined, each airlines offer greater than 600 flights per week from North America to Europe.
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