Air France Launches Ottawa (YOW) to Paris (CDG) Route in June

Air France, France’s flag carrier, is launching a new route from the capital of Canada, Ottawa, to the French capital, Paris. While the new route will not operate daily, it will provide a vital link between 2 French-speaking countries and will allow Canadians to transit to Europe and beyond.

The Flight

The new flight will be operated by an A330-200 as of June 27, 2023.

The newest version of this aircraft features the following seat configurations:

• 36 fully-flat bed seats in business class in a 2-2-2 configuration
• 21 recliner seats in premium economy class in a 2-3-2 configuration
• 167 traditional seats in economy class in a 2-4-2 configuration

This is one of Air France’s smallest widebody jets, so it’s clear that this aircraft is being tested on this route to gauge demand. This flight will be the only transatlantic flight operating out of Ottawa at the moment, and the first since 2020. Assuming it goes well and loads are filled, you may expect Air France to upgrade this route to a larger plane in the future.

Here’s the schedule:

• AF328: Depart Paris (CDG) 1:10 p.m. — Arrive Ottawa (YOW) 3:05
• AF327: Depart Ottawa (YOW) 5:05 p.m. — Arrive Paris (CDG) 6:15 a.m. (+1)

Hot Tip: Learn the best ways to book Air France business class with points in our step-by-step guide.

Why This Route

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, and there is usually a strong demand for flights out of a country’s capital. In the case of Canada, there are so many other nearby major cities, such as Toronto (YYZ) and Montréal (YUL), that it makes many flights out of the capital difficult. You won’t find many other international flights out of Ottawa for this reason, and most of the flights you do see are either to the U.S. or a handful of warm destinations in Mexico.

This transatlantic flight will be the only one operating out of Ottawa. Surprisingly, it won’t be run by Air Canada, who, of course, has a decent chunk of the country’s international routes (it only operates to Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), Toronto (YYZ), and Vancouver (YVR) out of Ottawa).

Customers from Ottawa will be able to connect in Paris to Air France’s vast route network, and customers from Paris can visit Ottawa, or jump to several other major cities throughout Canada, though they’ll need to do so on another airline as Air France does not partner with Air Canada.

Final Thoughts

For Canadian customers, this new flight will provide new options for getting to Europe and beyond. Even for U.S.-based flyers, you may want to consider flying out of Ottawa if the price is right, as Canadian flights can often be much cheaper than ones departing from the U.S.