Air France Arriving in Raleigh-Durham With New Flight to Paris

Updated: July 14, 2024, 5:03pm CDT

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Air France’s Raleigh-Durham to Paris Route
Flights From Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Europe
Final Thoughts

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This fall, the French flag carrier will land in Raleigh-Durham — marking the airport’s first Dreamliner service, as first reported by Ishrion Aviation.

Over the last year, airlines from Avelo to Breeze to Icelandair have launched flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to keep up with the steady growth of the Research Triangle area.

Here are the details on Air France’s latest expansion efforts — and what this may mean for the existing Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Paris (CDG) route on SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines.

Air France’s Raleigh-Durham to Paris Route

On October 30, 2023, Air France will launch flights between Raleigh-Durham (RDU) and Paris (CDG) with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This route will operate 3x weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays:

Depart Paris (CDG) 1:30 p.m. — Arrive Raleigh-Durham (RDU) 5:35 p.m.
Depart Raleigh-Durham (RDU) 7:45 p.m. — Arrive Paris (CDG): 8:25 a.m. (+1)

Upon closer look, Delta Air Lines’ existing Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Paris (CDG) flight matches Air France’s proposed schedule. Currently, Delta flies the same nonstop flight to Paris with its Boeing 767-400 aircraft 7x weekly. But come October — when Air France will launch this new flight — Delta’s route is also slated to reduce to 3x weekly.

Air France Business Class — Air France’s Dreamliner aircraft boasts 30 business class seats. Image Credit: Stella Shon

While not officially announced by either carrier, this may mean that Delta will hand over the route to Air France entirely. So while not exactly a “new” route for Raleigh-Durham (RDU), it’s worth noting that Air France’s 787 aircraft is larger with 276 seats, compared to Delta’s 767-400 with 236 seats.

Hot Tip:

Even better, Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program is one of the best for booking business class flights to Europe. Every month, the carrier offers a 25% to 50% discount off award flights through its monthly Promo Rewards.

Flights From Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Europe

With the announcement of Air France’s newest route, here’s a closer look at the transatlantic flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) starting this fall:

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Destination	Aircraft	Frequency
Paris, France	Boeing 787 (Air France), Boeing 767-400 (Delta)	7x weekly; 3x weekly starting this fall
London, U.K.	Boeing 777-200 (American Airlines)	1x daily
Reykjavík, Iceland	Boeing 737-MAX8 (Icelandair)	4x weekly

Final Thoughts

The mid-size RDU airport has seen no shortage of new domestic and international routes over the last year. And now, Air France will inaugurate a new route to the heart of North Carolina to connect even more passengers to Paris.