Air France Launches Airbus A350 Flights To Las Vegas: Does The Route Make Sense?

On October 22, Air France announced flights from Paris CDG to Las Vegas. The route will begin in April, missing Easter but in time for summer demand, including from the US. While it has served Sin City for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, this time it’s different: it’ll be a proper, regular operation. It comes amid the airline’s growth elsewhere, including a new route to Phuket and a return to Punta Cana. All three markets revolve around leisure travel.

In recent years, the SkyTeam member has added a new US destination annually. For example, Denver joined its network in 2021, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth in 2022, Raleigh/Durham in 2023, Phoenix in 2024, and Orlando flights returned in 2025. The announcement came soon after British Airways revealed it’d fly to St. Louis next year.

Air France To Las Vegas

On April 15, Air France will take off for Nevada, marking the first time it has served the state regularly, not just for the CES. It will operate three times weekly, which is a standard frequency for a brand-new service. It is bound to make my celebratory Weekly Routes article (see the latest edition).

It will deploy the higher-capacity, three-class, 324-seat Airbus A350-900. This configuration features 34 seats in business (1-2-1), 24 in premium economy (2-4-2; 38″ pitch), and 266 in economy (3-3-3; 31″). Unsurprisingly, the higher-premium 292-seat A350 will not be used, although Cirium Diio indicates that this version will operate 42% of Air France’s US flights in the first half of 2026.

At 4,729 nautical miles (8,758 km) each way, Las Vegas will be Air France’s fifth-longest US route, although it’ll be fourth if only regular operations are considered. Only San Diego (time-limited charter flights for the American Society of Hematology), Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix will cover more distance.

Does This New Route Make Sense?

Booking data shows that CDG-Las Vegas had 62,000 round-trip local passengers last year (170 daily). Sin City was Paris’s largest unserved US market, while the French capital was Las Vegas’ top unserved European city. Nonstop flights and hopefully strong promotions should easily see local traffic rise to 80,000+ passengers after a year of operating. New routes almost always increase traffic.

Moreover, the average one-way fare—across all passengers and cabins—was $1,110 (including a fuel surcharge). This was relatively decent. For context, Phoenix’s average was $994. Yet that route covers more ground, and Air France has served it since 2024.

Las Vegas seems a pretty obvious addition. Connections via CDG will, of course, be important. Las Vegas’ top ten European markets to target are London (322,000 passengers), Frankfurt (107,000), Amsterdam (72,000), Dublin (71,000), Manchester (64,000), Rome (36,000), Madrid (36,000), Barcelona (32,000), Zurich (30,000), and Milan (26,000). Numerous other cities had 10,000+ passengers.

Which US city could be next? San Diego seems possible. Yes, it flies there on a very time-limited charter basis, but not normally. With 41,000 round-trip local passengers last year and an average one-way fare of $1,197, it has a reasonable chance of being selected. However, Group member KLM launched Amsterdam-San Diego service last year; might this reduce the likelihood of Air France appearing? While smaller local markets, Austin and Nashville flights would cover less distance (and therefore be less expensive to operate), and they have higher fares than San Diego. KLM serves Austin but not Nashville.

Air France Will Serve 19 US Airports (For Now)

As of October 23 and subject to change, Air France plans passenger flights to 19 US airports in the first half of 2026. This excludes charter flights to San Diego. When transatlantic joint venture partner Delta Air Lines is included, they’ll collectively fly to 21 US airports from CDG.

Let’s narrow the focus to Air France’s operations in June 2026. The carrier currently plans 225 weekly departures to the US, with up to 33 daily takeoffs. Until now, no more than 32 daily services have existed, with that figure available during the summer of 2025.