Air France is adding Salvador in the northeast of Brazil to its network during the winter 2024-25 season—one of three new destinations set to be served by the carrier.
Flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Salvador–Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA) will operate three times per week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Oct. 28. The SkyTeam alliance member will use Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the route.
Salvador, the capital of Bahia in northeastern Brazil, is known for its Portuguese colonial architecture, Afro-Brazilian cultural heritage and leisure resorts. With a population of 2.9 million, the city is the third-largest in the country and is designated a Unesco World Heritage site.
The route will increase Air France’s network in Brazil to five destinations. From CDG, the airline currently serves Sao Paulo Guarulhos twice a day, Rio de Janeiro Galeao daily and Fortaleza three times per week. Additionally, flights are offered once a week to Belem from Cayenne, French Guiana.
Schedules filed for the winter 2024-25 season show that service to Fortaleza will rise to 5X-weekly, meaning that Air France will offer up to 30 services per week during the season. The airline also has a codeshare partnership in place with Brazilian carrier GOL, enabling passengers to connect to a further 40 domestic destinations in Brazil.
For Salvador, Paris will become the third destination in Europe to be served nonstop from the city, alongside Lisbon and Madrid. Figures provided by Sabre Market Intelligence reveal that the French capital was the second-largest destination in Europe by O&D traffic during 2023, accounting for almost 25,000 two-way passengers.
Alongside the expansion in Brazil, Air France is launching a 2X-weekly route to Malé, Maldives, between Dec. 20 and Jan. 5, 2025. Flights will be operated using A350-900s.
Additionally, a 1X-weekly route to Kiruna, Sweden, will begin on Dec. 1 onboard A319s. Kiruna will be Air France’s fifth destination in Lapland after Rovaniemi and Kittilä in Finland, and summer destinations Tromsø and Narvik Lofoten in Norway.
The winter schedule will also see Denver and Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) converted to year-round routes, each operating three times per week. Flights to PHX will be inaugurated on May 23, marking the first nonstop route between France and the U.S. city.
The French capital becomes the third European destination to be served nonstop from Phoenix, along with Frankfurt Airport and London Heathrow Airport. It is estimated that the new route will provide a $30 million annual economic boost to the Arizona city.
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