Bigger planes, daily flights coming to Air France Ottawa-Paris service this summer

Air France airline announced its extending its service between Ottawa’s international airport and Paris through the summer. (Katelyn Wilson/ CTV News Ottawa)

Air France will be expanding its successful Ottawa-Paris non-stop flight from five to seven days a week and upgrading to bigger planes this summer, the Ottawa airport authority confirmed Wednesday.

An emailed statement by Ottawa airport spokesperson Krista Kealey said the airline will move to daily service from Ottawa to Charles de Gaulle Airport starting on June 10 – in time for the Olympic Games being held in Paris this July.

In addition, the airline will be upgrading its aircraft to a 324-seat Airbus 350-900 starting on April 7. It's the second size expansion since the flight was inaugurated last year, with the service starting with a 224-seat A330-200 followed by a 279-seat B787-900 during the winter 2023-24 season.

"We are very pleased that the community has supported the service to the extent that prompted the airline to expand both the number of available seats and days of service," Kealey said.

"We appreciate Air France’s continuing confidence in the Ottawa-Gatineau community and look forward to welcoming more passengers to YOW."

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe also welcomed the news of the airline's announcement on social media Wednesday.

"This is great news for local travellers and for our economy!" Sutcliffe said on X.

The airline announced it was extending its service between Ottawa’s international airport and Paris through the summer last month.

Air France launched the Ottawa-Paris route on June 7, 2023 and was the first transatlantic flight out of the Ottawa International Airport since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airport continues to bounce back from the pandemic. While direct flights to some U.S. and Caribbean destinations have returned, the Paris flight is the first European destination.