Air France expands its long-haul network with the launch of three weekly direct flights between Paris and Colombo.
Customers will be able to travel to Paris and connect to the Air France global network with close to 200 destinations via the convenient hub of Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Colombo will be served as a seasonal operation in the winter schedule 2021–22 and a continuation of the Air France flight from Male. The airline will offer customers the experience of best of Air France cabins on board the Boeing 787-9 operating on the route with a seating capacity of 279 seats (30 in Business, 21 in Premium Economy and 228 in Economy class).
The cabins comprise full-flat beds in Business Class, a premium economy cabin, economy cabin with legroom and accessories such as USB port wi-fi across all cabins. The first flight departure from Colombo–Paris was on November 5.
General Manager Air France – KLM, Indian Sub-continent, Jean-Noel Rault said, “We are thrilled to start operations between Colombo and Paris and offer the best of Air France services and care to our customers while applying strict health and hygiene protocols.”
The connection of Air France and Colombo dates back to the 1950s with the route Paris-Rome-Cairo-Bahrain-Karachi-Colombo-Bangkok-Saigon, operated by its sister company UTA. Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Eric Lavertu said, “A wonderful reopening of the connection between Paris and Colombo by a French Airline after many years. No doubt that the city of lights and the pearl of Indian ocean are two cities which need direct and frequent relations. The introduction of direct services between Colombo and Paris will assist with the recovery process of tourism in the country and more importantly act as a conduit connecting Sri Lanka to Paris; one of the most important tourism hubs in the world.