Air France will add Nashville and San Diego to its U.S. network in May 2027, giving both cities their first nonstop Air France service and expanding the carrier’s American footprint to 20 destinations.
The two routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) will each operate three times weekly with Airbus A350-900 aircraft. San Diego (SAN) will launch on May 3, followed by Nashville (BNA) on May 14. Both will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer 2027 season.
Tickets are due to go on sale October 14, 2026, according to the airline’s summer 2027 route announcement.
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San Diego Gets Its Largest Unserved International Market
Flight AF058 will leave CDG at 10:10 a.m. and arrive at SAN at 12:50 p.m. local time. The westbound schedule gives a planned elapsed time of 11 hours and 40 minutes.
The return, AF059, will depart San Diego at 3:10 p.m. and reach Paris at 11:05 a.m. the following day, with a scheduled elapsed time of 10 hours and 55 minutes. The late-morning arrival is positioned to feed Air France’s afternoon departure banks at CDG.
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority described Paris as SAN’s largest unserved international market. It also said San Diego had been the largest U.S. market without nonstop Paris service, while local demand for travel between the two cities had increased 14% in 2026 compared with 2025.
Air France will become the eighth international airline at SAN. Paris will be the airport’s fourth nonstop European destination, alongside Amsterdam, London and Munich, and its 90th nonstop destination overall.
The route gives San Diego another long-haul hub option rather than simply adding a point-to-point European city. Air France’s CDG network opens one-stop itineraries across France, continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, broadening the addressable market beyond local San Diego-Paris traffic.
San Diego’s constrained airfield makes aircraft selection important. The A350-900 combines intercontinental range with the payload and fuel-efficiency characteristics required for a long westbound sector from Southern California, particularly when summer temperatures and operating conditions can affect performance.
Nashville Secures a Continental European Link
Nashville service will begin 11 days after the San Diego launch. Flight AF046 will leave CDG at 2:10 p.m. and arrive at BNA at 4:40 p.m., producing a scheduled elapsed time of nine hours and 30 minutes.
AF047 will depart Nashville at 6:55 p.m. and arrive in Paris at 10:15 a.m. the following day, an eight-hour-and-20-minute overnight sector. The Nashville departure follows a two-hour-and-15-minute turn at BNA.
Air France selected the AF046 flight number as a reference to 1946, the year Nashville-associated country music artist Dolly Parton was born. The airline said it will be the only operator flying nonstop between Nashville and continental Europe, as well as the only carrier on a nonstop Paris-Nashville route.
The service represents the outcome of a long-running air-service effort at BNA. Airport planning material had identified Paris as a target European market and Air France as a prospective operator. A 2023 presentation to the airport authority’s board placed Paris among Nashville’s priority European destinations and estimated the route at 4,364 miles.
BNA has since built a broader European portfolio, including nonstop links to London, Dublin and Reykjavík. Paris adds a major connecting hub and a considerably larger widebody than the narrowbody aircraft used on some of Nashville’s other transatlantic services.
The airport is also handling considerably more traffic than when it began pursuing additional European routes. BNA recorded 26.7 million passengers in the fiscal year ending June 2026, up 7.7% from the previous year, and reached 115 nonstop destinations during that period.
Air France Assigns the A350 to Both Routes
Using the Airbus A350-900 on both services places two of Air France’s newest U.S. stations within the core of its long-haul fleet-renewal program. The airline had 40 A350s in service by November 2025, when it took delivery of aircraft F-HUVT, according to an Air France fleet update.
Air France operates more than one A350 cabin standard. Its newer configuration has 292 seats: 48 in Business, 32 in Premium and 212 in Economy. The Business cabin uses full-flat seats with sliding doors, while the later-production aircraft also incorporate Airbus’ revised forward-cabin layout and structural weight savings.
The manufacturer lists the A350-900 with an 8,600-nautical-mile maximum range. That gives the type ample capability for both Nashville and San Diego, while its cargo volume provides additional revenue potential on routes linking commercial and industrial markets with France and the wider CDG network.
The choice also keeps Air France’s new U.S. growth centered on a common aircraft type. The carrier has already used the A350 to develop newer American destinations including Orlando, Phoenix and Las Vegas, matching a relatively large but efficient widebody with routes that begin below daily frequency.
U.S. Network Reaches 20 Destinations
Nashville and San Diego will take Air France’s summer 2027 U.S. network to 20 destinations. The carrier’s list also includes Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York JFK, New York Newark, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.
Both additions follow the same measured launch pattern: three weekly frequencies, a common A350 fleet assignment and schedules built around CDG connectivity. Air France can establish a presence in each market without committing the capacity required for daily service from the outset.
Bottom Line
San Diego is the larger operational commitment because of the route’s length, but it also closes a conspicuous gap in the airport’s map. Paris was already SAN’s leading unserved international market, and the timing gives Air France access to Southern California demand while offering an alternative European hub to the services already operating from the airport.
Nashville is the more strategically distinctive addition. BNA has spent years assembling enough local demand, facilities and international visibility to attract another major European carrier. Air France’s arrival shifts Nashville’s transatlantic network beyond London and smaller connecting gateways, giving Middle Tennessee a direct link to one of Europe’s largest long-haul hubs.
The initial three-weekly schedules limit risk in both markets while preserving room to add frequencies if the routes develop. The next measures will be how long each service remains in the seasonal timetable, whether Air France moves either route toward four or five weekly flights, and which other secondary U.S. markets the carrier targets as its A350 fleet continues to grow.
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