Air France to start non-stop service from Seattle to Paris

By Carol Pucci

Seattle Times travel writer

Air France will start daily non-stop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Paris this summer with a new flight into Charles de Gaulle Airport starting June 11.

The announcement means that Seattleites will now be able to fly non-stop to four European cities. Currently, there is daily service from Seattle to London on British Airways; Copenhagen on Scandinavian Airlines (SAS); and Amsterdam on Northwest.

The Air France flight will leave Seattle at 4.55 p.m. daily, arriving in Paris at 11.40 a.m. the following day. The return flight will depart Paris at 1:20 p.m. and arrive in Seattle at 25 p.m. the same day.

Service will be aboard an Airbus A330-200, with 40 seats in business class and 179 in economy. Air France provides service from 125 U.S. cities through partnerships with Delta, Continental and Northwest Airlines. Seattle will be the airline's 13th U.S. gateway.

Port of Seattle officials have been lobbying hard to land the new Sea-Tac service. Until now, anyone flying from Seattle to Paris has had to make a connection through another city.

"Seattle is home to many leaders in the aerospace, biotechnology, computer technology and manufacturing industries, among others,'' Air France Vice President and General Manager Marie-Joseph Malé said in statement. "We are confident that both the business community and the diverse international population in the Seattle area will benefit.''

The Seattle Times


Beati loro che possono permetterselo di volare anche a SEA.