Routes Insights: Air France, Turkish Airlines, Royal Air Maroc
Air France, Turkish Airlines and Royal Air Maroc are each increasing service to the Americas region from December.
Paris Charles de Gaulle-Salvador
Air France is bolstering its presence in Brazil by adding Salvador, located in the northeastern region of the country, to its network for the winter 2024-25 season.
Starting Oct. 28, the carrier will operate flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA) three times a week—on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The service will be operated using Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
Salvador, the capital of Bahia and Brazil’s third-largest city with a population of 2.9 million, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture, Afro-Brazilian cultural heritage and picturesque leisure resorts. The city is also a Unesco World Heritage site.
With this addition, Air France will expand its Brazilian network to five destinations. The airline already operates 2X-daily flights to São Paulo Guarulhos, daily flights to Rio de Janeiro Galeão and 3X-weekly flights to Fortaleza. Additionally, it offers weekly flights from Cayenne, French Guiana, to Belém.
Additionally, service to Fortaleza will increase to five times per week during the winter season, bringing Air France’s total weekly services in Brazil to up to 30. 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 European city with nonstop flights from the Brazilian city, joining Lisbon, served daily by TAP Air Portugal, and Madrid, served 3X-weekly with Air Europa. According to Sabre Market Intelligence, Paris was the second-largest destination in Europe by O&D traffic during 2023, accounting for almost 25,000 two-way passengers.
Istanbul-Santiago
Turkish Airlines will bring the number of countries served in the Americas region to 10 from December with the addition of flights to Chile.
Starting Dec. 18, the airline will operate four flights per week connecting its Istanbul Airport (IST) hub and Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport using Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The route will operate with a stopover in São Paulo in both directions.
The airline currently flies to São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport 11 times per week—seven of which continue to Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Argentina. A fifth-freedom flight to Santiago will now be tagged onto the four roundtrip frequencies that currently operate nonstop between Istanbul and São Paulo.
The move will enable the Star Alliance member to tap into two important markets with one flight, opening up another revenue stream and maximizing utilization of aircraft and crew. It also allows Turkish Airlines to evaluate the potential demand for nonstop Santiago service in the future.
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Santiago will be the ninth city in Latin America served by Turkish Airlines, joining Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires; Cancun and Mexico City, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela; Havana, Cuba; Panama City, Panama; and São Paulo.
The new one-stop service will be Santiago’s eighth connection to Europe and the first direct link between Chile and Turkey. Currently, the Santiago-Madrid route is served by nonstop flights from both Iberia and LATAM Airlines Group, with LATAM also offering a one-stop option via Bogota. Air France flies nonstop from Santiago to Paris, while Iberia and British Airways provide connections from Barcelona and London Heathrow, respectively. KLM also serves Santiago from Amsterdam, with a stop in Buenos Aires.
Casablanca-Toronto
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is expanding its North American footprint with the launch of a new direct route between Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) and Toronto, starting Dec. 8.
This marks the airline’s second direct service to Canada, complementing its existing Casablanca-Montreal service. The new route to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) will operate three times per week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, using Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
This expansion is part of the airline’s strategy to strengthen its Americas network, which includes direct flights to New York, Washington and Montreal, as well as the reintroduction of service to São Paulo in December.
The addition of Toronto not only caters to the Moroccan diaspora in Canada but also taps into the growing demand for leisure and business travel between the two regions. It also aligns with Royal Air Maroc’s development plan, signed with the Moroccan government in July 2023, which seeks to boost the airline’s role in promoting the country’s tourism and economic engagement with key international markets.
According to Canada’s 2021 Census, there were 98,980 Canadians who reported full or partial Moroccan ancestry, with about 12% of those based in the Ontario area.
