Air France has announced the return of its seasonal direct flight between Cape Town and Paris.
Air France will operate daily nonstop flights between the two cities over South Africa’s summer season, from 15 December 2025 to 12 January 2026.
Flight AF0871, an Airbus A350, will depart Cape Town at 08:50 each morning and arrive in Paris at 19:20.
Return flights will depart Paris at 18:30 and arrive in Cape Town at 06:45 the following day on Flight AF0890.
This takes the total number of Cape Town-headed flights for Air France-KLM to 18 per week.
Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines partner through the Air France-KLM group, which operates out of the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol international airports.
The partnership will now offer a total of 32 flights to South Africa and 11,000 seats in each each direction, per week.
“We’re thrilled to bring our seasonal Cape Town-Paris flights back and see it upgrade the service to daily flights connecting both cities this summer,” said Air France-KLM Country Manager for South Africa, Wilson Tauro.
“Air France is dedicated to making the journey as memorable as the destination – and with French flair, world-class service, and a glass of Champagne on board, we’ve got that covered.”
Gourmet meals and champagne are served in all classes, and passengers can expect an “elevated travel experience from take-off to landing.”
Air France explained that this expanded service makes it easier for South Africans to connect seamlessly to Europe, the Americas, and beyond via Paris.
The airline also encouraged South Africans to secure their seats early for the peak holiday season, as bookings are now open.
Flight risk warning
This announcement comes amidst the uncertainty of international flights to the European Union and the United States.
South Africa’s Department of Transport recently warned that South Africa has failed to establish an independent body to investigate aviation accidents and incidents.
This is required by annex 13 of the Chicago Convention – an international treaty governing civil aviation.
South Africa’s aviation incident investigations are currently performed by the Civil Aviation Authority.
However, the Convention requires that all flight accident investigations be conducted independently and impartially by a separate body.
The Chicago Convention does not consider the Civil Aviation Authority to be sufficiently independent of the government.
The DoT stated that it will table this issue before the cabinet to seek a resolution.
“This could lead to SA obtaining an audit finding of a serious safety concern,” states the draft policy.
“As a result, SA airlines will not be allowed to fly into the US and EU airspace. Similarly, US and EU airlines will not fly into SA airspace due to safety concerns.”
The draft policy indicates that the DoT plans to establish an independent aircraft accident investigation entity by 2027.
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