Air France: New Ottawa – Paris flight extended this winter

Update July 12, 2023: Air France announced today that the Ottawa – Paris flight will continue in winter, and will therefore be available year-round. The frequency will be the same, i.e. five days a week as shown in the schedule below.

Service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal will also continue this winter. In addition, the seasonal service between Montreal and Guadeloupe (Point-à-Pitre) will resume this winter from December 2, 2023.

Following the opening of a new route between Quebec City (YQB) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) last summer, Air France is continuing its expansion in Canada.

Since June 27, 2023, five direct flights a week between Ottawa (YOW) and Paris (CDG) have been operated by Air France.

Here is the schedule:

The aircraft used is an Airbus A330-200 with a capacity of 224 seats (36 in the Business cabin, 21 in Premium Economy and 167 in Economy).

Ticket reservations are available.

This is good news for residents of the Ottawa and Gatineau area. They had to use a free shuttle bus service between Ottawa and Montreal to travel on Air France. This service will still be offered twice a week, depending on the flight.

Ottawa is already appearing as a destination in Flying Blue’s monthly Promo Rewards (offering between 25% and 50% off airfares). So of course you can use your Flying Blue Miles to book this new flight.

Inaugurated in summer 2022, the seasonal Paris-Charles de Gaulle – Quebec route is renewed this year.

Since May 2, 2023, three flights a week have been operated by Boeing 787-9. Here is the schedule:

In addition, Air France flights from Canada to Paris – Charles de Gaulle are up 25% on 2019. For example, there are flights:

• Paris CDG to Montreal up to three flights per day
• Paris CDG to Toronto two flights per day
• Paris CDG to Vancouver one flight per day

In addition, next summer, KLM (from the same group as Air France), will connect Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS) to :

• Toronto (up to 13 flights per week)
• Calgary (7 flights per week)
• Vancouver (up to 7 flights per week)
• Montreal (up to 5 flights per week)
• Edmonton (up to 4 flights per week)

The primary method of earning Flying Blue miles in Canada is through American Express Rewards Cards. You can transfer your Membership Rewards into Flying Blue Miles at a ratio of 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 750 Flying Blue Miles.

Here are the American Express Rewards Cards available in Canada:

The best Membership Rewards card in Canada for earning Flying Blue miles is the American Express Cobalt^® Card as it offers:

• 5 points per dollar for grocery, restaurant, bar, food delivery, or convenience store purchases
• 3 points per dollar for streaming services
• 2 points per dollar for travel, local transportation, and gas stations
• 1 point per dollar on everything else

If we translate this into Flying Blue Miles, we get:

• 3.75 Flying Blue Miles per dollar for grocery, restaurant, bar, food delivery, or convenience store purchases
• 2.25 Flying Blue Miles per dollar for streaming services
• 1.5 Flying Blue Miles per dollar for travel, local transportation, and gas stations
• 0.75 Flying Blue Miles per dollar for other purchases

The second method of earning Flying Blue miles in Canada is through Marriott Bonvoy Amex credit cards. You can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles including Flying Blue Miles at the ratio of 3 Marriott Bonvoy points = 1 Mile.

And if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll earn 5,000 bonus Miles. Thus, 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Flying Blue Miles.

The two Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards available in Canada are:

Air France is strengthening its expansion in Canada: after Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Ottawa has joined the list of cities served from Paris.

This is good news for travellers in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, as Air France will be the only airline operating direct flights between Ottawa and Europe.