Air France will launch a new daily service from Southampton to Paris Orly Airport starting next month in partnership with Eastern Airways.

The route will be operated by Eastern Airways, Air France’s regional partner, with the first flight arriving in Southampton the morning of Friday, April 14. The one hour 25-minute service will be operated on Eastern Airways fleet of ATR-72 aircraft, which has a 72-seat capacity. The flight will depart from Orly at 09.30 arriving Southampton at 09.55; and on return will depart from Southampton at 10.35 arriving Orly 12.55 hours.

Christopher Tibbett, Group Head of Airline Relations and Marketing for Southampton Airport, said: ‘This is a fantastic route announcement from Air France and Eastern Airways offering a great addition to our summer schedule at Southampton in 2023, building on partner airline KLM’s double-daily flights to Amsterdam.

‘I’m sure a daily service to Orly, which will deliver quick and convenient connectivity to one of Europe’s greatest destinations, will be very popular with our passengers from Southampton and the wider Hampshire region.’

Besides offering onward connections to several Air France routes including popular French cities such as Nice, Toulouse and Marseilles, Orly Airport is less than 10 miles away from the French capital with speedy train links. The airport is also ideally located for those heading to Disneyland.

Roger Hage, Commercial Director, Eastern Airways, added: ‘We are delighted to be entering into this cooperation with Air France and opening up connectivity to Europe’s second biggest city for both business and leisure travellers and restoring direct access year-round to France.’

Fahmi Mahjoub, General Manager United Kingdom & Ireland, Air France/KLM said: ‘This new cooperation between Air France and Eastern Airways is a very positive move and comes in response to the growing appetite for travel to Paris that we have noticed from all over the United Kingdom.’