Air France Will Scrap Tokyo Narita Route In October After Losing Aircalin Connection

Air France

has decided to scrap its flights to

Tokyo Narita Airport

(NRT) altogether as it consolidates its flights to the Japanese capital at

Tokyo Haneda Airport

(HND). The latest move comes after

Aircalin

, the flag carrier of New Caledonia, also decided to leave Tokyo altogether as it completely reshuffles its international network in light of a fragile political climate locally.

Sayonara Narita

New Caledonia is a French overseas territory and, as such, links to the mainland are fairly important. Typically, Aircalin and Air France have partnered to ensure a one-stop connection between Nouméa (New Caledonia) and Paris (France). Narita was a key airport for this operation, although Singapore has also been used.

Air France

IATA/ICAO Code

AF/AFR

Year Founded

1933

CEO

Anne Rigail

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Now, Aircalin announced it would be cutting Tokyo from its network entirely, meaning Paris will only be accessible via Singapore. As Air France’s main Tokyo operation is based in Haneda, Narita primarily served to facilitate the Paris-Nouméa link. According to its own booking platform, the last flight from Paris is scheduled for October 25, while the last return service departs the following day.

When asked by Simple Flying, Air France confirmed the following in a statement:

“Air France confirms that from October 27, 2024, all its flights to and from Tokyo will be operated from Tokyo-Haneda airport, the closest to the Japanese capital. The airline will now offer up to 15 flights a week to and from Tokyo.

This change in service follows Aircalin’s decision to suspend its service between Tokyo-Narita and Nouméa, which until now provided a connection between Paris and Nouméa. Customers with tickets to Tokyo-Narita will automatically be rebooked on a flight to Tokyo-Haneda.

Customers holding a ticket on the Paris-Nouméa route are automatically rebooked on flights via Singapore (Paris-Singapore route operated by Air France, Singapore-Nouméa route operated by Aircalin).”

Overall Tokyo flights

Air France operates two daily flights between Paris and Tokyo Haneda. Cirium data consulted by Simple Flying shows that the carrier will offer 14 weekly flights on the Boeing 777-300ER in September.

In October, the division of aircraft will change, although frequencies will remain the same. Boeing 777-200ER equipment will take over one of the daily flights on both Wednesdays and Thursdays (the day of departure for outbound).

Interestingly, in November, the Airbus A350-900 will be deployed alongside the 777-300ER, offering seven weekly flights. The Boeing widebody will offer eight weekly flights as the carrier adds an additional weekly flight on Friday. As such, as indicated in the statement issued by Air France above, 15 weekly flights will be offered from November.

Japan Airlines

and

All Nippon Airways

are also on the Haneda to Paris sector. They will both offer daily flights in September, October, and November on the 777-300ER and 787-9, respectively.

Air Calin cuts

An unprecedented political crisis in New Caledonia was triggered in May 2024 after the French government sought to revise the constitution to allow French settlers residing in the territory for at least 10 years to vote in New Caledonian provincial elections. This move has been seen as a dilutement of the indigenous Kanak population’s power. Ten-year-residents are currently excluded from voting in these elections, a fact temporarily allowed by the European Court of Human Rights in the context of a process of decolonization.

Photo: Aircalin

The French government declared a state of emergency in response to protests against its proposed constitutional edits. As Simple Flying reported in May,

this violence led to the closure of both airports serving the territory.

Aircalin has been struggling due to the fragile situation. Recently announced cuts will see it completely suspend flights to Tokyo as of September 1. Services to Melbourne and Papeete have already been axed.