Air France expands Africa schedule, extends Cape Town

Published on Oct 11, 2025, 1:04 pm CDT

5 min read

Air France is steadily growing across Africa, focusing on routes with proven demand rather than new geographies. For summer 2025, the carrier keeps Paris, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro at up to three weekly flights, boosts Paris, Brazzaville from seven to 10 weekly flights beginning June 16, 2025, and upgauges Nairobi to the Airbus A350-900. South Africa remains a standout, with the airline extending its seasonal Paris, Cape Town service through May 3, 2026, citing exceptional demand. The daily Cape Town rotation runs on A350 aircraft with morning southbound and evening northbound departures.

Key points

Why it matters: More seats and frequencies on high-demand Africa routes.
Travel impact: Added capacity on Nairobi, extended Cape Town season into May 2026.
What's next: Summer 2025 schedule rolls out from March 30, 2025, with Congo frequency increase June 16.
Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro continue as a linked triangle from Paris.
SAS codeshare now places its code on Johannesburg and Cape Town via Air France-KLM.

Snapshot

Air France's Africa push centers on reinforcing winners. The Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro service, launched in winter 2024, continues into summer with up to three weekly A350 flights. From June 16, 2025, Brazzaville grows to 10 weekly frequencies, improving day-of-week choice for corporate and visiting-friends-and-relatives travelers. Nairobi shifts to the A350-900 from the 787-9, increasing capacity and product consistency. In South Africa, the seasonal Cape Town link now runs until May 3, 2026, with daily A350 service. Flight AF0871 departs Cape Town International Airport (CPT) at 850 a.m., arrives Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) at 720 p.m.; AF0890 leaves Paris at 630 p.m., arrives Cape Town at 645 a.m. the next day.

Background

Winter 2024 introduced Kilimanjaro as an extension of Zanzibar, giving Tanzania two points in Air France's portfolio. As schedules transitioned toward summer 2025, the airline detailed broader long-haul adjustments, including the Nairobi upgauge and Brazzaville frequency lift. Concurrently, Scandinavian Airlines expanded its codeshare with Air France-KLM in February 2025, adding Johannesburg and Cape Town, which channels Nordic demand onto Air France's Southern Africa network. Cape Town's strong European winter appeal, combined with robust outbound travel to Europe, helped justify pushing the seasonal end date into early May 2026. The approach underscores a strategy of consolidating capacity where load factors and yields already validate investment.

Latest developments

Summer 2025: Tanzania and Congo frequencies, Kenya upgauge

Air France's Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro, launched November 2024, continues with up to three weekly flights. From June 16, 2025, Paris-Brazzaville increases to 10 weekly services, expanding choice and connectivity over CDG. Nairobi transitions from the 787-9 to the A350-900, adding seats and aligning the onboard product with Air France's latest long-haul standard. These changes are part of the airline's published summer 2025 program, effective March 30, 2025, with select frequency ramps mid-season.

Cape Town extension through May 3, 2026

Responding to exceptional demand, Air France extends the seasonal Paris, Cape Town service until May 3, 2026. The daily A350 operation keeps its published timings, AF0871 departing Cape Town at 850 a.m. and AF0890 departing Paris at 630 p.m. Air France-KLM's Southern Africa Country Manager, Wilson Tauro, called Cape Town "one of the most inspiring destinations" in the network, noting the route's strong uptake among South Africans traveling to Europe and international visitors heading to the Mother City.

Partnership feed from Scandinavia

SAS widened its codeshare with Air France-KLM on February 26, 2025, adding Johannesburg and Cape Town. This brings additional Scandinavian traffic into the Air France network for Southern Africa, supporting the carrier's capacity decisions on Cape Town and beyond.

Analysis

Air France is executing a classic strengthen-the-core strategy in Africa. Rather than launching brand-new stations, the airline is adding density where it already sees durable demand, for example, Brazzaville and Nairobi. That reduces commercial risk, improves schedule utility, and deepens feed over Paris. The A350-900 upgauge on Nairobi improves seat count and product continuity, helpful on a route with a healthy mix of corporate, NGO, and leisure traffic. Continuing the Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro triangle leverages Tanzania's twin-market appeal, while maintaining aircraft time efficiency. The Cape Town extension into May 2026 is a logical next step after several strong southern summers, allowing Air France to capture late-season leisure and shoulder-season business travel while preserving aircraft flexibility for the northern summer. Add the SAS codeshare, and the network benefits from stronger Scandinavia-to-Southern Africa flows, improving both cabin mix and seasonality smoothing. Overall, this is a measured growth plan that favors reliability, connectivity, and yields over splashy new dots on the map.

Final thoughts

For travelers, the message is more choice on proven routes, not speculative launches. Expect better day-of-week coverage in Congo, bigger cabins to Nairobi, and a longer Cape Town season that now runs to May 3, 2026. If you are planning East Africa safaris, island time in Zanzibar, or a Cape Town city-and-winelands escape, the expanded schedule improves your odds of finding a fare or cabin that fits your plans. Air France's strategy suggests continued investment where the carrier already has momentum, a steady path that should keep Africa network performance strong and traveler options growing on the core Air France Africa expansion.