Major airline launches surprising flight between Las Vegas and Paris | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Amid the falloff in international travel into the United States under the current presidential administration, the city of Las Vegas is taking what is perhaps the greatest hit.

Statistics from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority show the resort and gambling epicenter, which relies on both domestic and international visitors, recorded just over 400 million fewer monthly visitors in the summer of 2025, compared to the prior year.

While Canadians and Mexicans traditionally make up the bulk of international visitors due to proximity of the countries, the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown and earlier comments making light of Canadian sovereignty plunged the number of visitors from both countries to historic lows.

Accordingly, Canadian airlines Air Canada and WestJet both recorded approximately 30% fewer arrivals to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) relative to last year.

Paris flight will “create lasting economic benefits for our community”: aviation director

“International travel is way down,” Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley said at a press conference last August. “People are not coming to the United States.”

But despite this trend, French flag carrier Air France just shared that it will launch a 10-and-a-half-hour flight to Las Vegas from Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris that will run between April and October 2026.

Air France was initially slated to test the route for a limited tryout around the annual Consumer Electronics Show in 2026, but has decided to proceed with a full launch.

“Our ongoing collaboration with Air France, highlighted by the success of the CES charter service, has laid the foundation for this exciting new route,” Clark County Department of Aviation Director James Chrisley said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“This partnership will not only enhance global connectivity, but also create lasting economic benefits for our community and the entire region.”

Air France will start running a flight between Las Vegas and Paris in April 2026.

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Want to fly direct to Las Vegas from Paris? Here are the flight details

The flight will run three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays on an Airbus A350-900 plane with 344 seats, of which 34 are in business class, 24 are in premium economy, and 266 are in regular economy class.

“We are thrilled to announce our new nonstop service between Las Vegas and Paris, our 19th U.S. destination, further expanding Air France’s presence in the United States,” Nicolas Henin, Air France-KLM’s general manager for North America, said in a statement from the airline.

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“This exciting new route will connect travelers from Las Vegas and the greater Southwest to Paris and our extensive global network across Europe and beyond.”

According to numbers released by the airline, the new route is expected to increase capacity between the two cities by 26,892 for the season during which the flight will run. The route will also enhance travel opportunities between the two cities for those connecting from other parts of Europe through Paris.

Without commenting on why Las Vegas specifically was chosen, given the string of months with declining visitor numbers to the city from most European countries, Air France further called the route a “game-changer [that] opens an exciting new gateway to the European market.”