Nashville International Airport is getting a direct line to the City of Light. Air France will launch three-times-weekly nonstop service between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and BNA starting May 14, 2027, flying a three-cabin Airbus A350-900 on a route that spans 4,372 miles each way.
According to Nashville Post, the service will operate Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with flights departing Paris at 2:10 p.m. local time and leaving Nashville at 6:55 p.m., details that were also confirmed by Air France. There's a distinctly Music City touch built into the schedule, too: the carrier assigned the route flight number AF046 as a tribute to country icon Dolly Parton, who was born in 1946.
The move makes Air France the fourth European carrier to serve BNA, joining British Airways, which launched London Heathrow service in 2018, and both Icelandair and Aer Lingus, which began flying to Reykjavik and Dublin, respectively, in April 2025, per reporting from Simple Flying. Tickets go on sale October 14, and the airline's entry also marks the first time a SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture carrier will fly nonstop out of Nashville, putting it in direct competition with Oneworld carriers British Airways and Aer Lingus, according to One Mile at a Time.
Strong Demand Driving the Expansion
The new nonstop isn't arriving out of nowhere. Sabre Market Intelligence data cited by Aviation Week shows roughly 568,900 round-trip passengers flew between Nashville and Europe in 2025, a 22.4% jump from the year before, with Paris already ranking as BNA's fourth-largest European market at about 33,600 passengers. That demand has pushed capacity sharply upward: OAG schedule data shows Nashville offered 220,400 round-trip seats to Europe during summer 2026, a 17.5% increase year-over-year, led by British Airways' 125,900 seats to London Heathrow and Aer Lingus' 54,500 seats to Dublin.
Air France's arrival also reflects a broader reshuffling of its fleet. The carrier is exiting Denver International Airport in October, freeing up Airbus A350-900 aircraft as United Airlines prepares to launch daily Denver–Paris flights in May 2027, the trade publication reported. Rather than compete head-on in Denver, Air France is redirecting that capacity toward unserved, high-demand markets.
San Diego Gets the Same Treatment
Nashville isn't the only non-hub city catching Air France's attention. The airline also announced nonstop, three-times-weekly service between Paris and San Diego International Airport starting May 3, 2027, using the same Airbus A350-900 aircraft, according to Upgraded Points. Pairing the two launches suggests Air France sees comparable origin-and-destination demand building in both cities, independent of traditional hub connections.
An Airport Built for the Moment
The timing lines up with a record stretch for BNA. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority reported the airport welcomed 26.7 million passengers during fiscal year 2026, a 7.7% increase over the prior year, while expanding its nonstop network to a record 115 destinations. That growth is being matched with infrastructure investment: BNA's $3 billion “New Horizon” capital expansion program recently opened an extended Concourse D with five new gates and has begun demolishing Concourse A to make way for a 16-gate replacement expected by 2028, according to the Williamson Source.
Together, the new gates and the growing roster of European carriers point to an airport positioning itself as a genuine international hub for Middle Tennessee, rather than a connecting-city afterthought. For travelers who've grown used to routing through London or Dublin to reach continental Europe, the new Air France service offers something new: a straight shot from BNA to Paris, no connections required.
