Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.
As guests stepped off Air France’s inaugural flight from Paris into Harry Reid International Airport, they were met with a celebration befitting the occasion — applause, flutes of champagne, branded cookies, a pair of showgirls dressed in red, and a blue gift bag marking the end of their roughly 10.5-hour journey across the Atlantic and most of the continental United States.
Some had come for business, others for pleasure, but all shared the distinction of being the very first passengers to fly Air France’s new nonstop route from Paris to Las Vegas.
“Paris is a really important international hub, which means that it opens up countless European and other connections for travelers who would want to go between Las Vegas and that area of the world,” Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said. “I have a love of Paris … What a beautiful city, and it marries up very nicely with Las Vegas, which is a beautiful city of lights.”
The service is the first of its kind linking Southern Nevada directly to one of Europe’s most iconic tourist destinations — and the marquee addition to Air France’s summer 2026 schedule. When the route between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Harry Reid International was announced last October, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill called it “a significant milestone in strengthening” Las Vegas’ global reach.
Fletch Brunelle, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA, said Air France had been charting special flights to Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show for the past seven years, but people otherwise had to rely on connections at airports like Los Angeles International or Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands.
Visitors from France accounted for 86,000 of the almost 1.2 million visitors from Europe to Las Vegas in 2024, according to data from the LVCVA.
The flights from Paris will be offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with seasonal service beginning on April 15 and running through Oct. 24. The airline already flies out of other major metropolitan airports such as Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C. – making Las Vegas its 19th destination in the U.S.
Air France deployed its “most modern” Airbus A350-900 aircraft for the flight route, bringing with it meals created by Michelin-starred chefs and free WiFi, said Nicolas Henin, Air France-KLM general manager for North America.
The CES charters helped prove that Las Vegas had the infrastructure to host direct service to Paris, Brunelle added.
“This group now signals both strong demand and deepening ties between our regions,” Brunelle said. “With this nonstop service, French visitors can now arrive in Las Vegas faster and more conveniently than ever, ready to experience world-class entertainment, culinary excellence and unforgettable hospitality.”
With this new direct route, almost 27,000 seats per season can be filled, which the LVCVA expects to generate $34 million in annual economic impact.
Brunelle touted new attractions that French tourists will be able to enjoy in the coming year, including the Hard Rock Hotel opening at the end of 2027, and teased a new partnership with Michelin to rate restaurants in Las Vegas.
Wednesday’s first flight from Paris was 95% full, and Henin said that the market “is responding very, very positively.”
Leaders from the county commission and LVCVA are confident that this will become a popular route, opening the possibility of increasing the number of flights and months in service.
The LVCVA plans to place more marketing in France to draw potential tourists, and is considering collaborating with tour operators and travel agents within the market.
Adrien Frier, consul general of France in Los Angeles, said the number of French nationals that have made homes in Las Vegas increased by 10% last year; trade between the two regions has increased; and French companies are creating about 4,000 new jobs in the state.
Frier added that there was no better year to initiate this service than during the 250th year of the United States’ independence, recognizing the “amazing and unique friendship” the two countries have fostered.
“Thank you to everyone who played a role in this connection because, as was said, it takes about 10 hours to do the trip, but it takes much longer to actually build a connection like this,” Frier said. “While we are extremely proud of those past 250 years of friendship, I’m convinced that this connection will play a critical role for the next 250 years of friendship between the two countries.”