Planes, trains, and ferries: The new international travel routes from France in 2023
New flight routes in and out of France, ferry service updates for 2023, Eurotunnel news and a cross-Channel ferry route returns.
Flights
Ryanair has set up five new winter routes from Bordeaux-Mérignac, to Birmingham, Barcelona, Malta, Tenerife, and Santiago de Compostela.
Flights to Birmingham operate on Thursdays and Sundays. This winter schedule will last until the end of March.
Ryanair will also launch a new service between Leeds-Bradford and Perpignan between June and October, offering flights on Mondays and Thursdays.
And twice-weekly flights between Birmingham and Toulouse are among seven new services the budget airline is offering out of the southwest France airport this winter season. Other new routes out of the Pink City are: Krakow, Luxembourg, Rabat, Rome, Tenerife and Venice.
US airline JetBlue has announced flights between Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, New York-JFK and Boston from summer 2023.
Air France has announced that it will be bringing back its thrice-weekly Paris-Charles de Gaulle-Hong Kong service - suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic - from January 9th, 2023. The company will also launch a daily non-stop service running between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and New York- Newark Liberty Airport, the second largest international airport serving New York and the surrounding area, in 2023. Air France will also extend its summer Paris-Charles de Gaulle - Dallas route during the 2022-2023 winter season, with three flights per week.
Dutch airline KLM is to offer daily flights between Rennes and Amsterdam from March 26th, 2023.
WizzAir will offer flights four times a week between Lyon and Gatwick from January as part of a raft of new services out of the airport in eastern France. Wizzair will also offer flights to Rome, Tirana and Krakow from Lyon;
Transavia will have flights to Dakar, Tenerife, Hurghada, Stockholm, Istanbul and Las Palmas; Jordanian Airlines will fly to Amman from Lyon, Twinjet to Milan, and Air Serbia to Belgrade.
EasyJet will launch a new route between Tarbes-Lourdes Pyrénées and Milan Malpensa from March until the end of 2023, and has announced new routes between Paris-Beauvais, Nice, and Milan.
British Airways is running flights between Edinburgh and Chambéry-Savoie-Mont-Blanc on Saturdays until April 15th.
Marseille-Provence will have twice-weekly flights to two new destinations – Florence and Copenhagan – from the end of March 2023.
Ferry services
Brittany Ferries will reopen its Le Havre-Portsmouth crossings for car and foot passengers from March 1st, 2023.
It will also run a weekend service from Le Havre to Rosslare, Ireland, from the same date.
Stena Line is increasing capacity on its Ireland-France route with the addition of an extra vessel on its Rosslare – Cherbourg sailings starting in June 2023.
The Stena Vision has space for 1,300 passengers in 485 passenger cabins. It also has space for 120 freight units (trucks or trailers), 440 cars, or a combination of both.
DFDS Seaways will continue to operate the Dieppe-Newhaven ferry crossing until at least 2027.
Trains
Eurostar has said it will not resume services from Calais-Fréthun in 2023, while Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations in Kent also remain shut for now. The firm will also not run London to Disneyland Paris trains during summer 2023, blaming Covid, Brexit and preparations for the European Entry/Exit System.
Eurotunnel announced a hike in prices for coaches and the end of cheaper ‘short stay’ returns. All journeys will now be sold as singles priced in the UK at up to £1,100 at peak times. Expect more coach firms to use ferries to cross the Channel.
There is also a new weekly rail service running between Freiburg, Germany and Bordeaux, connecting Germany's southwest Black Forest region to France's wine capital, Bordeaux. This line is also expected to be popular as it allows tourists coming from France to have easy-access to the Europa Theme park, located north of Freiburg on the Franco-German border, with a specific station for the park "Ringsheim." The Bordeaux-Freiburg route will pass through Angoulême, Poitiers, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Massy TGV, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Strasbourg.
The SNCF TGV route opened in mid-December, just ahead of the new year.
France will also be connected to the theme park with new lines running from the Paris region and the Grand-Est region, journeys to Europa park will depart from Paris Gare de l'Est, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine, and Strasbourg.
France may also be better connected to the German capital in 2023, as well, according to SNCF head Jean-Pierre Farandou. In an interview in May, Farandou announced that a direct TGV between Paris and Berlin would be launched at the end of 2023 in cooperation with the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. The journey is expected to run approximately seven hours. The SNCF head also discussed plans to add a night train on the same line, also at the end of 2023.
Environmental travel
In 2023 low-carbon ferry service SailLink will offer a new, greener way of crossing the English Channel people travelling by foot or bicycle between the ports of Dover and Boulogne on a 12-person catamaran.
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Flights
Ryanair has set up five new winter routes from Bordeaux-Mérignac, to Birmingham, Barcelona, Malta, Tenerife, and Santiago de Compostela.
Flights to Birmingham operate on Thursdays and Sundays. This winter schedule will last until the end of March.
Ryanair will also launch a new service between Leeds-Bradford and Perpignan between June and October, offering flights on Mondays and Thursdays.
And twice-weekly flights between Birmingham and Toulouse are among seven new services the budget airline is offering out of the southwest France airport this winter season. Other new routes out of the Pink City are: Krakow, Luxembourg, Rabat, Rome, Tenerife and Venice.
US airline JetBlue has announced flights between Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, New York-JFK and Boston from summer 2023.
Air France has announced that it will be bringing back its thrice-weekly Paris-Charles de Gaulle-Hong Kong service - suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic - from January 9th, 2023. The company will also launch a daily non-stop service running between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and New York- Newark Liberty Airport, the second largest international airport serving New York and the surrounding area, in 2023. Air France will also extend its summer Paris-Charles de Gaulle - Dallas route during the 2022-2023 winter season, with three flights per week.
Dutch airline KLM is to offer daily flights between Rennes and Amsterdam from March 26th, 2023.
WizzAir will offer flights four times a week between Lyon and Gatwick from January as part of a raft of new services out of the airport in eastern France. Wizzair will also offer flights to Rome, Tirana and Krakow from Lyon;
Transavia will have flights to Dakar, Tenerife, Hurghada, Stockholm, Istanbul and Las Palmas; Jordanian Airlines will fly to Amman from Lyon, Twinjet to Milan, and Air Serbia to Belgrade.
EasyJet will launch a new route between Tarbes-Lourdes Pyrénées and Milan Malpensa from March until the end of 2023, and has announced new routes between Paris-Beauvais, Nice, and Milan.
British Airways is running flights between Edinburgh and Chambéry-Savoie-Mont-Blanc on Saturdays until April 15th.
Marseille-Provence will have twice-weekly flights to two new destinations – Florence and Copenhagan – from the end of March 2023.
Ferry services
Brittany Ferries will reopen its Le Havre-Portsmouth crossings for car and foot passengers from March 1st, 2023.
It will also run a weekend service from Le Havre to Rosslare, Ireland, from the same date.
Stena Line is increasing capacity on its Ireland-France route with the addition of an extra vessel on its Rosslare – Cherbourg sailings starting in June 2023.
The Stena Vision has space for 1,300 passengers in 485 passenger cabins. It also has space for 120 freight units (trucks or trailers), 440 cars, or a combination of both.
DFDS Seaways will continue to operate the Dieppe-Newhaven ferry crossing until at least 2027.
Trains
Eurostar has said it will not resume services from Calais-Fréthun in 2023, while Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations in Kent also remain shut for now. The firm will also not run London to Disneyland Paris trains during summer 2023, blaming Covid, Brexit and preparations for the European Entry/Exit System.
Eurotunnel announced a hike in prices for coaches and the end of cheaper ‘short stay’ returns. All journeys will now be sold as singles priced in the UK at up to £1,100 at peak times. Expect more coach firms to use ferries to cross the Channel.
There is also a new weekly rail service running between Freiburg, Germany and Bordeaux, connecting Germany's southwest Black Forest region to France's wine capital, Bordeaux. This line is also expected to be popular as it allows tourists coming from France to have easy-access to the Europa Theme park, located north of Freiburg on the Franco-German border, with a specific station for the park "Ringsheim." The Bordeaux-Freiburg route will pass through Angoulême, Poitiers, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Massy TGV, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Strasbourg.
The SNCF TGV route opened in mid-December, just ahead of the new year.
France will also be connected to the theme park with new lines running from the Paris region and the Grand-Est region, journeys to Europa park will depart from Paris Gare de l'Est, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine, and Strasbourg.
France may also be better connected to the German capital in 2023, as well, according to SNCF head Jean-Pierre Farandou. In an interview in May, Farandou announced that a direct TGV between Paris and Berlin would be launched at the end of 2023 in cooperation with the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. The journey is expected to run approximately seven hours. The SNCF head also discussed plans to add a night train on the same line, also at the end of 2023.
Environmental travel
In 2023 low-carbon ferry service SailLink will offer a new, greener way of crossing the English Channel people travelling by foot or bicycle between the ports of Dover and Boulogne on a 12-person catamaran.
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