Air France Launching New Flights From Atlanta to the French Caribbean

There’s a significant new gateway to the French Caribbean, and it’s from a surprising source.

The busiest airport in the United States, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, is getting new nonstop flights to Guadeloupe on Europe’s Air France.

Beginning Nov. 21, the carrier will launch new nonstop flights between Atlanta and Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe.

The flights will depart Pointe a Pitre on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with flights from Atlanta to Guadeloupe on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The Cap-Est lagoon resort in Martinique.

Customers can take the Pointe a Pitre flight and continue to Fort de France, Martinique on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Customers flying from Martinique and French Guiana will also be able to fly to Atlanta as a continuation of the Pointe a Pitre service on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The charming Les Saintes archipelago of Guadeloupe.

“This new service is in line with the Group’s offensive strategy,” the company said in a release. “As part of its Trust Together corporate project, the expansion of the fleet combined with a more intensive use of its aircraft makes it possible to offer new routes.”

Martinique is perhaps the Caribbean’s greatest destination for rum, thanks to world-class distilleries like Depaz, above.

It’s a strategy similar to that of European low-cost carrier Norwegian, which recently launched an expansion from a number of U.S. airports to both Guadeloupe and Martinique, taking advantage of the fact that it is already cleared to fly between the U.S. and Europe — Martinique and Guadeloupe, as departments of France, are within the European Union.

The latter is what makes islands like Martinique and Guadeloupe so appealing for the discerning traveler, thanks to a fascinating mix of French and Caribbean sensibilities.

Indeed, at the beginning of the year, Caribbean Journal named Martinique the number one destination to visit in the Caribbean.