Music City is about to have a direct line to the City of Light. Air France will launch its first-ever Nashville service, with non-stop flights between Nashville International Airport (BNA) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) starting May 14, 2027.

The route will run three times a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — on the Airbus A350-900, one of the airline's newer long-haul aircraft. Expect a flight time of just under nine and a half hours westbound... actually, eastbound to Paris; either way, it's a single comfortable hop rather than a connection through Atlanta, New York or Chicago.

There's a charming detail baked into the flight number: AF046, a nod to 1946, the year Dolly Parton was born. It's a fitting tribute given Nashville's cultural pull, and Air France is clearly leaning into it. Nicolas Hénin, the airline's SVP for North America, described the city as dynamic, distinctive and growing in international appeal — a fair read on a place that has become one of America's fastest-rising destinations for both domestic and inbound travellers.

For Middle Tennessee, this is a genuinely big deal. Nashville has lacked a nonstop link to a major European hub, meaning locals heading to France, Italy, Spain or beyond have had to connect stateside first. From CDG, Air France's hub opens up easy one-stop access across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In the other direction, the flight gives French and European travellers a direct gateway to honky-tonks, hot chicken and the Grand Ole Opry — no connecting flight required.

For travellers, the practical upshot is simple: if you're based in Nashville or anywhere within driving distance, Paris in under ten hours becomes a realistic long weekend or a spring break anchor. Book early for summer dates — new widebody routes to popular European capitals tend to fill fast in June and July, and introductory fares on fresh routes don't last forever.

Worth noting for the plane-curious: the A350-900 is widely liked for quieter cabins, better air quality and larger windows, so the westbound daytime-or-overnight slog feels a little less sloggy. And if you're the type who books by flight number, AF046 is now the one to remember.

Story via Global Traveler.