An A380 in Airbus house colors in a display at the Paris Air Show in June 2009. Air France has ordered 12 of the type and will put the first A380 in Air France service in November (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
Air France has unveiled their first example of the Airbus A380 at an Airbus facility in Hamburg. The airline, a unit of largest European airline conglomerate Air France-KLM, has also said the A380 will be used on the premier Paris Charles de Gaulle – New York JFK route on a daily frequency, beginning in November 2009. The Air France service would mark a return of the A380 to New York, service that began last year with a nonstop to Dubai on an Emirates A380. Emirates later downgraded that service to a smaller aircraft, choosing to fly the A380 to Toronto instead. The United States has not been without A380 service, however, as QANTAS has placed the aircraft on the Los Angeles – Melbourne service albeit not daily. The aircraft will debut on the Los Angeles – Sydney flight this fall.
Air France has plans to operate the A380 in a three class configuration, seating a total of 538 passengers: 80 seats in Affaires (Business) and 106 in Voyageur (Economy) on the upper deck, with 9 seats in Premiere (First) and 343 in Voyageur on the main deck. While many airlines have announced upgraded or new services with the introduction of the A380 (Singapore with Suites, Emirates with showers, and QANTAS with a general redesign and Premium Economy), Air France has made no such claims, as yet. The airline does tout itself as the first European carrier to operate the A380, as well as the first airline to fly the aircraft on services between Europe and the United States.
Air France’s announcement comes at a time when competitor British Airways has announced capacity cuts to include deferral of planned A380 deliveries, and many airlines are scrambling to fill seats on existing smaller aircraft. However, the Paris – New York flights are among the most densely traveled in the airline’s network, so it is a reasonable fit. The schedule has not yet been loaded, so no word on which of the four daily JFK-CDG flights the aircraft will operate on, but the two likely candidates appear to be AF6/7 or AF 10/11, both now operated with the higher capacity 777-300 or 747-400 as opposed to the other two flights operated by the 777-200. Between the two flights, Air France Classe Premiere is currently only offered on AF6/7, so it could use the introduction of the A380 to replace the 747-400 and offered Premiere on all JFK departures, or with the drop in premium class bookings, the aircraft could replace the 777-300 for a slight overall capacity increase on the route.
Air France is one of the world’s oldest and largest air carriers, serving 183 destinations in 98 countries, with a fleet of 411 aircraft operating an average of 1,700 daily flights. The airline and its subsidiaries employ a worldwide staff of 74,959.
Comments