A380 In The Air France Fleet; Very Large Seating Capacity For 538 Passengers; Improved Comfort, Quieter And More Spacious; One Of The Most Environmentally-Friendly Aircraft

Today, Air France is taking delivery of its first Airbus A380, the world's largest airliner, which can carry 538 passengers over 13,000 km. Three of the twelve planes on order will be delivered to Air France between now and spring 2010, to be closely followed by a fourth. Starting on 23 November 2009, the Air France A380 will be operated on daily flights between Paris - Charles de Gaulle and New York - JFK, followed by Paris-Johannesburg during winter 2009-2010.

Air France is therefore the first European carrier to operate this Superjumbo, and the first airline worldwide to offer transatlantic flights between Europe and the USA with this aircraft.

The A380 is particularly well-suited to the strategy of Air France, and its size is an ideal match for the airline's powerful hub at Paris - Charles de Gaulle.

Its four state-of-the-art GP 7200 engines, its aerodynamic shape and its fuselage integrating the latest technologies make the A380 the most environmentally-friendly aircraft of its category.

"In 1996, Air France based its decision to acquire the A380 on objective criteria which proved that the performance of this aircraft was ideally suited to the Company's requirements", declared Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Air France-KLM.