- First European airline to serve Shanghai by Airbus A380
- Three weekly flights on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Shanghai-Pudong by Airbus A380
- 516 passengers on board and optimum comfort in all cabin classes
2013-09-06 — /travelprnews.com/ — Starting today, Air France now offers customers three weekly flights to Shanghai-Pudong by Airbus A380, becoming the first European airline to serve the Chinese financial centre with its
superjumbo.
“The arrival of our superjumbo in Shanghai illustrates Air France’s intention to continue its expansion in China, a strategic and fast-growing region. With the A380, our customers can enjoy an optimum travel experience in all cabin classes, as well as services specially adapted to the Chinese culture” declared Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of Air France.
On board its Airbus A380, Air France offers customers four cabin classes (La Première, Business, Pre-mium Economy and Economy) as well as several exclusive new features for a unique travel experience and even more comfort:
• A particularly quiet cabin
• An extremely spacious cabin interior
• 6 bars providing a friendly inflight atmosphere
Air France operates 28 weekly flights to Shanghai-Pudong on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, fourteen of which are operated on a code-share basis by China Eastern Airlines, a SkyTeam member airline.
Flight schedules (in local time)
AF 116: Leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 23:20, arrives in Shanghai-Pudong at 16:20 the following day
AF 111: Leaves Shanghai-Pudong at 23:20, arrives in Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 5:35 the following day
EUROPEAN LEADER BETWEEN CHINA AND EUROPE
The Air France-KLM Group is European leader between Europe and China. Air France and KLM operate 93 weekly flights from their hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol to 9 destinations in Greater China: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen and Taipei.
With its partners China Southern and China Eastern, Air France-KLM offers up to 126 weekly flights to China.
THE AIR FRANCE A380 IN BRIEF: 6 DESTINATIONS IN SEPTEMBER 2013
In September 2013, Air France’s eight Airbus A380 will serve six destinations:
• in North America: New York JFK (one daily flight), Washington DC (one daily flight) and Los Angeles (one daily flight),
• in Africa: Johannesburg (one daily flight),
• in Asia: Tokyo-Narita (one daily flight) and Shanghai (3 weekly flights).
516 SEATS IN FOUR CABINS
All Air France’s A380 are equipped with 516 seats in four cabin classes on two decks:
• 9 seats in La Première;
• 80 seats in Business;
• 38 seats in Premium Eco;
• and 389 seats in Economy.
COMFORT ON BOARD
• 6 bars for a friendly atmosphere during the flight
• 220 windows: abundant natural light in the cabin
• 5 decibels less noise in the cabin compared with industry standards
• A gallery dedicated to art and culture
THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT AND COMFORT
• External live images with three cameras housed at the front, underneath and at the rear of
the aircraft, whose images are broadcast live throughout the flight.
• Mood lighting; changing lighting moods to cross time zones without feeling tired.
SPECIAL ATTENTION FOR CHINESE PASSENGERS
CREWS TRAINED IN CHINESE CULTURE
Air France has created a service specifically tailored to accommodate its Chinese passengers. The company has established an outreach program on Chinese culture for its flight attendants. This program reflects Air France’s constant search for excellence, hospitality and service as do the languages spoken aboard flights: announcements are broadcast in Mandarin on the flights to and from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan and in Cantonese for
Hong Kong flights. In addition, for more than 10 years, Chinese interpreters have been on board all Air France flights from and to China.
GROUND STAFF WHO SPEAK MANDARIN
To welcome and provide assistance to passengers who do not speak English or French, Air France has a team of multilingual agents at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, speaking Mandarin and Cantonese. The team welcomes daily passengers, assisting them with checking-in and facilitates their connections between flights. Knowledge of the travellers’ languages and cultures makes it easier to exchange and establish immediate and natural contact.
MOBILE SERVICES IN CHINESE
Air France customers benefit from an exclusive, free service, requiring no
registration or subscription, informing them of changes or any disruptions in their journey.
The “Air France Connect” service is also now available in Chinese.
With a mobile phone number and e-mail address indicated by the customer when purchasing their tick-et, Air France can provide information up to 14 days prior to departure, by telephone, SMS or e-mail, regarding flight cancellations or delays, gate changes or delays in delivery of luggage following the flight. Air France and KLM are the first airlines providing such large-scale proactive information services to all passengers throughout their network.
To be notified personally in case of emergency on a flight, customers only need to ensure that they have provided the company with the maximum contact infor-mation for the communications modes (telephone, mobile or e-mail) the customer will use during the trip.
CHINESE CUISINE ON BOARD
Air France places particular emphasis on openness to other cultures, taking into account the tastes of its passengers. While providing a French dining experience, Air France pays attention to adapting its menus to the culture or dietary needs of its customers. For Chinese customers, the chefs of Air France subsidiary, Servair, the on-board foodservices specialist, develop a range of fine Chinese dishes served in Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy.
In addition, jasmine tea is offered in all cabins.
MOVIES IN CHINESE
In all cabin classes, Air France offers twelve international movies with Chinese subtitles which are regu-larly renewed. Furthermore, a “World cinema” section offers eight films in their original Chinese version (Mandarin and Cantonese). Each month, two films in this section are renewed.
Enjoy your film as soon as you board
On board the A380, Air France now enables passengers to enjoy their film and the entire in-flight entertainment programme as soon as they board theit flight and up to flight arrival at the destination airport. In this way, customers can enjoy up to an hour of additional entertainment, even during take-off, landing and taxiing time.
CHINESE NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES ON BOARD
A Chinese version of the Air France flight magazine is available to passengers and a regular selection of Chinese newspapers and magazines is also available on each flight.
A DEDICATED CORPORATE WEBSITE FOR CHINESE CUSTOMERS
Air France has developed a dedicated corporate website for its Chinese customers, http://corporate.airfrance.cn. Available in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, this website provides all the main Air France news from Greater China and around the world, including regular updates on company strategy, a map of the Air France, KLM and their Chinese partners’ networks, the art of travel with Air France, the ambitions of the company in terms of sustainable development and the latest press releases and press kits.
Air France is the first airline to offer a version of its corporate website in Chinese. For all you need to know go to http://corporate.airfrance.cn
###
Air France Airbus A380 takes off for Shanghai