MIA welcomes Air France first Airbus A380 flight from Paris

The Miami International Airport (MIA) officials were quite jubilant after welcoming the inaugural Airbus A380 flight of Air France earlier in December this year. The flights to Miami are being operated from Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG).

Prior to launching Airbus A380 on Miami-Paris route, the airline was operating a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The new Airbus A380, which has now replaced the Boeing 777-300ER, will continue to operate on the route for the remaining winter schedule, which will be through March 28, 2015.

Air France’s maiden A380 flight to Miami will be operating out of Gate J17. Presently, this is the only gate at Miami International Airport capable of handling the Superjumbo A380. Apart from Air France, Germany’s national carrier Lufthansa is the only other that is also offering A380 service to Miami. The flight operated by Lufthansa departs from MIA one hour before the arrival of Air France flight.

Providing details about the new Airbus A380 aircraft, a spokesperson of Air France said that the airline will be offering 80 business class seats on the upper deck in 2-2-2 arrangement. The airline will also offer nine seats in first class, 38 seats in premium economy and 389 seats in economy class. The aircraft will have a capacity to carry a total of 516 passengers.

The spokesperson said that the Boeing 777-300ER, which it had earlier been flying on Paris-Miami route, had a capacity to carry only 383 passengers. The capacity of Airbus A380 has significantly increased with 133 additional seats when compared to the Boeing 777-300ER.

The flights to be operated daily will depart from Paris at 13:50 hours and arrive at Miami at 18:05 hours. The return flight will make its departure from Miami at 20:55 hours and reach Paris at 11:20 next day.