So head on down to their website section dedicated to A380 and name the jumbo jet. There’s also a neat virtual tour you can check out while there!

Lufthansa is the fifth largest airline in the world, in terms of passengers carried and services 183 international destinations in 78 countries.

The Paris – New York flight serviced by the A380 was just launched only 5 days ago in a hyped ceremony. Nicolas Petteau, spokesman for Air France, said the A380 suffered a “minor technical problem” that made the crew turn the plane around for checks.

Petteau said the plane landed safely, the technical problem was fixed and took the 402 passengers to Paris with a considerable delay.

“It was a minor glitch, but we do apply a principle of absolute caution and as soon as there is the slightest concern, we come back, we fix it and the plane takes off again. It was a problem with the in-flight computer but it did not at all affect air speed,” he added.

This is the second time A380 has to return mid-flight. A Singapore Airlines aircraft had to return to Paris on September 27 because one of its four engines failed.

Air France is the first European airline that owns Airbus’s biggest plane, the A380 superjumbo which can carry 525 people in the standard three-class layout . Other airline companies that own this model are Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas airlines.

Air France is set to launch another flight serviced by the A380, between Johannesburg and Tokyo in the next months.

Photo Courtesy of Air France

Starting November 23rd, the A380 “superjombo” will make to daily transatlantic flights, except on Wednesdays:

• flight AF006 will depart Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 1:30 PM, arriving at JFK at 3:45 PM,
• flight AF007 will depart JFK at 7:10 PM, arriving at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 8:45 AM the next day.

On board, there will be three cabin classes and a total of 538 passengers: 80 seats in Business, 106 seats in Voyageur (Economy) on the upper deck and 9 seats in Premiere (First) and 343 Voyageur (Economy) seats on the main deck. This enormous plane will replace Boeing 747, as the world biggest jumbo, with a total weight of 361 tons. Air France’s inaugural flight was postponed more than two years, due to the complex details of production.

Air France will also use the A380 to operate flights for the Paris – Dubai, Paris – Johannesburg and Paris – Tokyo routes. The company has ordered 12 planes, which will go into service this winter and in the spring of 2010. But Air France is not the first company to use the jumbo. A380′s first commercial flight was Singapore – Sydney, in October 2007, after a similar Internet auction. The price of the tickets ranged from £271 to £50,000! The most expensive ticket was bought by a 38-years-old Briton established in Sydney, who took the 1A seat in the First Class.

Economy Class seats

All the profits will be donated to the Air France “Street Childern” Foundation, for a worthy cause. It’s a historical moment both for the aviation and for the transatlantic transport, something we’re looking forward to.