It's going ahead!

Steyr

Shortest A380 Route ever. Do you reckon they will be able to fill her??

London A380 flight stops jet sitting idle in Paris

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/05/13/341923/air-france-london-a380-flight-stops-jet-sitting-idle-in.html

Air Transport
DATE:13/05/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

Air France: London A380 flight stops jet sitting idle in Paris
By David Kaminski-Morrow

Air France is to go ahead with deploying its Airbus A380 aircraft on the Paris-London sector, in order to avoid parking the aircraft unused for long periods in France.

The carrier's summer schedule shows that its daily AF995 service from Johannesburg arrives in Paris Charles de Gaulle at 06:05, but does not depart again as AF990 until 23:20.

This means the 538-seat aircraft would remain idle in Paris for nearly 18 hours, and Air France believes it can capitalise on the downtime by offering a high-capacity link to London.

"A very early arrival in Paris and a late departure in the evening leaves the aircraft available during the day to operate the Paris-London-Paris route, in between two long-haul flights," says a spokeswoman for Air France.

It states that the flight, designated AF1980/1981 will be available between 12 June and 30 August. The service will depart Paris at 10:05 and arrive back in the French capital at 15:05, slotting between the South African sectors.

Air France is selling business-class and economy-class fares on the route, although it has not listed a first-class option.

The airline usually uses Airbus A320-family aircraft on the Paris-London route but the carrier also offers a turboprop link with ATR 72s.

"The crew of the A380 operating between Paris and London are fully qualified to fly on this type of aircraft and have all flown the A380 between Paris, Johannesburg and New York," the spokeswoman adds. Air France uses the A380 for a daily New York JFK flight.

Air France, which has three A380s, is to introduce a fourth in the second half of this year, and deploy it on the Tokyo Narita route.

donkey balls

i dont know what the their pax figures are on the CDG LHR route, but by having a look at this link i reckon they are trying to fill her up.:D
also if the acft is sitting on the ramp for 18hrs why not use it on a US/Canada route.


http://www.airfrance.co.uk/GB/en/local/guidevoyageur/destination/Paris_on_Airbus_A380_from_London_heathrow.htm?

Run_to_da_hills

They would still have plenty of time to hop another step from Heathrow to Dublin and take FR for a ride.

Andrew33

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

They would still have plenty of time to hop another step from Heathrow to Dublin and take FR for a ride.

Getting pax on/off is the problem, it seems a bit daft clocking up the cycles on the A380 on such a short route though.

Run_to_da_hills

Andrew33 wrote: »

Getting pax on/off is the problem, it seems a bit daft clocking up the cycles on the A380 on such a short route though.

Aer Lingus did short hops with 747's for over 20 years.

I believe Japan still uses them on internal routes.

Danbo!

Steyr wrote: »

The service will depart Paris at 10:05 and arrive back in the French capital at 15:05

So in theory you could get a cheap flight to CDG in the am, hop on the paris-london-paris leg, and a return flight from CDG in the evening.

Might look into that.

Andrew33

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Aer Lingus did short hops with 747's for over 20 years.

I believe Japan still uses them on internal routes.

True, and AL use their 330's on the Dub-Malaga-Dub run between the Dub-JFK so no big deal I guess.

Andrew33

Stee wrote: »

So in theory you could get a cheap flight to CDG in the am, hop on the paris-london-paris leg, and a return flight from CDG in the evening.

Might look into that.

Hot Diggidy! I like the way you're thinkin'

lord lucan

Stee wrote: »

So in theory you could get a cheap flight to CDG in the am, hop on the paris-london-paris leg, and a return flight from CDG in the evening.

Might look into that.

That sounds like a plan alright,best chance of getting a spin in A380 anytime soon.:cool:

Danbo!

lord lucan wrote: »

That sounds like a plan alright,best chance of getting a spin in A380 anytime soon.:cool:

Or for a reasonable price. Had plans to go to Australia for a few weeks in October and was adjusting the flights to ensure the route would be served by an A380, but unfortunately the plans fell through with job security and all that. The missus always wanted to go to Paris but i've never been too keen. She could shop while I nip to London and back.

Davidth88

Just got this e-mail from AF ( I am Frequent Flyer )


Dear DavidTH88

Air France is offering a unique experience to customers by operating an Airbus A380 on the London Heathrow - Paris CDG route this summer.

Passengers will have the opportunity to discover what it is like to fly on the world's largest aircraft, which is usually only available on long-haul routes.

To celebrate the arrival of the A380 in London, Air France has launched a special fare from just £80* return! Or to make the trip extra special, the comfort of Business Class is available from just £280* return.

The A380 flights will be on offer from 12th June until 30th August 2010, Saturday to Monday (plus Fridays in July). Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity, book now!
Book A380 flights now
More information on the A380
Air France currently operates A380s on the Paris-New York and Paris-Johannesburg routes and from later on this year on the Paris-Tokyo route.

Run_to_da_hills

It would be nice if they continued this offer into next year.

highlydebased

AFAIK its for training purposes doubling up as a pax flight.

Steyr

£80STG return apparently.

Stinicker

I am flying from Sydney to LAX by A380 (13.5hrs) on Qantas in the last week of July! I will be flying by 747 and A380 for the first time ever as I go RTW this summer!

jesus_thats_gre

Steyr wrote: »

£80STG return apparently.

Aye, was looking at flights in July and even weekend return flights are 80 sterling. So tempted!

GeturGun

Was thinking of taking an overnight trip to Paris this summer, as I have never been to France.
I think I'll just have to go the long way around via Heathrow now

jesus_thats_gre

I was checked direct flights with Aer Lingus and it is no more expensive to fly to Heathrow with Aer Lingus and CDG with Air France - even cheaper in some cases.

GeturGun

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I was checked direct flights with Aer Lingus and it is no more expensive to fly to Heathrow with Aer Lingus and CDG with Air France - even cheaper in some cases.

You're dead right! I just checked the direct EI prices there for the dates I was thinking of and yeah, it's in and around the same price. That's it then, I'm just going to have to go via Heathrow!!!

Run_to_da_hills

Neon-Circles wrote: »

AFAIK its for training purposes doubling up as a pax flight.

Dose it not seem a bt dodgy running training flights on possibly one of the most busiest corridors and landing strips in Europe with a plane which could have in excess of 500 pax?

I would thought they would keep training separate from regular schedules and have them operate from a less busy location.

Should they not consider Shannon for training.

highlydebased

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Dose it not seem a bt dodgy running training flights on possibly one of the most busiest corridors and landing strips in Europe with a plane which could have in excess of 500 pax?

I would thought they would keep training separate from regular schedules and have them operate from a less busy location.

Should they not consider Shannon for training.

No not really? Its not as if the crew have never flown an aircraft ever before I doubt they'll be filling it to capacity either tbh. I'd imagine its alot to do with aircraft and airfield familiarisation- they could fly to Shannon but there is nowhere for it to park. At least with Heathrow there are A380 gates and hence it can be used as a pax service. It makes perfect sense to operate as a revenue flight.

loldog

Wouldn't it burn a lot more fuel climbing that a short haul jet? I mean, would it be economical at all?

.

Manic Moran

It certainly isn't making a profit just sitting on the tarmac for 18 hours a day.

NTM

Run_to_da_hills

Can anyone work out how much fuel it would use on that short hop?

Anyone wth simms?

scudzilla

I may be way off here but isn't the 380 designed for long haul flights?

How long is the LON-PAR flight? 45 mins maximum, how many flights a day will they be cramming in?

If they did 8 flights a day (4 each way) for weeks and weeks, would that be healthy for the aircraft?

Let me know if i'm talkin bollox here, just all that stresses and strains stuff on a big beast

Andrew33

scudzilla wrote: »

I may be way off here but isn't the 380 designed for long haul flights?

How long is the LON-PAR flight? 45 mins maximum, how many flights a day will they be cramming in?

If they did 8 flights a day (4 each way) for weeks and weeks, would that be healthy for the aircraft?

Let me know if i'm talkin bollox here, just all that stresses and strains stuff on a big beast

I kind of raised that point already, a planes life is measured in cycles (number of landings/take offs, pressurisations/de-pressurisations). It will shorten the "life" of the plane but Air France will only be doing one of these Paris-Lon-Paris flights per day and I'd hazard a guess that all big carriers will have gotten rid of their 380's long before this becomes an issue. How many years before one of these monsters shows up on a summer charter?

Manic Moran

Andrew33 wrote: »

I kind of raised that point already, a planes life is measured in cycles (number of landings/take offs, pressurisations/de-pressurisations). It will shorten the "life" of the plane but Air France will only be doing one of these Paris-Lon-Paris flights per day and I'd hazard a guess that all big carriers will have gotten rid of their 380's long before this becomes an issue. How many years before one of these monsters shows up on a summer charter?

It's not even one return trip per day. If it takes 15 hours or whatever to get to J-Burg, sits there for three or four hours, makes a return flight for another 15 hours, that's two days, practically, off the schedule. Then one flight to london and back every three days, in effect.

NTM

Foggy43

An Air France A380 landed at LHR today on 27R at about 1035hrs. First Air France I have seen. Initially I thought it was Emirattes coming in early.

It parked up at Gate 6 in Terminal 4. I suppose a bit unique 5 A380's at LHR today. 4 on the ground between 1035 and 1230.

*Kol*

scudzilla wrote: »

I may be way off here but isn't the 380 designed for long haul flights?

How long is the LON-PAR flight? 45 mins maximum, how many flights a day will they be cramming in?

If they did 8 flights a day (4 each way) for weeks and weeks, would that be healthy for the aircraft?

Let me know if i'm talkin bollox here, just all that stresses and strains stuff on a big beast

It wont be any less healthy than flying the long routes. A take off and a landing are the same thing whether the flight is 45 minutes or 10 hours. It will mean that the maintenance items based on cycles will be due earlier than they would have been doing the long routes. They will go through more brakes and tyres too.

paddydriver

Can I check if anyone booked a day trip CDG > LHR and then back again? - I am looking around dates in July and August for the 2 lowest fares and nothing seems to be available on a day return

I was thinking of going into CDG on Aer Lingus then hopping back to LHR, then back again and heading home from CDG.

Never even been on a 747 - never mind an A380! With a house full of kids now my chances of going long haul are limited for some time to come:rolleyes:

Just came back from staying 3 days in Jury's Inn @ Heathrow (Work) and was fantastic to see the A380's taking off a few hundred feet overhead.

Would be interested to hear what others have done.

Thanks
Paddy

paddydriver

Have spent some more time on this and doing a regular booking can get me CDG > LHR > CDG on same day, on the A380, for approx STG£66 but cannot get a flight into CDG early enough to catch the 10:05 local depart to LHR... balls.

Seems to be plenty more flights in July and August so going to think more about it and work something out. One thing I can see from all this is that AL are one bunch of rip off merchants! Looking at City Jet to CDG too and not much better.

Has anyone done similar and any tips?

Thanks
Paddy