Not something I ever imagined I would see, but here we have it. Scheduled flights of an AIRFRANCE A380 between Paris CDG and London Heathrow.

AIRFRANCE A380 at London Heathrow Airport (LANDING VIDEO)

The A380 will be operated on flights AF1980 and AF1981 on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays between 12 June 2010 and 30 August 2010. In addition to the aforementioned days, the A380 will be used on flights AF1980 and AF1981 every Friday throughout July.

Economy Class seats where available for just £80 return whilst Business Class seats where available for just £280 return. These special flights have been put in place to enhance crew training on the type and to make use of the A380 in between flights to/from Johannesburg so its not sat idle in Paris for most of the day.

Nice to hear that it's slowly making progress into regular service at many airports as it's always a nice sight. Thanks for the info on the tickets and the video link!

Hey, why not post your vids on FL350?

The A380 is graudually making progress

I shall be flying this route on the 24th/25th July. Stark contrast from the usual A321!

As did I...

Unfortunately, on the 23rd July the planned A380, F-HPJC went tech in Johannesburg, so the flight on the 24th July was operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. Sort of good, because I'd never flown it before, but terrible because Air France just wanted to get as many pax onto the flight, and I ended up with seat 28G, in the middle of a 10-abreast seating layout. Horrible flight.

Fortunately, despite F-HPJA arriving late from JFK on the 25th July, we managed to snag the A380 on the return flight as planned! What can I say, she's very impressive, absolutely huge... and so very very quiet, even moreso being on the upper deck. More than made up for the debacle with the 77W.

A few photos from my Facebook album;

Our replacement
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...6_4841854_n.jpg
My seat in the middle of the centre row
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash...0_7280768_n.jpg
Premium Economy Cabin after arrival
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...96_990920_n.jpg
Wing after arrival
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash...88_112570_n.jpg
And again
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...89_912301_n.jpg
GE90
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...7_3829904_n.jpg
Front.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...9_1579405_n.jpg

At the gate in Paris
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash...83_569896_n.jpg
Skyteam 77W
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...9_7760708_n.jpg
Boarding the upper deck
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...3_6137767_n.jpg
L'Affaires Cabin
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...4_5065346_n.jpg
Storage bins on upper deck window seats
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...5_1742283_n.jpg
The small rear upper deck economy section
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...3_8149311_n.jpg
Mood lighting.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash...4_8337613_n.jpg
My view
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...71_733198_n.jpg
Approaching Heathrow
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...6_1844150_n.jpg
Tail camera
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...7_7647168_n.jpg
Rear stairs
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...6_1657776_n.jpg
Main deck Voyageur Cabin
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...97_964609_n.jpg
First Class Seat
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc...9_3246521_n.jpg
At the gate.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash...9_3586164_n.jpg

Overall, a very good weekend! Well worth it, even after only 1 A380 flight instead of 2.


Also, I've completed a trip report over on Airliners.net, which can be found here:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/t...ad.main/172852/

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/t...ad.main/172904/