The Air France Airbus 380 made its debut on the Washington-Dulles route and was also introduced on the San Francisco route for the summer period, Air France reported. The double-decker aircraft features three to four classes of service, spacious cabins, a sophisticated lighting system synchronized with time zone changes, an art gallery, six bars and extensive on-demand entertainment programming. This environmentally-friendly aircraft, with reduced CO2 emissions (20 percent less fuel burned compared to an A330), is also the quietest aircraft in its category, Air France says..

The daily A380 service, the first between the U.S. and French capitals, will depart Washington-Dulles at 4:40 pm and arrive in Paris the next day at 6:00 am local time. The return flights will depart from Paris at 10:40 am, arriving in Washington-Dulles at 1:00 pm local time. It will be equipped with 516 seats, divided between four cabins: 9 seats in La Première/First Class, 80 in Affaires/Business Class, 38 in Premium Voyageur/Premium Economy Class and 389 Voyageur/Economy Class.

Air France, in collaboration with Delta, offers up to 2 daily flights between Washington-Dulles and Paris-Charles de Gaulle. The flight schedules enable passengers to benefit from rapid connections at Paris-Charles de Gaulle to the rest of the world, AF notes.

Air France is also marking its 25th anniversary on the San Francisco-Paris route, by offering its customers the opportunity to discover Paris via this super jumbo during the summer period from June 6 to September 4, 2011.

The aircraft, equipped with 538 seats divided into three cabin classes (nine seats in La Première/First Class, 80 in Affaires/Business Class and 449 in Voyageur/Economy Class), is scheduled to depart San Francisco at 4:10 pm and arrive in Paris the next day at 11:35 a.m. local time. The return flights will depart from Paris at 10:30 am, arriving in San Francisco at 12:40 p.m. local time.

During the summer 2011, Air France is operating, in partnership with Delta, 10 weekly flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and San Francisco.

With the current service on the New York-JFK route, Air France now serves three different U.S. destinations with its A380. Air France will also operate the A380 between Paris, Johannesburg and Montreal during the summer of 2011.