Air France to Deploy A380 to Miami During Winter Schedule

Air France has announced it will deploy an Airbus A380 on its Paris Charles de Gaulle – Miami International route this winter. The flag carrier confirms the Super Jumbo will replace a Boeing 777 on its daily flight on the route from December 1, 2014 through to the end of the winter schedule on March 28, 2015.

The introduction of the A380 will boost Air France’s weekly capacity on the route by 39.2 per cent. The carrier currently operates six flights a week using a 391-seat 777-300ER, while a single Tuesday rotation is operated by a smaller 309-seat 777-200, according to data from OAG Schedules Analyser. Its A380s are configured with 516 seats in a four class arrangement seating nine passengers in La Première, 80 in Business, 38 in Premium Economy and 389 seats in Economy.

Air France currently competes with oneworld rival American Airlines on this transatlantic city pair. The latter also offers a daily flight which is scheduled to be operated using a 225-seat 767-300ER. Our analysis of schedule data shows that Air France will boost its share of capacity each week from 62.2 per cent currently to 69.6 per cent following the deployment of the A380.

The French flag carrier will become only the second carrier to use the A380 into Miami International Airport. German carrier Lufthansa introduced the type on its daily route from Frankfurt in June 2011 boosting its own capacity into North America. The type was initially redeployed from the route during for summer 2012 and summer 2013 but has been a permanent fixture on the Florida route since October last year.

In our analysis, below, we look at bi-directional O&D passenger demand between Paris CDG and Miami over the past ten years and the point-to-point traffic levels being recorded by both Air France and American Airlines, both of which will also be generating significant transfer demand at each end of the route.

Data provided by Sabre

Schedule Data from AirlineRoute:
Paris - Miami
AF090 CDG1350 – 1805MIA 388 D
AF099 MIA2055 – 1120+1CDG 388 D

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…