France - A380 plane

First Air France A380 superjumbo delivered

Article published on the 2009-10-31 Latest update 2009-10-31 16:48 TU

Water canons christen the first Air France Airbus A380 double-deck passenger jet during a ceremony at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris on Friday
(Photo: Reuters)

On Friday Air France collected its first Airbus A380 plane, a superjumbo passenger jet. It collected the plane at the Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany and then flew it to Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.

Its first commercial flight will take place in November when it flies from Paris to New York and, if the flight is full, it will carry 538 passengers in total.

An Air France flight on the A380 has nine seats in first class, 80 in business class and 449 in economy class.

Air France says it will be able to save money by running fewer flights.

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, the company's director, says they will be able to remove two planes and one flight on the Paris-New York route thanks to the A380. He says they hope to save 15 million euros for each A380 in service.