São Paulo – Airline Air France should start flying between Paris and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, from May 3rd on. With the new destination, the company should be serving seven destinations in the Middle East: Amman (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria), Dubai and Abu Dhabi (the Emirates), Jeddah and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
The flights should depart from Charles de Gaulle Airport, and takeoff should be at 1:45 pm, with arrival in Abu Dhabi scheduled at 10:25 pm (local time). The aircraft to be operated is the Airbus A330 model, with 219 seats, being 40 in the executive class and 179 in tourist class. There are plans to include first class seats in future.
The flight from Abu Dhabi to Paris should take off at 12:30 am, arriving in Paris at 5:45 am (local time). According to information disclosed by Air France, the flight times were adapted to guarantee fast connections for passengers in transit at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Up to the European summer, which begins in June, Air France and KLM are going to operate 230 flights a week to 13 destinations in the Middle East. The two airlines’ flight schedules are complementary, with direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Over the last three years, airlines have been expanding their operations in the Middle East. In 2007, Emirates Airline started operating direct flights between São Paulo and Dubai. Last year, Turkish Airlines started flying between São Paulo and Istambul, and offering several connections to Arab countries. Still in 2009, another company in the Middle East, El Al, from Israel, started operating three flights a week between São Paulo and Tel Aviv.
*Translated by Mark Ament
