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The Concorde lands in New York

The Air France Concorde inaugurated the Paris-New York service, taking off from Roissy at 11:12* to land at Kennedy airport at 08:47* on 22 November 1977.Air France brought the big white bird into service in 1976, on routes to Rio, Caracas and Washington. New York was supposed to be the last destination served. But under pressure from local residents and ecological activists, Kennedy Airport decided to ban the Concorde. Too noisy. Eighteen months…The Concorde in a few figuresCapacity: 100 passengers Length inside the cabin: 2.63 metres Speed: 2,200 km/h, i.e. twice the speed of sound (Mach 2.02) Total length : 62.19 metres Wingspan: 25.56 metres Wing surface: 358.25 sq. m Empty weight: 79.265 tonnes Cruising altitude: 16,000 to 18,000 m Air France flight hours: 90,087…VideoThe Concorde lands in New York

65 years of service from Paris to Tokyo

Connecting Paris to Tokyo was unimaginable for a long time : 10,000 km as the crow flies, but twice the distance with slow aircraft, forced to make multiple stopovers.After the war, a regular Paris-Tokyo service - often spelt "Tokio" in some countries until the 1950s - was possible. The service was launched on 24 November 1952 by Lockheed Constellation, a more powerful aircraft. It still required three stopovers - Beirut, Karachi and Saigon - and 51 hours of…Video65 years of service from Paris to Tokyo

Bienvenido in Lima

In March 1958, Air France extended its Paris-Caracas-Bogota route to Lima.Once a week, the two capital cities were linked by Super Constellation L-1049 G. A 10,000 kilometre flight in 25 hours! Latin America had been a priority for Air France for many years. Further north, Peru was still waiting on the sidelines. With its Lockheed Super Constellation, its elegant long-…Video60 years of Air France in Lima

Serving the Land of the Morning Calm for 35 years

In July 1983, Air France inaugurated its Paris-Seoul route, becoming the first European airline to serve Korea.The weekly service by Boeing 747 combi (cargo and passenger aircraft) rapidly proved inadequate. Since its creation, Air France has been serving Asia, as successor of Air Orient, one of its five founding airlines. Saigon, now known as Hô Chi Minh City, in Vietnam has been served since 1933. A…Video35 years of Paris Seoul

With Air France, travel becomes child's play

In 1949, the famous « kids meal » appeared on board. In 1951, the family service was born on the Paris-Dakar route.Nurse hostesses helped mothers to care for their children, providing bottles of milk and cots on flights that lasted up to 20 hours. To entertain its younger passengers, Air France provided toys, games, books and even a magazine, Flip, as from 1952. Over the years, even more entertainment was…VideoAir France et les enfants

St Petersbourg, 50 years before the world cup

Ties have existed between France and Russia for a while. It all began in 1924 when Maurice Noguès made a research flight to Moscow on behalf of the Franco-Roumaine line.It took three weeks of short hops flying a Caudron trimotor. But it wasn’t until 1954 that Air France launched a commercial service linking the two capitals. And until 1958 for a non-stop service. Despite the Cold War, exchanges increased and air traffic trebled between 1963 and 1967. That…

A plane on board ?

On September 23, 1913, famous aviator Roland Garros from Reunion Island was the first pilot to cross the Mediterranean on board the Morane-Saulnier H between Fréjus and Bizerte. On October 5, 2018, Reunion Island celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the aviator’s death. On this occasion, Air…VideoTransport of Roland Garros’ Morane-Saulnier

Hong Kong, the scent of adventure

In 1938, five years after its creation, Air France was continuing to expand its network. In particular to Asia, the "fiefdom" of its forerunner Air Orient, which had bequeathed the famous "Noguès route" from Paris to Saigon*, launched in 1932 by Maurice Noguès. It was a real long haul: 12,000…Video80 years of Air France in Hong Kong

Veinte años in Cuba

On June 21, 1998, Air France inaugurated the Paris-Charles de Gaulle – Havana José-Martí service. The Caribbean Island was opening up as never before. A few months earlier, it had welcomed a French Concorde chartered by a group of British Businessmen who wanted to visit the island. Although long…

Roissy CDG: 45 years young

The idea of the third Paris airport emerged in the 1950s. With the exponential increase in air traffic, Orly and Le Bourget were close to saturation.The advent of wide-body jets able to offload over 400 passengers at a time was already on the horizon. There was no doubting the need, therefore, no less than the reference to Charles de Gaulle, who had died in 1970. The airport's location, at Roissy-en-France, some 45km north of Paris, was also an…