Air France will be expanding its operations in Brazil with a thrice-weekly service to the country's capital Brasilia starting March 31, 2014.
Founded in 1960, Brasilia is considered a landmark in the history of town planning. Developed as a means for moving Brazil's capital to a more central location, the city is an administrative region rather than a legal municipality like other cities in the country, meaning that it is not governed by the internal law of an individual state. Known as the political centre of Brazil, the city is also home to the country's three government branches (executive, legislative, and judicial).
Brasilia International Airport acts primarily as a hub for domestic flights within Brazil, and handles over 15 million travellers yearly. Due to Brazil's role as the hosting country for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the airport is currently undergoing an extensive expansion plan that will see an enlargement and renovation of the existing passenger terminal. By capitalising on this route, Air France is able to strengthen its presence in Brazil and leverage additional passenger traffic.
The airline also has direct flights to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and is in a codeshare agreement with low-cost carrier GOL, which adds 20 Latin American destinations to its network.
Flights will depart from Paris-Charles de Gaulle every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They will be operated by a Boeing 777-200 aircraft equipped with 309 seats, including 35 in business, 24 in premium economy and 250 in economy class.
Flight times (local time)
AF 0520: departs Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 1330, arrives in Brasilia at 1910
AF 0515: departs Brasilia at 2255, arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 1420 the following day
This is the latest in a series of announcements made recently by Air France, including news that it would soon extend its Paris-Singapore service to Jakarta (see here), along with new economy and premium economy class offerings (see here).
For more information, visit www.airfrance.fr
Clement Huang
