Flightglobal's Dan Thisdell was lucky enough to sample Air France's first Airbus A380 the other day, and there's lots of coverage all about it on Flightglobal (see links below).
But I am puzzled by one little area, which I assume is top deck front, at the entrance to the stairs. Air France calls this the gallery. I would call it a dead zone. There is no room for proper seats so it has become a kind of hanging about area.
Can anybody think of a better use for this area?
A few suggestions:
* Another loo - there are never enough on an aircraft are there?
* A shower
* An arcade area - a couple of playstation type games or a slot machine could be a good ancillary revenue source
* Table football / hockey etc
Here are those links:
Air France A380 will get fourth class later on
Air France rolls out first A380
The Air France A380 website with lots of photos, video and press kit
on November 4, 2009 9:00 AM | Reply
The British option would surely be a self service bar
on November 4, 2009 10:31 AM | Reply
Somewhere for passengers who want to chat loudly to go rather than hanging about people who want to sleep.
on November 4, 2009 10:42 AM | Reply
That sounds like a good idea. They have them on some airlines for business class but I've never seen it for economy travellers, probably for obvious reasons (it would be cleaned out!)
Even better on the Air France galley I've found a bit of press blurb where they describe it as follows:
• The gallery, the Air France touch dedicated to learning and culture
Air France is the first airline to offer the gallery concept, thanks to its partnerships with major museums worldwide and other artistic institutions. This type of open-plan area is the most spacious offered by any airline.
On the upper deck, La Première and Affaires passengers can enjoy an exhibition specially created for Air France, exclusively presented in an area dedicated to learning and culture - the gallery - on three 38-cm screens integrated into the area.
A new exhibition theme will be introduced regularly by a different museum.
Ummm