Air France, in collaboration with Aéroports de Paris, is aiming to improve passenger services with the development of its Paris Charles de Gaulle hub.

Under the Hub 2012 initiative, the airport will implement a number of infrastructure upgrades, including a new €580 million ($774 million) satellite to be inaugurated in July and a new departure lounge at Terminal 2E.

An Air France spokesperson tells Flightglobal Pro that under the infrastructure changes Air France and its SkyTeam partners will concentrate their services in Terminals 2E, 2F and 2G on the east side of the airport.

Terminal 2F will be re-configured to exclusively accommodate European traffic. To enable faster processing, passengers from the Schengen area will have access to dedicated channels.

Satellite 4, an extension of satellite 3, will be dedicated to long-haul flights and widebody aircraft and will accommodate up to 7.8 million passengers per year. It will include a business-class lounge with a surface area of over 3,000m², the largest in Air France's network.

The changes will increase Charles de Gaulle airport's capacity to nearly 42 million passengers per year, compared with 2010's capacity of 34 million.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news