Air France’s A380 comes to the USA

The third official Airbus A380 route has officially been scheduled into the United States. Air France, the third air carrier to take delivery of the massive, double decker airplane, plans on using the behemoth to fly between Paris (CDG) and New York (JFK), a hotly contested, jetset route.

The tightly packed 538-seat double decker will contain about 449 economy seats, 80 in business class and 9 in first, each with the latest in entertainment technology and sporting that snazzy new plane fresh scent.

Inaugural flights from Paris and New York are tentatively scheduled for November 20th and 21st respectively, with a fair share of pomp and circumstance planned in parallel. But the best part of the whole affair is that tickets are open to the regular public.

By auction that is. Starting on October 1st, the French airline will be opening up 380 seats from each flight for auction, the proceeds of which will go to humanitarian efforts local to each flight. Ebay will be operating the entire sale of tickets, which include return fare on a regularly scheduled AF flight, a local shopping and culinary experience in your target city and discounted hotel stays each night. And don’t forget that it’s for charity.

The auction kicks off in two days, which should give you plenty of time to dig through your couch for spare change. See you on the flight!