Air France is the first airline to link Europe with Wuhan, operating three times a week from its international base at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. With seven daily flights to Paris from London-Heathrow and regular connections from 10 UK regional airports, Air France also gives UK travellers easy access to its expanding network to the world's second-largest economic region.

Air France was the first European carrier to start services between Europe and China when it inaugurated its Paris-Shanghai service in 1966. The Air France-KLM Group, together with its SkyTeam alliance partners, China Southern and China Eastern, now offer 135 weekly flights to nine destinations in Greater China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan and Taipei) including onward services to Chinese provinces. The Air France-KLM Group is the leading airline group to China, meeting burgeoning demand for travel to the region. Last year the group carried almost two million passengers on the routes.

Only three destinations within Greater China are served directly from London-Heathrow: Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The new Air France service to Wuhan will depart Paris on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, returning from Wuhan the following day. Flights will operate with a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, configured with 35 Affaires (business class) seats, 24 in Premium Voyageur (premium economy) and 250 in the Voyageur/Economy cabin.

All aircraft serving Wuhan are equipped with the full sleep Business class seat, which is longer, wider and more spacious. This new seat has drawn positive reviews from over 90% of Air France customers who appreciate the quality of sleep provided during the trip, its horizontal position and additional legroom.

"With 36 daily flights to 21 destinations in Asia, Air France KLM is the leading airline group to the Far East. By launching the first non-stop flights from Europe to Wuhan today, Air France reaffirms its commitment and leading position in China. We continuously invest in our Asian network and are happy to be contributing to the economic development of this region" stated Henri Hourcade, General Manager, Air France KLM UK & Ireland.