Etihad plans first A380 Paris flights as terror fears ease

Etihad Airways is introducing its superjumbo aircraft to Paris in a vote of confidence that the French market is rebounding from a travel slump following a spate of terror attacks. The Abu Dhabi-based airline will deploy an Airbus Group SE A380 now serving Mumbai for one of two daily flights to Paris during the peak July 1-to-Oct. 28 summer timetable, Etihad said in a statement. The carrier will assign an Airbus A340-600 to the Indian route, a spokeswoman said in an e-mail. The adjustment meets “growing demand,” Peter Baumgartner, the head of the carrier, said in the statement. The 496-seat A380 will replace a 328-seat Boeing Co. 777 on the Paris route, lifting daily capacity by 26%. Travel to France has dropped following a series of terrorist attacks that started in 2015, with foreign visitor arrivals by air falling 8.1% in the first 10 months of last year. The government outlined a series of measures in November intended to improve security for tourists.<br/>