The auction by Air France of 380 seats on each of its two inaugural flights by Airbus A380 begins at 9 a.m. (GMT) on Thursday, Oct. 1 and ends on Oct. 21, 2009. This auction for seats in the Voyageur (Economy) and Affaires (Business) class is open to all markets and will take place on the www.eBay.frsite , on a staggered basis, with each auction period lasting three, five, seven or 10 days. The auction includes the return ticket on a scheduled Air France flight. From the very first day, 100 seats will be put on sale for a period between seven and 10 days. To take part, the bidder needs to register on the eBay site and go to the Air France mini-site specially created for this event. The opening bid will be set in most cases at $380 in Voyageur (Economy) class and $1,380 in Affaires (Business) class. This price may change during the sale period. Once the first bid has been submitted, an email will be sent to the participants inviting them to follow the auction. At the end of the sale, the highest bidder will receive another email inviting them to settle their bid and will be subsequently contacted by Air France to finalize the conditions of their trip (selection of return date, recording of personal data, etc).
To follow the auction, Air France has opened the mini-site www.af380.com containing a breakdown in real-time of the number of remaining seats. To ensure passengers enjoy this unique experience in New York and Paris to the fullest, Air France has created a number of exclusive cultural and shopping events. The auction benefits the Air France Foundation which has supported over 580 projects in 67 countries, so that sick and disabled children as well as those in distress have access to education, leisure activities and culture. The Air France Foundation has therefore selected three associated partners, to which the profits from the auction will be dedicated. They are the Marseille Association Arts et Développement, street art workshops in city neighborhoods; the South Africa François-Xavier Bagnoud Association, an after-school program dedicated to orphans affected by AIDS; and, in India, the Association Plan France, a project aimed at improving living conditions for child workers. For more information, visit www.airfrance.us.
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