Air France has become the official partner airline of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympics Games.
The aerial dimension of these Games is hard to overstate, since some of the disciplines will take place at the Olympic sub-sites far from the French capital.
Sailing, for example, will take place in Marseilles, on the Mediterranean coast, which is 400 miles from Paris, while the location of the surfing competition will be Teahupo’o, French Polynesia, a whooping 10,000 miles from mainland France, in the South Pacific.
In practical terms, this Olympic partnership will mean that Air France will provide specific services to the Olympic athletes and community. This will include paying specific attention to the needs of paralympic athletes with reduced mobility when traveling to and from the games, providing a dedicated check-in service at the Olympic Village and reserving space to carry sports equipment in the belly of aircraft.
“(…) Come summer 2024, we will help the very best of France soar worldwide like never before, on the wings of excellence, respect and inclusion,” Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM is quoted as saying in the official press release.
The designation of Air France as an official Olympic carrier doesn’t come as a surprise. The airline has already been cooperating with the organizers of the Paris Olympics, since the French capital’s bid was launched, in 2016.
At least ten of the airline’s aircraft have been decorated with motifs alluding to the 2024 Olympics.