Air France opened its new hub facility in the boarding satellite of terminals 2E and 2F at Paris-Charles de Gaulle2 airport.

This is the first phase of plan readied by the airline and its SkyTeam alliance partners’ to build the hub of the future, Air France said in a statement published in The Peninsula.

This satellite will guarantee optimum service for customers, it added.

“For Air France KLM, it is a key asset in the group’s future success and growth,” said Air France KLM Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

Air France and Aéroports de Paris have been striving to provide the “fundamentals” of the Air France hub including a large number of gate-parked aircraft, dedicated connecting channels and an integrated baggage sorting system.

Over the next 20 months, Air France will progressively benefit from new, highly efficient airport facilities, thus opening a new chapter in its hub operations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

The launch of the new boarding satellite of terminals 2E and 2F in June, October and December 2007 will be able to handle 8.5 million passengers annually, the statement said.

The terminal 2E (T2E) will be reopened in April next year.

The airlines is gearing up for the inauguration of the regional terminal in autumn 2008 and the scheduled opening of a second boarding satellite for T2E by 2012.

The building of remote aircraft parking stands in the vicinity of these new facilities, it added.