Air France

Air France (French pronunciation: ​[ɛːʁ fʁɑ̃s]; formally Société Air France, S.A.), stylized as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, (north of Paris). It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. As of 2013 Air France serves 36 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 168 destinations in 93 countries (including overseas departments and territories of France) and also carried 59,513,000 passengers in 2011. The airline's global hub is at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with Paris Orly Airport, Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, Marseille Provence Airport, Toulouse Blagnac Airport, and Nice Côte d'Azur Airport serving as secondary hubs. Air France's corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located on the grounds of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris.

Air France was formed on 7 October 1933 from a merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA), and Société Générale de Transport Aérien (SGTA). During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlin's Tempelhof and Tegel airports. In 1990, it acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and international rival UTA – Union de Transports Aériens. It served as France's primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM.

France

France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. France spans 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and has a total population of 66.6 million. It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.

During the Iron Age, what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks, who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy. During the Renaissance, France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).

Economy class

Economy class, also called coach class, steerage, or standard class, (colloquially: Cattle class), is the lowest travel class of seating in air travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel. Historically, this travel class has been called tourist class on ocean liners and third class, or even fourth class, on railways. In some contexts or languages it is (half jokingly) referred to as "wood class" because seats and carriages in the cheapest class were literally made from wood in the 19th and early 20th century. Another common term (both in rail travel and aviation) is "coach class".

Marine

Travel classes originated from a distinction between "cabin class" and "steerage" on sailing vessels in the 18th century. Cabin class, for wealthier passengers included small cabins and a shared dining room while "steerage" provided open decks with bunks often near the tackle to operate the steering rudder, usually in converted cargo space on the "between decks" area where passengers from poorer backgrounds cooked their own meals.

Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS), or simply Changi Airport, is the primary civilian airport for Singapore, and one of the largest transportation hubs in Southeast Asia. It is currently the World's Best Airport (Skytrax 2015), and is one of the world's busiest airports by international passenger traffic and cargo traffic. The airport is located in Changi, at the eastern end of Singapore, approximately 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) northeast from Marina Bay (downtown Singapore), on a 13-square-kilometre (5.0 sq mi) site. It is operated by Changi Airport Group and it is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Scoot, Tigerair, Jetstar Asia Airways, Valuair and BOC Aviation, as well as a focus city of AirAsia.

Overview of Changi Airport

Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to some 320 cities in about 80 countries and territories worldwide. Each week, about 6,800 flights land or depart from Changi, or about one every 90 seconds, with 55.4 million passengers passing through the airport in 2015.

Charles de Gaulle

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol]; 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general, resistant, writer and statesman. He was the leader of Free France (1940–44) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–46). In 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era and his memory continues to influence French politics.

Born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was a decorated officer of the First World War, wounded several times and later taken prisoner at Verdun. He tried to escape with a fellow prisoner, but failed several times. After the war ended, he was released. During the interwar period he advocated mobile armoured divisions. At the beginning of the Second World War, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invading German army, before being appointed to the French Government as Under-Secretary for War. Refusing to accept his government's armistice with Nazi Germany in 1940, de Gaulle exhorted the French population to resist occupation and to continue the fight against Axis powers in his Appeal of 18 June. He led a government in exile and the Free French Forces against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with Britain and especially the United States, he emerged as the undisputed leader of the French resistance. He became Head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, the interim government of France following its Liberation. As early as 1944, de Gaulle introduced a dirigist economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy. It contributed to thirty years of unprecedented growth.