Driving rain welcomed the inaugural arrival of the new Air France service to Vancouver International Airport from Paris on March 29.

After clearing customs, dignitaries and airline brass met media and guests in the departure lounge amidst French-themed cuisine, music and appointments.

This kicks off a schedule of up to five flights per week to Paris-Charles de Gaulle from YVR. Flights are being operated by a Boeing 777-200 with 309 seats: 35 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 250 in economy.

To encourage further participation by agents, Air France has rolled out a contest dubbed “Air France in Vancouver, Chic Alors.” While it marks the launch of the new Vancouver-Paris service, the contest is applicable to agent bookings on all Air France departures from anywhere in Canada. These are all automatically entered in the contest. The prizes are three pairs of Canada-Europe tickets – one pair in business class, one pair in premium economy and one in economy.

Until April 30, travel agents can sign up for the contest by answering a qualifying question. Afterwards, each ticket sold with a departure up to May 31 can be registered for entry to the contest. Tickets sold from Montreal and Toronto qualify for one entry to the contest, and those from Vancouver qualify for two entries. The contest is open until 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 30, online at www.af-yvr.ca, or through agentconnect.biz. The winning entries will be drawn at random.

Air France will operate three flights per week until May 3, and then increase that count to five flights per week until Sept. 13. From then to Oct. 24, flights will fly four times per week.