Super-jumbo flights to seat 840

Air Austral says the new planes will "explode" traffic figures

Budget flights using the world's largest aircraft are planned, which will carry 840 people on each flight.

Air Austral, based on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, has ordered two economy-only versions of Airbus's giant A380 airplane.

The flights, planned for between Paris and Reunion from 2014, will carry the most people to date in a single plane.

Other carriers that bought the A380 have focused on luring premium business customers.

"We are convinced that airplanes with good priced tickets will help explode traffic figures," Air Austral president Gerard Etheve said.

The A380 can sit 525 people in the standard three-class structure used on most long-distance flights, or up to 853 in all-economy journeys.

Mr Etheve said the airline he founded in 1975 had paid less than the $660m (£393m) list price for two Airbus A380s.