The flight recorder was designed to capture a plane's journey in the event of disaster. Now, it's being reimagined for the online age – and is cropping up in unexpected places

The sand, when finally you feel it between your toes, is real enough; so is the satisfying sting on your lips from sea water, black olives or a glass of tequila; the exotic sights or scenery that fill your field of vision; the scent of strange spices or cigarettes; and the cheerfully anarchic cacophony of dawn and dusk, whether you are immersed in a metropolis or a rainforest.

An Air France passenger jet from Rio de Janeiro to Paris was forced to make an emergency landing in north-eastern Brazil because of a bomb threat, a company spokesman said.

An Air France passenger jet heading from Rio de Janeiro to Paris made an emergency landing in north-eastern Brazil, following a bomb threat.

Imagine: you call a cab, and at the appointed time a stretched limousine draws up outside. You might be intrigued and impressed, but also anxious about the likely fare. Then you discover that the price is actually one-third lower than usual. That is the terrestrial equivalent to the biggest aviation story of the summer: the world's largest plane is to fly on one of the shortest international routes.

Air France-KLM group, the airline giant, could have to wait until 2015 to start replacing its ageing long-haul fleet.

An aerial dogfight is about to break out in the skies of Europe. The French national flag carrier, Air France, has launched the biggest and most elaborate legal challenge so far to the local subsidies – or "contributions" – received by the Irish-based cut-price airline Ryanair for flying to regional airports in France and elsewhere.

There are few more enchanting experiences in life than shopping in Paris, particularly in the run up to Paris Fashion Week. So to help you make the most of your time in the fashion capital, we've teamed up with Air France to offer the inside scoop on the best back street boutiques and bijou haunts to visit whilst you're there.

Chief executive demands an end to the 'market bubble' that contributed to his airline's €245m loss

Continental Airlines and five men went on trial yesterday for their alleged role in the crash of the Air France Concorde that killed 113 people in 2000.

A decade after the supersonic jet's horrifying demise, a French court will try to establish who was at fault

I applaud a penalty on overweight passengers

My progress round the world isn't fast – it's stately, slightly creaky, preceded by a bosom fit for a galleon. I could sit in a corner, wring my hands and weep into a lettuce leaf and obsess about calorie-counting or I could do my best to ignore the disadvantages of being fat, 50s and arthritic and go round the world.

Concorde crashes in Paris, Tuesday 25 July 2000