The collapse

Air France is counting the future financial cost of Sunday's collapse of a passenger terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris .. The building, Terminal 2E, along with an adjacent satellite terminal that is still under construction, was intended to be used for the arrival and departure of planes including the airline's Airbus A380 super jumbo jets. Air France has invested 50 million euros in Terminal 2E. It has space for 19 planes to dock with two of the gates being able to accomodate the double-decker Airbus A380. Ten million passengers per year were due to pass through the terminal which was central to Air France's introduction of the super jumbos. Air France said it is too early to say how the collapse would affect the readiness of the airport to handle the A380. Depending on what building investigators find the whole terminal may have to be demolished, but Air France said even if that happens it would not delay its plans to bring the A380 into service in March 2007. Airbus said that other terminals at Charles de Gaulle will be able to accommodate the giant plane.