Have you ever wondered, as you get off an airplane, where it might be going to next ? Or where it came from before your flight ? We decided to follow one plane for a week as it made its way across the world. Here's its story.

Air France began taking delivery of their fleet of Boeing 777-300ER planes from 2007 and currently has 30 of the giant twinjets in the fleet, with another 12 on order. We chose to follow one of them (registration number of F-GSQA) and one early Wednesday evening in March it was towed from the hangar at Paris Charles de Gaulle, where it had been undergoing some routine maintenance work, to the stand at Terminal 2E.

By 21.00 (local time, Paris) the ground crew were at the plane, beginning to load food, freight and, later, passenger baggage. The water tanks had been replenished and the aircraft was fuelled, with the vast amount of about 44,000 gallons (166,760 litres) of jet-fuel. By 22.00 the flight crew were aboard, checking their instruments, keying in the map co-ordinates to the onboard computers and generally checking that everything in the plane was in first-class order. The Captain also carried out the normal walk-round checking the exterior of the plane to ensure there were no problems. The crew had reported for duty an hour earlier to check weather maps, decide on alternate airports should their main destination airport be closed for any reason (normally weather) and to check for any weather patterns on their route that might need avoiding. At 22.15 the cabin crew filed on board, again having met for a briefing half an hour earlier. Theirs was to be a long overnight haul as the destination for this flight, AF 418, was Buenos Aires, in Argentina.

At 22.35 the first passengers began going on board, families with children first together with anyone else needing extra time. First class and business class passengers could also board at this time though most preferred to wait in the lounge until the last minute. By 23.10 all passengers were on board, all baggage had been loaded and the flight was close to departure. Final checks and paperwork were completed by the crew and at 23.25 the doors were finally closed and the jetway withdrawn. There was a slight delay before permission to push-back was given by the control tower as, at that time of night, another dozen flights were departing, to Sao Paulo, Singapore, Dubai, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow.

At a little after 23.40 the flight was airborne, lifting off with a total weight of 340 tonnes, not far short of its maximum take-off weight of 351 tonnes. From runway 09 L (left) heading east, the plane gained height and began a lazy swing round to the right, heading south of Paris and then south-west. Still climbing as it passed overhead Tours and slightly north of Poitiers, it crossed the French coast slightly north of La Rochelle, levelling out over the Bay of Biscay at its initial cruising height of 31,000 feet. The crew began dinner service which continued as the plane passed over the Spanish coast near the beautiful seaside town of Gijon, then across the mountains separating northern Spain form Portugal and down over the Portuguese coast north of Lisbon. Almost three hours after take-off it passed to the east of Madeira, then down across the Atlantic, passing within 200 miles of the Canary Islands. In the middle of the night (five hours after departure from Paris) the Cape Verde islands slipped away on the port (left) side of the plane. Across the ocean the Captain climbed to 38,000 feet as most of the passengers dozed, a few watching their seat-back screens or reading.

Landfall, over Fortaleza, on the Rio Grande coast of Brazil, came nine hours out from Paris (and by which time most Parisians were heading for work, or already there). Below the plane it was still dark. The length of Brazil was flown and, as the sun began rising to the left of the plane, it passed overhead Uruguay, beginning its descent over the estuary of the mighty River Plate. Scheduled arrival time was 09.15 (local time – 13.15 in Paris), but it touched down 35 minutes ahead of schedule, having used 41,000 gallons of fuel on its 6,889 mile (11,087 kms) journey taking just 13 hours.

The plane then had a fairly long wait for its return flight, longer than is normal though for some destinations there are no suitable alternatives. Its departure time for the flight back to Paris was scheduled for 18.00 that same day (Thursday) and once again an almost full load of 311 passengers was on board as it headed north and east back to Paris overnight, landing at CDG just after 11.00 on Friday morning. It had a slightly shorter wait until its next flight, a pleasant trans-Atlantic hop to Montreal, departing CDG (terminal 2F) at 19.10 with a full load, though, with a flight of under eight hours, quite a lot less fuel. This time the plane headed west and slightly north, leaving the French coast over Normandy near Le Havre before crossing the south-westerly tip of Cornwall, then overhead Cork in Ireland and out across the north Atlantic to the coast of Newfoundland near St Anthony; then down across the Gulf of St Lawrence and over the island of Anticosti before passing over the Quebec coast 38,000 feet above the Gaspé peninsula. The route then follows the St Lawrence river to Quebec City before beginning the descent into Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport (Montreal) for an on-time arrival at 21.25 local time (03.25 next day in Paris).

A crew change and a very quick turn-round saw the plane climbing into the night sky again just after 23.30 (05.30 in Paris) and heading across Quebec and the tip of Maine, then overhead Halifax (Nova Scotia) and back out across the Atlantic on its 3,436 mile (5530 kms) trip to Paris, making landfall over Brittany, close to St Malo and a gentle descent over Sées and Dreux towards CDG, touching down at a few minutes past 11am. By now it's Saturday a time when many people have a couple of days off. Not so an airplane for, after landing at CDG it again had a very quick turn-round, being fully loaded this time for another long-haul flight. By the time the plane is landing from Montreal most of the passengers for the next flight have already checked in and many are already by the gate or browsing duty-free, awaiting an on-time departure at 13.40. Again the crew have arrived early and are checking that everything is in order for the flight, a long one this time to Osaka, on the other side of the world.

At a few minutes past 14.00 the 777, again weighting in excess of 320 tonnes, lifts off into a cloudless sky, turning north-east to head over Saint-Quentin, then across Belgium and Holland, still climbing as it passes Eindhoven, reaching its initial cruise level of 32,000 feet as Bremerhaven slips by below. Then Copenhagen and, across the Baltic, Stockholm are just visible as the afternoon light on the ground begins to fall. As night falls far below the plane cruises high over Finland, few lights visible in the thinly-populated wastes of the still snow-covered land. As the passengers settle down for a sleep, having been fed as the plane was high above Germany, the Russian frontier is crossed, and the flight passes over the White Sea, about 100 miles north of Archangel, and then across the frozen emptiness of Siberia before crossing into the mountainous region of north China.

Harbin is the first major city over which it flies, high now at 41,000 feet, then across China and around the tip of North Korea and out over the Sea of Japan. About 110 miles from Osaka, in the far south of Japan's main island, the 777 starts its descent into the early morning sunshine, touching down at 09.15 on Sunday morning, eleven and a half hours after leaving Paris. Back in Paris (01.15 Sunday morning) the last Saturday-night party-goers are just going to bed – or maybe still in the disco. The plane has flown almost 6,000 miles through the night, yet it will only have a three-hour rest on the ground as it is scheduled to depart just after midday. Already the ground crew are cleaning the plane, refuelling, loading freight and meals for the journey back to Paris.

As the last of the 296 passengers board, at midday, the new crew (who arrived in Osaka two days ago and had a brief rest, desperately trying to avoid jet-lag suffered by all air-crew who have to travel across the world on today's long-haul flights) are going through the safety procedures and ensuring the plane is ready for departure. In the cockpit the crew of three (on flights over about ten hours there is an extra pilot to allow some rest, though one is always nominated as the Senior Captain and is in overall control of the flight) is going through the final pre-departure checks and, at 12.46 it begins its take-off run, heavy again at 342 tonnes. The previous night's route is retraced, with a slight variation as planes are separated by a safe distance (in height as well as lateral distance) but this time the plane flies with the sun, high above China, Russia and back in over Scandinavia and Germany, though even in March at these northerly latitudes, the sun is low on the southern horizon and it can be difficult to pick out ground features – not that there are many. Descent begins high over Holland and the plane touches down at CDG 13 hours later, a few minutes after schedule at 17.58.

Its long Sunday is not yet over for, at 23.20, just over five hours later, it takes off again, once more heading south-west across the southern Atlantic for Buenos Aires, where it arrives at 09.40 on Monday morning. Then it takes a welcome rest before departing at 18.00 for the overnight flight back to Paris, landing on Tuesday morning at a little past 11.00. Then, as the last of the passengers disembark to collect their luggage, which is already being sent to the carousel, the freight is unloaded and the crew have gone home for a deserved couple of days' rest, the plane is towed back to the hangar for some routine checks and any maintenance needed after a busy week's work

In its week it has made eight flights, been airborne for 92 hours and 17 minutes, has travelled 46,372 miles (74,620 kms). It has carried 2,368 passengers, plus its crews, who have served nearly 6,000 meals or snacks, carried 3,487 bags in its hold, and used 278,419 gallons (1,055,208 litres) of fuel. Of course, planes used on short-haul flights (within Europe, for example) are far more intensively used and may make up to four return flights per day, though each flight is probably only a couple of hours maximum. For a long-haul jet, though, the world really is a small place.

With many thanks to Air France.