Air France

flag-carrier and largest airline in France

Air France is one of the largest airlines in the world. It is based in France. It is owned by Air France-KLM. Before it merged with KLM, it employed 71,654 people. Its headquarters are at Charles de Gaulle International Airport[1] near Paris.

Air France
IATA ICAO Callsign
AF AFR AIRFRANS
Founded7 October 1933
HubsCharles de Gaulle International Airport, Paris Orly Airport
Frequent-flyer programFlying Blue
AllianceSkyTeam
Parent companyAir France-KLM

History change

The airline can be traced back to 1933, when four other French airlines were combined to create Air France. [2] Air France hired its first flight attendants in 1946. [3] The airline started flying between Paris and New York City on July 1, 1946. In 1957, the airline bought its first jet aircraft. [4] Air France was one of 4 airlines that flew the Concorde. [5] It used it from 1976 until 2003. In 1988, the airline became the first to fly the Airbus A320. [6] In 2003, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France announced they were going to be combining. The combination ended in 2004. [7] As of 2016, Air France is going through many financial problems. [8]

Fleets change

Aircraft In service Orders Notes
A318-100 18 Largest operator of A318-100
A319-100 40 2 leased to Air Cote d'lvoire
A320-200 46 6 2 operated for Transavia France

1 leased to Air Corsica

A321-100 5
A321-200 18
A330-200 15
A340-300 13 Being retired in 2016
A350-900 18
A380-800 10 2
B777-200ER 25
B777-300ER 40 Launch customer
B787-9 12 Orders under review

Gallery change

References change

  1. "Head Office Archived 2009-09-22 at the Wayback Machine,Air France. Retrieved on 18 May 2009.
  2. "Air France - French airline". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  3. "Flight attendant". www.airfrancelasaga.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  4. http://corporate.airfrance.com/fileadmin/dossiers/documents/press_kits/new-york_2014.06-en.pdf[permanent dead link]
  5. "The Other Concorde Airlines: Braniff International & Singapore Airlines - Airchive". Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  6. "Air France: launch customer of the A320 | Airbus Press release". Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  7. Tagliabue, John (1 October 2003). "Air France and KLM to Merge, Europe's No. 1 Airline". The New York Times.
  8. "Air France: Seven years of losses before Works Council clash reveals a cracked mirror". CAPA - Centre for Aviation.