Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and is headquartered in

Tremblay-en-France Tremblay-en-France (, ; before 1989: ''Tremblay-lès-Gonesse'',Air France-KLM An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

Group and is one of the founding members of the

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, after Star Alliance and Oneworld. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second ...

airline alliance. As of 2013, Air France served 29 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 201 destinations in 78 countries (93 including

overseas departments and territories of France Overseas France (, also ) consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most are part of the European ...

) and also carried 46,803,000 passengers in 2019. The airline's global hub is at

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

, with

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (, ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris. It serves as a sec ...

as the primary domestic hub. Air France's

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headqu ...

, previously in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

, Paris, are located at the

Roissypôle Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

complex on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. Tracing its origins back to its earliest predecessor company in 1909, Air France was formed on 30 August 1933 as a merger of

Air Orient Air Orient was an airline based in France. Created in 1929 from the merger of ''Air Asie'' (c. 1928) and ''Air Union Lignes d’Orient'' (c. 1927 – renamed from Messageries Transaeriennes 1923), the short lived airline was merged with Air Fran ...

Air Union Air Union was a French airline established on 1 January 1923, as the result of a merger between the airlines '' Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes'' and '' Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens''. Air Union was merged with four other French ai ...

, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale,

Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; ; ) was a French–Romanian airline, founded on 1 January 1920. Its name changed on 1 January 1925 to CIDNA ("The International Air Navigation Company"; ). Using French-built Potez aircra ...

(CIDNA), and Société Générale de Transport Aérien (SGTA). During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

scheduled airlines operating in Germany at

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park call ...

and

Tegel Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinke ...

airports. In 1990, it acquired the operations of French domestic carrier

Air Inter Air Inter () (legally ''Lignes Aériennes Intérieures'') was a semi-public French domestic airline in France that operated from 1954 until it merged with Air France in 1997. It was last headquartered in Paray-Vieille-Poste, Essonne.''World Ai ...

and international rival UTA –

Union de Transports Aériens Union de Transports Aériens (; abbreviated as UTA and sometimes known as UTA French Airlines), was a private independent airline in France that operated from 1963 until it merged with Air France in 1992. UTA was formed by the merger of Union ...

. It served as France's primary national

for seven decades until its

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

in 2003. In 2018, Air France and its

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

subsidiary Hop carried 51.4 million passengers. Air France operates a mixed fleet of

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

and

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

widebody A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . ...

jets on long-haul routes, and uses

Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fami ...

aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...

on 20 November 2009 with service from Paris to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Air France Hop (formerly HOP!) operates the majority of its regional domestic and European scheduled services with a fleet of

regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet airliner, jet-powered regional airliner usually defined by having fewer than 100 seats. The first aircraft considered part of this category was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by Douglas DC-9, BAC O ...

aircraft.

History

Formation and early years

The predecessor companies of Air France date back to

Compagnie générale transaérienne The ''Compagnie générale transaérienne'' (CGT: General Trans-Air Company) was a predecessor of Air France, founded in 1909. At first it operated airships in France and Switzerland, then added float planes and direct flights from Paris to London. ...

, established in 1909, although this is also often stated to be 1918. It was formed on 30 August 1933, from a merger of Compagnie Générale Aéropostale (founded in 1918 as Société des lignes Latécoère),

Société Générale des Transports Aériens The Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA) was a French airline founded in 1919. It operated until 1933 when its assets were incorporated in the newly created Air France airline. History Initially known as the ''Lignes Aériennes F ...

(SGTA, founded in 1919),

(CIDNA, founded in 1920),

(founded in 1923) and

(founded in 1929). SGTA was the first commercial passenger airline company in France; founded as Lignes Aériennes Farman in 1919, it began a weekly service between Paris and Brussels on 22 March 1919, the world's first international commercial aviation service. Société des lignes Latécoère began

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

services in 1924. These airlines built extensive networks across Europe, to

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonie ...

in North Africa and farther afield. During World War II, Air France moved its operations to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Morocco. In 1936, Air France added French-built twin engine

Potez 62 The Potez 62 was a French twin-engine civil airliner, designed by Henry Potez in 1934. The French military adapted this airframe two-years later to create the Potez 650. History The Potez 62 has its origins in the Potez 54, a military bomber. ...

aircraft to its fleet featuring a two-compartment cabin that could accommodate 14 to 16 passengers. A high-wing monoplane, it had a wooden fuselage with composite coating while the wings were fabric-covered with a metal leading edge. Equipped with Hispano-Suiza V-engines, they were used on routes in Europe, South America and the Far East. Although cruising at only 175 miles per hour, the Potez 62 was a robust and reliable workhorse for Air France and remained in service until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with one used by the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

. On 26 June 1945, all of France's

air transport Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot ai ...

companies were

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

. On 29 December 1945, a decree of the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network. Air France appointed its first

flight attendant A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

s in 1946. The same year the airline opened its first air terminal at

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

in central Paris. It was linked to

Paris Le Bourget Airport Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Air France's first operations and engineering base, by coach. At that time the network covered 160,000 km, claimed to be the longest in the world. Société Nationale Air France was set up on 1 January 1946. European schedules were initially operated by a fleet of

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

aircraft. On 1 July 1946, Air France started direct flights between Paris and New York via refuelling stops at Shannon and Gander.

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder (engine), cylinder a ...

-engine

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

s covered the route in just under 20 hours. In September 1947, Air France's network stretched east from New York, Fort de France and Buenos Aires to Shanghai. Lockheed L1049 F-BGNG Air France LAP 08

By 1948, Air France operated 130 aircraft, one of the largest fleets in the world. Between 1947 and 1965, the airline operated

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

s on passenger and cargo services worldwide. In 1946 and 1948, respectively, the French government authorised the creation of two private airlines: Transports Aériens Internationaux – later

Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI, lit. "Intercontinental Air Transport") was a private French airline, based at Orly Airport, Paris. In 1963, it was merged with Union Aéromaritime de Transport on 1 October 1963 to form UTA French ...

– (TAI) and SATI. In 1949, the latter became part of

Union Aéromaritime de Transport ''Union Aéromaritime de Transport'' (UAT) was a French airline. It had its head office in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Compagnie Nationale Air France was created by act of parliament on 16 June 1948. Initially, the government held 70%. In subsequent years the

French state Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...

's direct and indirect shareholdings reached almost 100%. In mid-2002 the state held 54%. On 4 August 1948,

Max Hymans Max Hymans (2 March 1900 in Paris – 7 March 1961 in Saint-Cloud), was a notable leftist French politician, member of the resistance, and director of Air France from 1948 to 1961. Biography Max Hymans was born in Paris on 2 March 1900. ...

was appointed the president. During his 13-year

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

he would implement modernisation practices centred on the introduction of

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

. In 1949 the company became a co-founder of Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), an airline telecommunications services company.

Jet age reorganization

In 1952, Air France moved its operations and engineering base to the new

South terminal. By then the network covered 250,000 km. Air France entered the jet age in August 1953, flying the original, short-lived

de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

series 1A Paris-Rome-Beirut. In the mid 1950s, it also operated the

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

turboprop, with twelve entering service between May 1953 and August 1954 on the European routes. On 26 September 1953 the government instructed Air France to share long-distance routes with new private airlines. This was followed by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport's imposition of an

accord Accord may refer to: Businesses and products * Honda Accord, a car manufactured by the Honda Motor Company * Accord (cigarette), a brand of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges * Accord (company), a former public services provider in south England * Accord ...

on Air France,

Aigle Azur Aigle Azur was a French airline based and headquartered at Paris Orly Airport. The airline operated scheduled flights from France to 21 destinations across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with a fleet of Airbus A320 family and A330 aircr ...

, TAI and UAT, under which some routes to Africa, Asia and the Pacific region were transferred to private carriers. On 23 February 1960, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport transferred Air France's domestic monopoly to Air Inter. To compensate for the loss of its domestic network Air France was given a stake in Air Inter. The following day Air France was instructed to share African routes with

Air Afrique Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these cou ...

and UAT. The airline started uninterrupted jet operations in 1960 with the

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

and the

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

; jet airliners cut travel times in half and improved comfort. Air France later became an early

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

operator and eventually had one of the world's largest

fleets.

On 1 February 1963, the government formalised division of routes between Air France and its

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

rivals. Air France was to withdraw services to West Africa (except

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

), Central Africa (except

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

), Southern Africa (including

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

in North Africa,

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in the Middle East, Sri Lanka (then known as

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

) in South Asia, Indonesia,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and Singapore in Southeast Asia, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

as well as

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. These routes were allocated to the new

(UTA), a new private airline resulting from the merger of TAI and UAT. UTA also got exclusive rights between Japan,

and

, South Africa and

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

island in the Indian Ocean, as well as Los Angeles and Tahiti. In 1974, Air France began shifting the bulk of operations to the new Charles de Gaulle Airport north of Paris. By the early 1980s, only

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, Martinique,

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, most services to

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, Réunion, the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

region, Eastern Europe (except the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

), Southern Europe (except

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and Italy), and one daily service to New York (JFK) remained at Orly. In 1974, Air France also became the world's first operator of the

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...

twin-engine

plane,

Airbus Industrie Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been the ...

's first commercial airliner for which it was a launch customer.

Concorde service and rivalry

On 21 January 1976, Air France operated its inaugural

supersonic transport The ogive.html" ;"title="Concorde supersonic transport had an ogive">ogival delta wing, a slender fuselage and four underslung Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines. file:Tu-144.jpg, The Tupolev Tu-144 was the first SST to enter service and th ...

(SST) service on the Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

(via

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

) route with Anglo-French BAC-Aérospatiale Concorde F-BVFA. Supersonic services from Paris (CDG) to

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

began on 24 May 1976, also with F-BVFA. Service to

(JFK) – the only remaining Concorde service until its end – commenced on 22 November 1977. Paris to New York was flown in 3 hours 23 minutes, at about twice the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elasticity (solid mechanics), elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At , the speed of sound in a ...

. Approval for flights to the United States was initially withheld due to noise protests. Eventually, services to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

via Washington, D.C., were started. Air France became one of only two airlines –

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

being the other – to regularly operate supersonic services, and continued daily transatlantic Concorde service until late May 2003. By 1983, Air France's

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

, the workforce numbered more than 34,000, its fleet about 100

(including 33

s) and its 634,400 km network served 150 destinations in 73 countries. This made Air France the fourth-largest scheduled passenger airline in the world, as well as the second-largest scheduled freight carrier. Air France also codeshared with regional French airlines, TAT being the most prominent. TAT would later operate several regional international routes on behalf of Air France. In 1983, Air France began passenger flights to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, being the first European airline to do so. In 1986, the government relaxed its policy of dividing traffic rights for scheduled services between Air France, Air Inter and UTA, without route overlaps between them. The decision opened some of Air France's most lucrative routes on which it had enjoyed a government-sanctioned monopoly since 1963 and which were within its exclusive sphere of influence, to rival airlines, notably UTA. The changes enabled UTA to launch scheduled services to new destinations within Air France's sphere, in competition with that airline. Air France Boeing 747-100 Gilliand

Paris-San Francisco became the first route UTA served in competition with Air France non-stop from Paris. Air France responded by extending some non-stop Paris-Los Angeles services to

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

, Tahiti, which competed with UTA on Los Angeles-Papeete. UTA's ability to secure traffic rights outside its traditional sphere in competition with Air France was the result of a campaign to

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians * Lobby (food), a thick stew made in Leigh, Greater Manchester and North Staffordshire, like ...

the government to enable it to grow faster, becoming more dynamic and more

profitable In economics, profit is the difference between revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and total costs of its inputs, also known as surplus value. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit an ...

. This infuriated Air France. In 1987, Air France together with

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

, Iberia (airline), Iberia and SAS Group, SAS founded Amadeus IT Group, Amadeus, an IT company (also known as a Computer reservations system, GDS) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system. In 1988, Air France was a launch customer for the fly-by-wire (FBW) A320 narrowbody twin, along with Air Inter and British Caledonian. It became the first airline to take delivery of the A320 in March 1988, and along with Air Inter became the first airlines to introduce Airbus A320 service on short-haul routes.

Acquisitions and privatization

Air Inter Dassault Mercure 100 Alain Durand

On 12 January 1990, the operations of government-owned Air France, semi-public Air Inter and wholly private

(UTA) were merged into an enlarged Air France. Air France's acquisition of UTA and Air Inter was part of an early 1990s government plan to create a unified, national carrier, national air carrier with the economies of scale and global reach to counter potential threats from the liberalization of the European Union's internal air transport market. On 25 July 1994, a new holding company, Groupe Air France, was set up by decree. Groupe Air France became operational on 1 September 1994. It acquired the Air France group's majority shareholdings in Air France and Air Inter (subsequently renamed Air Inter Europe). On 31 August 1994, Stephen Wolf, a former United Airlines CEO, was appointed adviser to the Air France group's chairman Christian Blanc. Wolf was credited with the introduction of Air France's hub and spoke operation at Paris Charles de Gaulle. Wolf resigned in 1996 to take over as CEO at US Airways. In 1997, Air Inter Europe was absorbed into Air France. On 19 February 1999, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government approved Air France's partial privatisation. Its ownership equity, shares were listed on the Paris stock exchange on 22 February 1999. In June 1999, Air France and Delta Air Lines formed a bilateral transatlantic flight, transatlantic Articles of Partnership, partnership. On 22 June 2000, this expanded into the

global airline alliance.

Air France–KLM merger

On 30 September 2003, Air France and Netherlands-based

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

Royal Dutch Airlines announced the merger of the two airlines, with the new company to be known as Air France–KLM. The merger took place on 5 May 2004. At that point former Air France shareholders owned 81% of the new firm (44% owned by the French state, 37% by private shareholders), former KLM shareholders the rest. The decision of the Jean-Pierre Raffarin government to reduce the French state's shareholding in the former Air France group from 54.4% to 44% of the newly created Air France–KLM Group effectively privatised the new airline. In December 2004, the state sold 18.4% of its equity in Air France–KLM. The state's shareholding in Air France–KLM subsequently fell to just under 20%. Air France–KLM became the largest airline in the world in terms of operating revenues, and third-largest (largest in Europe) in passenger kilometres. Although owned by a single company, Air France and KLM continued to fly under their own brand names. Air France–KLM remained part of SkyTeam alliance, which then included Aeroflot, Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico, Korean Air, Czech Airlines, Alitalia, Northwest Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Airlines, Air Europa, Continental Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Vietnam Airlines, Saudia, Aerolineas Argentinas, and XiamenAir. As of March 2004, the group employed 71,654 people. As of March 2007, the group employed 102,422 personnel.

Open Skies venture

On 17 October 2007, the creation of a profit and revenue-sharing transatlantic joint venture between Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines was announced during a press conference at Air France-KLM's headquarters. The venture became effective on 29 March 2008. It aimed to exploit transatlantic opportunities to capture a major share of long-haul business traffic from Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow, which opened to unrestricted competition on that day as a result of the "Open Skies" Treaty, pact between the EU and US. It was envisaged that Air France and Delta Air Lines, Delta would begin nine daily round trips between London-Heathrow and destinations in the US, including a daily London (Heathrow) to Los Angeles service by Air France. Once the new Air France-Delta venture received United States antitrust law, antitrust immunity, it was to be extended to the other two transatlantic SkyTeam partners, enabling all four partners to codeshare flights as well as to share revenue and profit. The new transatlantic joint venture marks the Air France-KLM Group's second major expansion in the London market, following the launch of CityJet-operated short-haul services from London City Airport that have been aimed at business travellers in the City of London, City's financial services industry. However, the daily London (Heathrow) to Los Angeles service was not as successful as hoped, and was discontinued in November 2008.

2010s

On 12 January 2012, Air France-KLM announced a three-year transformation plan, called Transform 2015, to restore profitability. The plan was to restore competitiveness through cost-cutting, restructuring the short- and medium-haul operations and rapidly reducing debt. The main objective of this plan was to turn Air France-KLM back into a world player by 2015. Air France had been losing 700 million euros a year. As the financial results of 2011 demonstrated, the long-haul operations, also subject to increasing competition, would not be able to offset these losses. On 22 February 2012, Air France released its plan for the summer schedule. Because of the uncertain economic environment, Air France-KLM set a limit of 1.4% maximum increase in capacity from 25 March 2012 to 28 October 2012. On 21 June 2012, Air France-KLM had announced its decision to cut just under 10% of the total 53,000 workforce (about 5,000 jobs) by the end of 2013 in an attempt to restore profitability. The airline expected to lose 1,700 jobs through natural turnover and the rest by voluntary redundancies. As of August 2012, the Transform 2015 plan was accepted by ground staff and pilot unions but rejected by cabin crew unions. At the beginning of July 2012, it was announced that Air France-KLM found partners for the new African start-up airline Air France, which was co-founded by six countries in Central Africa to replace the former

. But several problems and two partners, who decided to back out, delayed the implementation of the project. Following its launch, Air France announced it would commence operations in 2013. In September 2013, Air France introduced a brand new Economy product along with an improved Premium Economy seat and service. It is expected that the new improvements would be fitted on aircraft from June 2014 onwards. In October 2013, Air France-KLM announced it was writing off the 25% stake in Alitalia, as it was hesitant the struggling carrier would obtain the 300 million euros in financing. The group has denied Alitalia of additional funds as it is currently struggling to restructure itself to profitability with the Transform 2015 plan. In December 2013, Air France announced that Cityjet no longer meets the short haul needs of the group and is in the process of closing a deal with German firm Intro Aviation by the end of Q1 of 2014. In 2014, the airline was targeted by a negative publicity campaign, spearheaded by PETA, for being the only major airline that permits the transport of primates for research. In 2022, the airline announced it would stop transporting nonhuman primates. On 4 February 2014, the new business product was unveiled, featuring a fully flat bed from Zodiac Aerospace. The seat was fitted on Boeing 777 aircraft from June 2014 onwards. In September 2014, Air France announced it would sell a 3 per cent stake in travel technology company Amadeus IT Group for $438 million. Late in 2015, Air France faced a financial crisis, which was exacerbated by a pilot's strike against the airline. The airline answered the strike by announcing it would cut some 2,900 jobs. In December 2015, Air France announced the retirement of its last Boeing 747-400 with a special scenic flight on 14 January 2016. The airline operated the 747 in several variants since 1970. In January 2017, Air France received its first Boeing 787–9. In November, CityJet no longer operated on Air France flights and the affected destinations were served by Air France and HOP! from then on. In July 2017, Air France-KLM entered into a multi-airline strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines, China Eastern Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, solidifying the existing ties between the carriers. Under the agreement Delta and China Eastern would each buy 10% of Air France-KLM, while Air France-KLM would buy 31% of Virgin Atlantic. In December 2019, the purchase of Virgin Atlantic was cancelled. Air France announced it would terminate services to Iran from September 2018, explaining the concern that the route to Iran is no longer commercially viable due to the redefined United States sanctions against Iran, US sanctions. In December 2018, Anne Rigail was appointed as Executive Director of the company.

Corporate affairs and identity

Head office

Air France's head office is located in the Roissypôle complex on the grounds of

and in the commune of

Tremblay-en-France Tremblay-en-France (, ; before 1989: ''Tremblay-lès-Gonesse'', (less than 700 million French franc, francs). The runways of the airport are visible from the building. The Air France Operations Control Centre (''OCC'', French: Centre de Contrôle des Opérations, ''CCO''), which coordinates Air France flights worldwide, is situated at the AF head office. For about 30 years prior to December 1995, Air France's headquarters were located in a tower adjacent to the Gare Montparnasse rail station in the

area and the 15th arrondissement of Paris. By 1991, two bids for the purchase of the Square Max Hymans building had been made. By 1992, the complex was sold to (MGEN) for 1.6 billion French franc, francs. By that year, Air France had planned to move its head office to Roissypôle, taking of space inside the hotel, office, and shopping complex on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport. After Air France moved to Tremblay-en-France, the ownership of the former head office complex was transferred. On a previous occasion the head office was at ''2 rue marbeuf'' in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Foreign offices

Air France's United States offices are in the 125 West 55th Street building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Air France first signed a lease to occupy the building in 1991.Air France leases 29,500 sf at Avenue of the Americas Plaza
." ''Real Estate Weekly''. 10 July 1991. Retrieved on 24 February 2011. The site also formerly housed the New York City ticket office for Air France. Air France-KLM's head office for the United Kingdom and Ireland operations, which includes facilities for Air France and

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

, is located in Plesman House in Hatton, London, Hatton Cross. The facility's inauguration was on 6 July 2006. Air France moved the office from Hounslow to Hatton. In London, the airline also operated a storefront ticket-office for prospective passengers in 158 New Bond Street from the late 1950s to the early 1990s but moved to 177 Piccadilly, French Railways House, which was also the venue of ''Maison de La France,'' the French Government Tourist Office, until closure in the mid-2000s.

Crew base

Air France Cité PN, located at Charles de Gaulle Airport, acts as the airline's crew base. The building, developed by Valode & Pistre, opened in February 2006. The first phase consisted of of space and 4,300 parking spaces. The building is connected to the Air France head office.

Vaccination centre

Air France operates the Air France Vaccinations Center in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The centre distributes vaccines for international travel. Since 2001 the centre was the only French vaccination centre certified International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001. In 2005, the centre moved from the Aérogare des Invalides to its current location.B. H.
Twingo travaillaient à la chaîne La station Simplon ne rouvrira qu'en novembre Le centre de vaccinations d'Air France déménage
" ''Le Parisien''. 10 August 2005. Retrieved on 5 May 2010. "Le centre de vaccinations internationales d'Air France quittera samedi le terminal de la compagnie aux Invalides (VII e ) pour emménager à deux pas, au... 148, Rue de l'Université (Paris), rue de l'Université (Paris VII e )." GaredesInvalidesAFLogo2

Aérogare des Invalides

The Aérogare des Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris houses the Agence Air France Invalides and the Air France Museum. Until 2005, the building hosted the Air France Vaccinations Centre. On 28 August 1959, Air France opened a ticket and information agency in the former air terminal in Invalides, targeting transit passengers and customers from offices and companies in the Invalides area.

Subsidiaries and franchises

The subsidiaries of Air France include: * Transavia France * Air France Hop (formerly called HOP!) * Air France Consulting ** Quali-audit * BlueLink * Servair * Société de construction et de réparation de matériel aéronautique (CRMA) * Sodexi Air France and Dutch affiliate Transavia formed Transavia France, a low-cost joint venture in May 2007, based at Orly Airport. Air Corsica, CityJet and Air France Hop all operate flights on behalf of Air France, either as subsidiaries or as franchisees. As of January 2019, Air France was investigating how it could shut down its low-cost subsidiary Joon and absorb its employees and aircraft into the parent company.

Air France Asie and Air France Cargo Asie

Owing to the Foreign relations of Taiwan, disputed status of Taiwan, Air France could not operate flights to the island under its own name. In 1993, its subsidiary, Air Charter International, Air Charter, began operating flights between Paris and Taipei via Hong Kong, but after Air Charter ceased operations in 1998, a subsidiary called Air France Asie was established. The airline was one of a number of airline subsidiaries flying under the "Asia" name with the purpose of flying to Taiwan, which included Japan Asia Airways (a Japan Airlines subsidiary), KLM Asia, British Asia Airways, Swissair Asia, and Australia Asia Airlines (a Qantas subsidiary). The livery of Air France Asie differed from that of Air France by having blue and white stripes on the tailfin, rather than blue, white and red ones, representing the French Tricolour. Air France Asie used two Airbus A340-200 aircraft, F-GLZD and F-GLZE, and two Boeing 747-428Ms, F-GISA and F-GISC. Similarly, Air France Cargo Asie used a 747–200 Combi (for passengers and freight), F-GCBH) or the all-cargo (F-GCBL, F-GPAN and F-GBOX). Air France Asie ceased operations in 2004 while Air France Cargo Asie ceased operations in 2007.

Outsourcing

In 2010 Air France migrated from an internally managed passenger service system (Alpha3) that manages reservation, inventory and pricing to an external system (Altéa) managed by Amadeus IT Group, Amadeus. In rail ventures, Air France and Veolia are looking into jointly operating high-speed rail services in Europe. Routes have become available to operators in accordance with European rail liberalisation on 1 January 2010.

Livery

Air France's present livery is a "Eurowhite" scheme, comprising a white fuselage with the blue Air France title and design. The tail is white with a series of parallel red and blue lines across the tail at an angle, and a small European flag at the top. The engines have the old Air France (and formerly Air Orient) logo painted on, though only on newer aircraft. This livery has been in use since the late 1970s. Prior to the "Eurowhite" livery, Air France aircraft had a bare-metal underside, extending up to a blue cheat-line that ran across the cabin windows. Above the cheat-line the fuselage was again white, with Air France titles and a French flag. The tail was white with two thick blue lines, which tapered from the rear of the tail and met at a point towards the front bottom. This basic livery, with minor variations, would appear on all post-war Air France aircraft until the late 1970s. In January 2009, to coincide with Air France's new logo, a new livery was unveiled. Air France rolled out its new livery on 11 February 2009. The 2009 livery saw the tail slightly changed; there are now three blue bars running down instead of the previous four. The bars also now curve at the bottom, reflecting the design of the logo. In 2017, Air France received their first Boeing 787 with a revised livery which included larger Air France titles. In 2019, Air France revised the livery with the arrival of the Airbus A350, with blue winglets featuring the ''hippocampe ailé''. This coincided with reintroducing the practice of naming each of their aircraft, with the name written under the front cabin windows; the first A350-900 was named after the city of Toulouse. In 2021, Air France once again revised the livery, while most elements were still identical to the 2019 version, the ''hippocampe ailé'' icon is now added between cockpit windows and front cabin doors, replacing the SkyTeam logo. The aircraft type, SkyTeam logo and Air France-KLM logo now feature at the back of the fuselage. File:Sud SE-210 Caravelle III, Air France AN0818829.jpg, Air France

in the oldest Livery File:Airbus A310-304, Air France AN1114716.jpg, Air France Airbus A310 in the 1976 livery File:Air France Boeing 777-300ER.jpg, Air France Boeing 777 in the 2009 livery File:Air France, F-HRBC, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (39933535874).jpg, Air France Boeing 787 in the 2017 revised livery File:Air france airbus a350 f-htya.jpg, Air France Airbus A350 in the 2019 revised livery File:Air France, F-HZUG, Airbus A220-300.jpg, Air France Airbus A220 in the 2021 revised livery

Marketing

In the 1950s and 1960s, graphic designer Jean Carlu produced promotional posters for Air France. The new official song played before and after Air France flights (during boarding and after landing) is 'The World Can Be Yours' by Telepopmusik. Air France has used different popular music groups for its marketing and on-board ambience, ranging from The Chemical Brothers in 1999 to Telepopmusik in 2010. Air France launched a new ad campaign in 2015 designed by BETC and directed by We Are From LA, focusing on French culture. Along with the ad campaign and print ads, Air France also introduced a similarly themed safety video. The music is a customised version of Glass Candy's song ''Warm in the Winter''.

Uniforms

Air France uniforms denote the ranks for the flight attendants. Two silver sleeve stripes denote a senior Purser. One silver sleeve stripe denote a Purser. Flight attendants do not have any sleeve stripes. The female cabin crew uniforms feature the stripes on the breast pocket rather than the sleeve for their male counterparts. Air France's current uniforms were created by French fashion designer Christian Lacroix.

Branding

Upon its formation, Air France adopted the seahorse logo of its predecessor Air Orient, known as the ''hippocampe ailé'' (sometimes derisively called "la crevette" – or shrimp – by its employees), as its insignia. Prior to the Air France-KLM merger, the ''hippocampe ailé'' was used on the nose section of aircraft next to the Groupe Air France title; after the merger, the Air France-KLM logo was substituted at the nose area, and the ''hippocampe ailé'' was relocated to engine nacelles. The acronym "AF" has also featured prominently on the airline's flag and its signage. On 7 January 2009, Air France officially changed its logo to a red stripe.

Destinations

As of 2022, Air France flies to 29 domestic destinations and 201 international destinations in 94 countries (including

) across six continents, including 19 in the United States. This includes Air France Cargo services and destinations served by franchisees Air Corsica, CityJet and Air France HOP. Most of Air France's international flights operate from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Air France also has a strong presence at Paris-Orly, Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, Marseille Provence, Toulouse Blagnac, Nice Côte d'Azur. airports.

Hub information

: Air France's intercontinental and biggest hub, with 335 daily departures. It is also a hub for Air France's subsidiary Air France HOP. *

: Air France's second biggest base, it is also the principal hub of Air France's subsidiary Transavia France.

Codeshare agreements

Air France codeshares with the following airlines: * Aerolíneas Argentinas * Aeroméxico * Air Antilles * Air Astana * Air Austral * Air Burkina * Aircalin * Air Corsica * Amelia (airline), Amelia. * Air Europa * Airlink * Air Mauritius * Air Serbia * Air Seychelles * Air Tahiti Nui * Atlantic Airways * airBaltic * Austrian Airlines * Azerbaijan Airlines * Belavia * Bulgaria Air * China Eastern Airlines * China Southern Airlines * CityJet * Copa Airlines * Croatia Airlines * Delta Air Lines * Eastern Airways * El Al * Finnair * Garuda Indonesia * Georgian Airways * Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes * IndiGo * ITA Airways * Japan Airlines * Kenya Airways *

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

* KM Malta Airlines * Korean Air * LATAM Brasil * Luxair * Madagascar Airlines * Middle East Airlines * Qantas * Saudia * Scandinavian Airlines * Singapore Airlines * Sky Express (Greece), Sky Express * SNCF * Swiss International Air Lines * TAAG Angola Airlines * TAROM * Vietnam Airlines * Virgin Atlantic * WestJet * Widerøe * Winair

Interline agreements

Air France has Interlining, interline agreements with the following airlines: * Air Côte d'Ivoire * Pakistan International Airlines * Royal Brunei Airlines * Sky Airline

Fleet

Widebody fleet

On 16 September 2011,

Air France-KLM An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

announced orders for 50 Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s with 60 options, to be operated by both Air France and KLM. Air France-KLM commits 37 Boeing 787s, 25 directly and 12 leased, of which 16 are earmarked for Air France to replace some A340-300s, subsequent A340s would be replaced by Airbus A350s from 2019. The first Boeing 787-9 entered into service with KLM in 2015 and with Air France in early 2017. Air France-KLM has 28 A350s on firm order. In June 2019, the group announced a revision of the original order with Air France becoming the sole operator of the Airbus A350, with KLM only operating Boeing 787s, including six originally earmarked for Air France. The first Airbus A350-900 ''(named Toulouse'') was delivered to Air France on 27 September 2019.

Narrowbody fleet

Air France operates a fleet of all four variants of the Airbus A320 family, Airbus A320ceo family aircraft with a total of 114 jets. In July 2019, a first order was announced as part of replacing its narrowbody fleet. The smaller Airbus A318 and A319 fleet will be replaced by 60 Airbus A220-300s starting in 2021. Air France would have to cut emission by half by 2024 for flights within mainland France as part of conditions of a €7 billion state support from France. As a result, Air France plans to place more Airbus A220 onto its domestic network.

Concorde

The five Air France Concordes were retired on 31 May 2003, as a result of insufficient demand following the Air France Flight 4590, 25 July 2000 crash of AF Concorde F-BTSC, at Gonesse (near Charles de Gaulle Airport), as well as higher fuel and maintenance costs. British Airways flew its last Concorde service on 24 October 2003. Concorde F-BVFA was transferred to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at

. F-BVFB was given to the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Germany, F-BTSD to the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, while F-BVFC returned to its place of manufacture in Toulouse, at the Airbus factory. F-BVFF is the only example to remain at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Boeing 747

The airline started operating the 747 on 3 June 1970, when a 747-100 was put into service that was delivered on 20 March that year."Orders and Deliveries: Boeing 747."
''The Boeing Company''. Retrieved: 1 March 2018. It would go on to operate the −200, −300 and −400 variants. In January 2016, Air France finally retired its last Boeing 747–400. They were replaced by Airbus A380s and Boeing 777-300ERs. Freighter versions were replaced by Boeing 777Fs.

Cabins

Air France offers a mix of three and four cabin configurations for international long haul routes, featuring La Première (select aircraft), Business, Premium Economy and Economy. Personal screens with audio video on demand is available in all cabins on all long-haul aircraft. European short-haul and medium-haul flights feature a three cabin configuration with Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.

La Première

La Première is Air France's long-haul First class travel, first class product. It is available on selected Boeing 777-300ERs. The Première cabin features wood and leather seats which recline 180°, forming two-metric system, metre long beds. Each seat features a 10.4" touchscreen personal screen with interactive gaming and audio video on demand, a privacy divider, automassage feature, reading light, storage drawer, noise-cancelling headphones, personal telephone, and laptop power ports. Each passenger is also provided with a personalised coat service, pure merino wool blanket, a "boudoir-style" cushion, and a travel kit featuring Biologique Recherche facial and body care products to moisturise and refresh the skin. Turndown service includes a mattress, a duvet, hypoallergenic feather pillow, sleepwear, a dust bag for shoes, and a pair of slippers À la carte on-demand meal services feature entrées created by Chef Guy Martin. Private lounge access is offered worldwide featuring a chauffeured car to the aircraft. La Première is not available on Airbus A330s, A350s, and most Boeing 777s, on which Business is the highest cabin class. Four-class 777-300ER configurations are equipped with four seats. Air France is also planning to introduce an updated version of La Première in 2025, with the Airbus A350-900 being a potential aircraft to be equipped with the updated cabin. The new La Première expérience has been introduced in march 2025 and will equip Boeing 777-300ER. The new private suite offers 5 windows and occupies 3,5 square meters. The méridienne can be transformed in a 3 meters long bed. The first flight with the new cabin flew from Paris to New York JFK on April 8 2025.

Business

Business, Air France's long-haul business class product, is available on all long haul aircraft. Business features angled lie-flat seats which recline to two metres in length. Each seat includes a 10.4" touchscreen TV monitor with interactive gaming and AVOD, reading light, personal telephone, and laptop power ports. Meal service features three-course meals and a cheese service, or an express menu served shortly after takeoff. The current business class product features Zodiac Aerospace Cirrus seats is designed by Mark Collins of Design Investment, specialised in the world of high-end transportation and by the design and branding agency, Brandimage. Initially debuting on Boeing 777s in June 2014, they were retrofitted onto all other aircraft types except for the Boeing 747–400, Airbus A380s, and Airbus A340-300 as they were to be retired from the fleet by 2016, 2019, and 2020 respectively. A total of 2,102 seats would be installed. The new cabin features a 1-2-1 layout as opposed to a 2-3-2 layout previously used on 777s or the 2-2-2 seat configuration of the Airbus A330s. The new 16-inch (41 cm) screen offers a unique onboard navigation experience similar to a tablet. With a completely redesigned user interface and available in 12 languages (French, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Arabic), choosing an entertainment program from over 1,000 hours of entertainment. The seat converts into a fully flat bed with 180 degrees recline, and features a touchscreen remote control, USB port, universal electrical outlet, new noise cancelling headphones, privacy screen, an Air France signature padded headboard, ample storage space, adjustable headrest, and a duvet with XXL feather down pillow.

Premium Economy

Premium Economy is featured on all long-haul flights. This cabin made its debut on Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s beginning in late 2009 and early 2010. The seats were also installed on Airbus A340-300s between late 2009 and early 2010 and the Airbus A380s in late 2010 and early 2011. It is a dedicated cabin section with a Airline seat#Seating layout, 2-4-2 (2-3-2 on the long haul Airbus fleet and 3-3-3 for Alize on the 777-300 serving Indian Ocean and Caribbean routes) configuration with 38″ pitch (36″ for long-haul Alize seats), 123° reclining fixed-shell seats, including an adjustable headrest, a 10.4″ touchscreen, personal reading lamp, universal power ports, and an adjustable leg rest (40% more space, compared to Voyageur seats; the seats are 20% wider and offer 20% more legroom). This cabin contains 32 seats on Boeing 777-300ERs, 24 on Boeing 777–200ERs and Airbus A350-900s, and 21 on Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 787-9s. Passengers receive double baggage allowance, priority airport services, lounge access (for a fee), and extra frequent flier mileage. On board, business-class amenities include Sennheiser noise-cancelling headphones, an amenity kit (featuring socks, eye mask, toothbrush & toothpaste, and earplugs), improved blankets, and an enhanced meal service with second hot meal, candies, and ice cream, all served with real glass and metal cutlery. A new improved Premium Economy seat using the same shell was introduced from June 2014 on the Boeing 777 aircraft, featuring better cushioning and improved foot rest, adding comfort to the passenger.

Economy

Air France's economy class long-haul product features seats that recline up to 118°. The current long-haul Economy seat, which debuted on the Boeing 777-300ER, includes winged headrests, a personal telephone, and a touchscreen TV monitor with AVOD Interactive Entertainment System which have been installed on all of Air France's long-haul fleet. On long-haul flights, a menu is presented with a choice of two meals. Short- and medium-haul Economy services are operated by Airbus A320 family aircraft with different seating arrangements. Air France is one of the few airlines who features winged headrests on short-to-medium-haul aircraft in both classes. On short-haul flights, a snack is served, while on medium-haul flights, a three-course cold meal is served. Free alcoholic beverages are available on all flights, including champagne. On most aircraft, Air France offers extra-legroom seats in economy called Seat Plus. These seats are located in the economy-class exit rows and other rows depending on the aircraft type, offering at least 4" more seat pitch (36" versus the usual 32" in standard economy seats). Seat Plus prices vary by flight time, but it is free to elites and passengers with a full-fare economy ticket. Air France has introduced a brand-new economy long-haul product which features a new slimline seat providing up to an inch more legroom, wider table, universal electrical sockets, retractable armrests, winged leather headrests, more storage space, high-definition 10-inch screens featuring the latest in-flight entertainment with a USB port, a headphones holder, and newly designed pillows featuring different patterns of the Air France logo. The seats would be installed along with the new La Première, Business, and Premium Economy seats from June 2014 till summer 2016 on the Boeing 777 aircraft, the core of the fleet. All other aircraft would be retrofitted except the Airbus A340-300s, Airbus A380-800s, and Boeing 747-400s, as all three types would be retired by 2020.

Services

In-flight catering

For La Première, Air France's first class menu is designed by Guy Martin, chef of Le Grand Vefour, a Michelin guide, Michelin three-star restaurant in Paris. Menu items include hors d'oeuvres, entrées, bread basket, and cheeses, along with a dessert cart including pastries, petit fours, and tartlets. On long-haul flights, Air France also serves complimentary champagne and wine to passengers in all classes.

In-flight entertainment

Air France offers Audio Video on Demand (AVOD) in all cabins on all long haul aircraft. The in flight entertainment system features multiple channels of video, audio, music, and games. ''Air France Magazine'', the airline's in-flight publication, is included at each seat, and ''Air France Madame'', a fashion luxury magazine with a feminine perspective, is included in La Première and Business cabins and lounges. On all flights, all films may be watched in English, Spanish, and French. Selected films on all flights are also available in Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Korean. The airline offers Berlitz International language courses via the in-flight entertainment system. On 29 May 2013, KLM and Air France launched a pilot to test inflight Wi-Fi. Both airlines have equipped one Boeing 777-300ER of each of their fleets with Wi-Fi. Using the inflight Wi-Fi, passengers can stay online using their Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Wireless service would commence once the flight has reached 20,000 feet.

Le Salon

Air France lounges are known as Le Salon, and are open to La Première and Business passengers, as well as Flying Blue Gold, Flying Blue Platinum and SkyTeam Elite Plus members. Worldwide, there are 530 Air France and

lounges in 300 international airports on every continent except Antarctica.

Flying Blue

Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program of Air France-KLM, awards members points based on miles travelled and class of service. Membership into the program is free. The program is divided into standard (Explorer), Elite (Silver) and Elite Plus (Gold and Platinum) statuses. Explorer is the basic level which is attained upon entry into the program. Elite status is attained by accruing a certain number of XP (Experience Points) within one year. Elite Silver, Elite Plus Gold, and Elite Plus Platinum cards have added benefits. An invitation-only card called Club 2000 is attributed to some VIPs, celebrities and politicians. Officially, it provides the same benefits as Platinum status but numerous sources confirm it almost guarantees upgrade to Business or La Première. Flying Blue succeeded Air France's previous frequent flyer program, Fréquence Plus, which operated until the Air France-KLM merger in 2003.

In popular culture

*Air France is the official airline of the Cannes Film Festival. *Air France "''flight 273''" is the plane that ''"Chat Noir"'' in "''Magic Kaito 1412''" episode 18: ''Golden Eye (Part 2): Kid vs Chat Noir Showdown'', uses to escape.

Anniversary jet

On 14 November 2008, Air France released the first picture of an Airbus A320 that had been repainted in the full 1946 paint scheme to celebrate the airline's 75th anniversary. This heritage aircraft was planned to fly under the special colours until early 2010. In 2013 the aircraft was withdrawn from use for scrapping.

Award and recognition

On 24 June 2024, Air France was voted for multiple top awards by Skytrax; ''2024'' ''World's Best First Class Catering'', ''Best Airline in Western Europe'' and ''Best First Class Lounge Dining''.

Incidents and accidents

Air France has been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The airline's deadliest accident occurred on 1 June 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 on board. Another notable crash in Air France's records occurred on 25 July 2000, when Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde, caught fire immediately after take-off due to metal debris on the runway damaging a tire, which produced debris that struck a fuel tank on the underside of the wing, catching fire. The fire started to disintegrate the aircraft's left wing and the plane started to tilt to its side. This caused the aircraft to crash into a hotel on the outskirts of Gonesse, France. All 109 passengers and crew inside Flight 4590, as well as four people inside the hotel, were killed.

References

External links

* {{authority control Airlines of France French brands Airlines established in 1933 Air France–KLM SkyTeam Companies based in Île-de-France Multinational companies headquartered in France French companies established in 1933 Former seaplane operators Government-owned companies of France

History

Formation and early years

Jet age reorganization

Concorde service and rivalry

Acquisitions and privatization

Air France–KLM merger

Open Skies venture

2010s

Corporate affairs and identity

Head office

Foreign offices

Crew base

Vaccination centre

Aérogare des Invalides

Subsidiaries and franchises

Air France Asie and Air France Cargo Asie

Outsourcing

Livery

Marketing

Uniforms

Branding

Destinations

Hub information

Codeshare agreements

Interline agreements

Fleet

Widebody fleet

Narrowbody fleet

Concorde

Boeing 747

Cabins

La Première

Business

Premium Economy

Economy

Services

In-flight catering

In-flight entertainment

Le Salon

Flying Blue

In popular culture

Anniversary jet

Award and recognition

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

Further reading

External links