Air France (; formally ''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 the government for international operations. Hi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

headquartered in

Tremblay-en-France Tremblay-en-France (; ) is a commune in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. More than one-quarter of Charles de Gaulle Airport lies within the territory of the commune of Tremblay-en-France, in p ...

. It is a subsidiary of the

Air France–KLM Air France–KLM S.A., also known as Air France–KLM Group, is a Franco-Dutch airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, near Paris. The group has offices in ...

Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. , Air France serves 36 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 175 destinations in 78 countries (93 including overseas departments and territories of France) 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 (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

with

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...

as the primary domestic hub. Air France's corporate headquarters, 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. Montparnasse has bee ...

, Paris, are located on the grounds of

, north of Paris. Air France was formed on 7 October 1933 from 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 Franc ...

Air Union Air Union was a French airline established January 1, 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 airli ...

, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA), and Société Générale de Transport Aérien (SGTA). During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

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 called ...

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 ''Saatwinkel ...

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

Air Inter Air Inter (Lignes Aériennes Intérieures) was a semi-public French domestic airline. Before its merger with Air France, the airline was headquartered in Paray-Vieille-Poste, Essonne.''World Airline Directory''. Flight International. 26 March-1 Apr ...

and international rival UTA –

Union de Transports Aériens Union de Transports Aériens (abbreviated as UTA and sometimes known as UTA French Airlines), was a French airline that was formed in 1963 as a result of a merger between Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) and Transports Aériens Interconti ...

. It served as France's primary national

for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

. In 2018, Air France and its

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

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

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

and

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

widebody jets on long-haul routes, and uses

Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the A380 on 20 November 2009 with service to New York City's JFK Airport from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. 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-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of ...

aircraft.

History

Formation and early years

Air France was formed on 7 October 1933, from a merger of

, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA) and

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 Fa ...

(SGTA). Of these airlines, SGTA was the first commercial airline company in France, having been founded as Lignes Aériennes Farman in 1919. The constituent members of Air France had already built extensive networks across Europe, to

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

in North Africa and farther afield. During World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca (Morocco). In 1936, Air France added French-built twin engine

Potez 62 Potez 62 was a French twin-engine civil airliner, designed by Henry Potez in 1934. The French military adapted this air-frame two-years later to create the Potez 650. History The prototype of the Potez 62 made its maiden flight on January 28, 193 ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

with one used by the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (french: Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, 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 Fre ...

On 26 June 1945 all of France's air transport companies were nationalised. On 29 December 1945, a decree of the

French Government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network. Air France appointed its first flight attendants in 1946. The same year the airline opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris. It was linked to

Paris Le Bourget Airport Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 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 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 1 ...

piston-engine airliners 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 pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

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 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 Airlines. Operations In the early 1950s its ro ...

– (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 Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

on 16 June 1948. Initially, the government held 70%. In subsequent years the

French state Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

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

Max Hymans Max Hymans (March 2, 1900 in Paris – March 7, 1961 in Saint-Cloud), was a notable leftist French politician, member of the resistance, and director of Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as A ...

was appointed the president. During his 13-year

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

he would implement modernisation practices centred on the introduction of jet aircraft. In 1949 the company became a co-founder of Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), an airline telecommunications services company.

Jet age reorganisation

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 was 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 featured 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 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. The Vi ...

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 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 airc ...

TAI Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

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 countr ...

and UAT. The airline started uninterrupted jet operations in 1960 with the Sud Aviation Caravelle and the Boeing 707; jet airliners cut travel times in half and improved comfort. Air France later became an early Boeing 747 operator and eventually had one of the world's largest Boeing 747 fleets. Air France Caravelle Gilliand

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, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, 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 ...

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

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

), Central Africa (except Burundi and Rwanda), Southern Africa (including

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

in North Africa,

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

in the Middle East, Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) in South Asia, Indonesia,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and Singapore in Southeast Asia, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

as well as New Caledonia and Tahiti. 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, New Caledonia and

, South Africa and Réunion 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, Martinique, Guadeloupe, most services to French Guiana, Réunion, the Maghreb region, Eastern Europe (except the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR), Southern Europe (except Greece 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 twin-engine wide-body, widebody plane, Airbus Industrie'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 (SST) service on the Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to Rio de Janeiro, Rio (via Dakar) route with France–United Kingdom relations, Anglo-French Concorde, BAC-Aérospatiale Concorde F-BVFA. Supersonic services from Paris (CDG) to Washington Dulles International Airport began on 24 May 1976, also with F-BVFA. Service to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (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. Approval for flights to the United States was initially withheld due to noise protests. Eventually, services to Mexico City via Washington, D.C. were started. Air France became one of only two airlines – British Airways 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, the workforce numbered more than 34,000, its fleet about 100 jet aircraft (including 33 Boeing 747s) 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 (French airline), 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, 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, 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 lobbying, lobby the government to enable it to grow faster, becoming more dynamic and more profit (accounting), profitable. This infuriated Air France. In 1987 Air France together with Lufthansa, 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 narrow-body, narrowbody twin, along with Air Inter and British Caledonian. It became the first airline to take delivery of the Airbus A320 family, A320 in March 1988, and along with Air Inter became the first airlines to introduce Airbus A320 service on short-haul routes.

Acquisitions and privatisation

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 liberalisation of the EU'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 France 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 SkyTeam global airline alliance.

Air France–KLM merger

On 30 September 2003, Air France and Netherlands-based

Royal Dutch Airlines announced the merger of the two airlines, the new company to be known as Air France–KLM. The merger became reality 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 the SkyTeam alliance, which then included Aeroflot, Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico, Korean Air, Czech Airlines, Alitalia, Northwest Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air Europa, Continental Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Vietnam Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines. 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 London Heathrow Airport, 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 – 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. Air France - Boeing 777-228ER - F-GSPO (Quintin Soloviev)

Air France - Boeing 777-228ER - F-GSPO (Quintin Soloviev)

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 percent 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.

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

, Seine-Saint-Denis, near the city of Paris.AIR FRANCE HEAD QUARTERS – Roissypôle
" Groupement d'Etudes et de Méthodes d'Ordonnancement (GEMO). Retrieved on 20 September 2009. Wil S. Hylton of ''The New York Times'' described the facility as "a huge white box that squats near the runways at Charles de Gaulle Airport." The complex was completed in December 1995. The French firm Groupement d'Etudes et de Méthodes d'Ordonnancement (GEMO) managed the project. The architect was Valode & Pistre and the design consultants were Sechaud-Boyssut and Trouvin. The project cost 137,000,000 euros (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

, is located in Plesman House in Hatton Cross. The facility's inauguration was on 6 July 2006. Air France moved the office from Hounslow to Hatton.

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 Centre 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: * Air France Consulting ** Quali-audit * BlueLink (Air France), BlueLink * Air France Hop (Formerly called HOP!) * 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#Swissair Asia, 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 Flag of France, 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, however that has only happened on recent 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 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 3 blue bars running down instead of 4 previously. 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 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''. File:Sud SE-210 Caravelle III, Air France AN0818829.jpg, Air France Sud Aviation Caravelle 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

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 Chief 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

Air France Boeing 777-328ER F-GZNE Skyteam livery @ Paris CDG

As of 2019, Air France flies to 36 domestic destinations and 175 international destinations in 93 countries ''(including Overseas departments and territories of France)'' across 6 continents, including 14 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, Marseilles Provence, Toulouse Blagnac, Nice Côte d'Azur and Bordeaux-Merignac 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 hub serving 40 destinations around the world, it is also a hub for Air France's subsidiaries Air France HOP and Transavia France. Long-haul flights are mainly operated to destinations in French overseas departments. * Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport: Air France's third biggest hub serving 37 destinations in France and Europe, also a hub for Air France's subsidiary Air France HOP. * Marseille Provence Airport: This is Air France's newest hub as part of its offensive in the French regions. It serves 30 destinations in France, Europe and Africa. * Nantes Atlantique Airport Air France flies to 11 destinations from Nantes * Nice Côte d'Azur Airport: Air France flies to four destinations from Nice. * Toulouse–Blagnac Airport: Air France flies to 14 destinations from Toulouse.

Codeshare agreements

Air France Codeshare agreement, codeshares with the following airlines: * Aeroflot * Aerolíneas Argentinas * Aeroméxico * Air Antilles * Air Astana * Air Austral * Air Burkina * Air Corsica * Air Europa * Air France Hop * Air Malta * Air Mauritius * Air Serbia * Air Seychelles * Air Tahiti Nui * airBaltic * Aircalin * Austrian Airlines * Azerbaijan Airlines * Belavia * Bulgaria Air * China Eastern Airlines * China Southern Airlines * CityJet * Copa Airlines * Copa Airlines Colombia * Croatia Airlines * Czech Airlines * Delta Air Lines * Etihad Airways * Finnair * Garuda Indonesia * Gol Transportes Aéreos * Georgian Airways * IndiGo * ITA Airways * Japan Airlines * Kenya Airways *

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

Interline agreements

Air France have Interlining, Interline agreements with the following airlines: * Pakistan International Airlines

Fleet

Widebody fleet

On 16 September 2011, Air France-KLM announced orders for 50 Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s with 60 options, to be operated by both Air France and KLM. Air France-KLM has a commitment for 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 A320 ceo 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 Washington Dulles International Airport. F-BVFB was given to the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Germany, F-BTSD to the Paris, 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 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 moisturize 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 Boeing 777s where Business is the highest cabin class. Four-class 777-300ER configurations are equipped with four seats. Air France is also planning to offer La Première on selected new Airbus A350-900s, which could be delivered as early as 2023.

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, specialized 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'œuvre, 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 drinks 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, Business, and Premium Economy passengers, as well as Flying Blue Gold, Flying Blue Platinum, SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus members. Worldwide, there are 530 Air France and Skyteam 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 miles within one calendar 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.

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 with 228 fatalities. Another notable crash in Air France's records occurred on July 25, 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 list 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 three people inside the hotel died.

References

External links

*
"Wings Over Four Continents" ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1935
pp. 866–868 on massive route expansion of Air France including trans-Atlantic route {{authority control Airlines of France French brands Airlines established in 1933 Association of European Airlines members Air France–KLM SkyTeam Companies based in Île-de-France Multinational companies headquartered in France French companies established in 1933 Former seaplane operators