Only two airlines can claim to have operated everything from the earliest passenger aircraft to the world’s only successful supersonic passenger jet. Air France (AF/AFR), which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, is one of them. Let’s take a look at the history and development of the French flag carrier.
The formation of a new airline
Air France was founded by the merger of several other state airlines in August 1933. The five airlines Air Orient, Air Union, Lignes Farman, CIDNA and Aéropostale merged to form the new national carrier, but existed without a name until a journalist named George Raffalovitch came up with it by accident during a press conference. Air France was born.
Throughout its early years, Air France worked to establish a far-reaching long-haul network to leverage the growing postwar demand for air travel. The airline commenced its flagship Paris to New York route in July 1946, and expanded to add destinations in Africa, Asia and the Americas in the following years. Aircraft such as the Douglas DC3 and Lockheed Constellation provided the backbone of the carrier’s services throughout the 1950s, with the latter remaining in active service until the late 1960s.
Air France joins the jet age
Whilst Air France breached the jet age with the early British-built De Havilland Comet, a series of fatal accidents with the type caused the airline to shift to 9 Sud Aviation Caravelle and 3 Boeing 707 jets in 1959. That had grown to 43 Caravelles and 33 707s by 1969, with the remaining propeller driven fleet being converted to freighters.
Going supersonic amidst an oil crisis
The 1970s was not a pleasant decade for airlines. Events including the Yom Kippur War and Iranian revolution led to significant interruptions in oil supply throughout the 70s, and airlines bore the brunt of the lower supply and higher prices. Despite this, Air France introduced a slew of new aircraft types in this period including the Boeing 727, Boeing 737, Boeing 747, and Concorde. Despite a promising start, Air France would join BOAC (soon to become British Airways) as one of only two Concorde operators.
By the time the 1980s was in full swing, Air France had become a Boeing and Airbus operator, having become the first airline to use the Airbus A300. There began a long and fruitful relationship with Airbus. The Air France fleet today is dominated by Airbus, with 142 Airbus aircraft operational.
An Airline becomes a group
Air France underwent a program of modernization in the 1990s, absorbing the airlines UTA and Air Inter to become the ‘Air France Group’. In 1988, Air France became the launch customer of the revolutionary Airbus A320 narrowbody, and the A320 family would go on to be the mainstay of the short-medium haul fleet.
Air France joined Dutch flag carrier KLM (KL/KLM) in 2004 to form Air France KLM, one of the largest airline groups on the planet by revenue. Their two headquarters at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) were retained, with the two airlines both still operating under their own identities.
Subsidiaries
Air France has operated several subsidiaries in its time.
- HOP! – Originally formed as Regional Airlines in 2002, HOP! was established to consolidate various regional airlines operating within France. Over the years, HOP! has undergone multiple rebranding efforts and restructuring. In 2013, it became HOP!, and it later became a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. In 2020, Air France announced plans to merge HOP! with Air France, effectively phasing out the HOP! Brand.
- Transavia – Transavia was initially founded in the Netherlands in 1965 as Transavia Limburg. Later, Transavia France was established as a subsidiary of Air France in 2007. Transavia has expanded its operations significantly, especially in the leisure travel segment. It has grown its fleet and route network, offering low-cost flights to various European destinations.
- Joon – introduced in 2017 as a subsidiary of Air France, Joon had a focus on targeting a younger and more budget-conscious market segment. Joon operated for a brief period but was eventually dissolved in 2019. Some of its aircraft and routes were integrated back into the Air France fleet.
- Air France Cargo – Air France Cargo has been a longstanding subsidiary specializing in airfreight services. The subsidiary has evolved by modernizing its freighter fleet and expanding its cargo operations globally to meet growing demand for air freight services.
Air France today
Air France has faced environmental challenges in recent years. The aviation industry’s focus on sustainability has prompted the carrier to invest in new generation aircraft such as the Airbus A350.
This, combined with rapid fluctuations in demand before and after the Coronavirus pandemic also led to the retirement of the Airbus A380. It is interesting to note that Air France has one of the oldest average aircraft fleet ages in the world.
More recently, the French government’s ban of domestic flights on journeys accessible by train in under 3 hours has restricted the airline’s ability to operate flights from Paris Orly to Lyon and Bordeaux.
Air France’s mainline fleet is exclusively formulated of Airbus narrowbodies, and a mix of Boeing and Airbus widebody aircraft.
| Type | Number of aircraft |
|---|---|
| A318 | 6 |
| A319 | 13 |
| A320 | 37 |
| A321 | 15 |
| A330-200 | 15 |
| A350-900 | 35 |
| 777-200 | 18 |
| 777-200LR | 2 |
| 777-300ER | 43 |
| 787-9 | 10 |
| A220-300 | 39 |
| E170 | 13 |
| E190 | 23 |
Like all legacy carriers, Air France faces a challenging future as they tackle sustainability initiatives and competition from low cost carriers. Despite this, an extensive network and high demand for air travel overall presents an opportunistic environment for Air France in the future.
Cover photo: Bo Engberg, JetPhotos.
