Fantastique Air France! (AvHistory #26)
Exploring the legacy, operations, and premium cabin offerings of Europe's iconic flag carrier.
Welcome back, dear readers! Today, we're reviewing the story and background of one of Europe's most identifiable flag carriers: none other than Air France. Together with Iberia Airways (Spain's flag carrier), Lufthansa, and British Airways, Air France helps define Europe in the air. Iberia represents Spain, British Airways represents the United Kingdom, Lufthansa is the flag carrier of Germany, and Air France represents the nation of France. Collectively, they are known as the European "Big Four" airlines.
Legally referred to as Société Air France, S.A., and stylized as AIRFRANCE in marketing, Air France is headquartered in a northeastern suburb of Paris known as Tremblay.
Air France is a subsidiary of the larger Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, the smallest of the three major alliances. As of 2024 (our latest estimates), Air France served 29 destinations in France and operated scheduled passenger and cargo services worldwide to 201 destinations in 78 countries (93, including the overseas departments and territories of France) and also carried 46,803,000 passengers.
Tracing its origins back to the 1910s, Air France was formed on 30 August 1933 through the merger of five existing airlines in France. During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlin's Tempelhof and Tegel airports. In 1990, it acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and international rival UTA-Union de Transports Aériens. It merged with KLM in the Netherlands to form the Air France-KLM Group in 2003.
Compagnie Nationale Air France was created by an act of parliament on 16 June 1948. Initially, the government held 70%. In subsequent years, the French state's direct and indirect shareholdings reached almost 100%. In mid-2002, the state held 54% of the airline.
Let's Discuss Some History, Shall We?
Air France was formed on 30 August 1933 as a merger of five existing airlines: Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, which was founded in 1918 as Société des lignes Latécoère; Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA), which was founded in 1919; Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA), which was founded in 1920; Air Union, which was founded in 1923 and formed from the merger of Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes (CMA), which absorbed CGT, and Grands Express Aériens; and Air Orient, which was founded in 1929.
While British Airways is regarded as The Airline Born of Mergers, British Airways had a helping hand: the British government all but ushered mergers into place and practically made them happen. Air France used swift business acumen to help facilitate the various mergers that formed it.
Early Air France boldly began a weekly service between Paris and Brussels on 22 March 1919, starting the world's first international commercial aviation service.
In 1936, Air France added French-built twin-engine Potez 62 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 high-powered Hispano-Suiza V engines, they were used on routes in Europe, South America, and the Far East. Although cruising at only 280 km/h (175 mph), the Potez 62 was a robust and reliable workhorse for Air France and remained in service until the Second World War, with one used by the Free French Air Force.
During World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca, Morocco. On 26 June 1945, all of France's air transport companies were nationalized.
On 29 December 1945, a decree of the then-new French government granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network. Air France recruited its first female flight attendants in 1946. That same year, the airline opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris. It was linked to Paris Le Bourget Airport, Air France's first operations and engineering base, by rail locomotive. At that time, the network covered an astounding 160,000 km and claimed to be the longest in the world. Société Nationale Air France was set up on New Year's Day, 1 January 1946.
European schedules were initially operated by a fleet of Douglas DC-3 aircraft. In July of that year, Air France was the first airline to start direct flights between Paris and New York via refueling stops at Shannon, Ireland, and Gander, Newfoundland. Douglas DC-4 piston-engine airliners covered the route in just under 20 hours. In September 1947, Air France's network extended to stretch east from New York, Fort-de-France (in the Caribbean), and Buenos Aires to Shanghai.
By 1948, Air France operated 130 aircraft, one of the largest fleets in the world. Between 1947 and 1965, the airline operated Lockheed Constellations on passenger and cargo services worldwide.
In 1946 and 1948, respectively, the French government authorized the creation of two private airlines to compete with Air France: Transports Aériens Internationaux-later Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI)-and SATI. In 1949, the latter became part of Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT), a private French international airline.
On 4 August 1948, Max Hymans was appointed president. During his 13-year tenure, he would implement modernization practices centered on the introduction of jet aircraft.
In 1952, Air France moved its operations and engineering base to the new Orly Airport 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 Series 1A on the Paris-Rome-Beirut route.
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.
On 1 February 1963, the government formalized the division of routes between Air France and its private-sector rivals. Air France was to withdraw services to West Africa (except Senegal), Central Africa (except Burundi and Rwanda), Southern Africa (including South Africa), Libya in North Africa, Bahrain and Oman in the Middle East, Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) in South Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, as well as New Caledonia and Tahiti.
These routes were allocated to the new Union de Transports Aériens (UTA), a new private airline resulting from the merger of TAI and UAT. UTA also received exclusive rights between Japan, New Caledonia, and New Zealand; 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 its 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 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 widebody plane, Airbus Industrie's first commercial airliner, for which it was a launch customer.
On 21 January 1976, Air France operated its inaugural supersonic transport (SST) service on the Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to Rio (via Dakar) route with the Anglo-French BAC-Aérospatiale Concorde. Supersonic services from Paris (CDG) to Washington-Dulles International Airport began on 24 May 1976. Service to 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 and 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, when the Concorde was retired from service.
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. Also in 1983, Air France began passenger flights to South Korea, being the first European airline to do so.
The Paris-San Francisco route became the first route the private airline 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 lobby the government to enable it to grow faster, becoming more dynamic and more profitable. This infuriated Air France. A true rivalry was becoming corporate warfare.
To make matters worse (or better, depending on your point of view), on 12 January 1990, the operations of government-owned Air France, semi-public Air Inter, and wholly private Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) were merged into an enlarged Air France. Air France's involuntary acquisition of UTA and Air Inter was part of an early 1990s government plan to create a unified 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.
In 1997, Air Inter Europe, one of the last private airlines, was absorbed into Air France. On 19 February 1999, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Left-wing government approved Air France's partial privatization. Its 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 partnership. On 22 June 2000, this expanded into the SkyTeam global airline alliance.
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, China Eastern Airlines, China Airlines, Air Europa, Continental Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Vietnam Airlines, Saudia, Aerolíneas Argentinas, and XiamenAir. As of March 2024, the group employed 132,422 personnel.
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. It aimed to exploit transatlantic opportunities to capture a major share of long-haul business traffic from London Heathrow, which opened to unrestricted competition on that day as a result of the "Open Skies" pact between the EU and US. It was envisaged that Air France and 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. However, the daily London (Heathrow) to Los Angeles service was not as successful as hoped and was discontinued in November 2008, to be later replaced by other, more fruitful routes.
In January 2017, Air France received its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. In November, CityJet no longer operated Air France flights, and the affected destinations were served by Air France and its regional subsidiary HOP! from then on.
In summer 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 canceled.
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 committed to 37 Boeing 787s, 25 directly and 12 leased, of which 16 were 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 had 28 A350s on firm order.
In September 2023, Air France-KLM announced an order for 50 Airbus A350-900s and A350-1000s with combined options for 40 more, with deliveries scheduled for 2026, which will be allocated to both Air France and KLM to replace their aging Airbus A330 and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
Air France operates a fleet of all four variants of the Airbus A320 family aircraft, with a total of 114 jets. In July 2019, a first order was announced as part of replacing its narrow-body fleet. The smaller Airbus A318 and A319 fleet will be replaced by 60 Airbus A220-300s starting in 2021. Air France plans to place more Airbus A220 aircraft onto its domestic network.
We'll go over Airbus' cabin offerings, though there's much more that could be said about Air France.
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 are 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 product. It is available on selected Boeing 777-300ERs. The Première cabin features wood and leather seats that recline 180°, forming two-meter-long beds. Each seat features a 10.4" touchscreen personal screen with interactive gaming and audio video on demand, a privacy divider, an automassage feature, a reading light, a storage drawer, noise-canceling headphones, a personal telephone, and laptop power ports.
Each passenger is also provided with a personalized coat service, a 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, a hypoallergenic feather pillow, sleepwear, a dust bag for shoes, and a pair of slippers. À la carte, on-demand meal services featuring entrées created by Chef Guy Martin are included. 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 was 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 experience was introduced in March 2025 and will equip the Boeing 777-300ER. The new private suite offers five windows and occupies 3.5 square meters (38 sq ft). The seat can be transformed into a 2-meter-long (7 ft) bed. The first flight with the new cabin flew from Paris to New York JFK on 8 April 2025.
Business
Business, Air France's long-haul business-class product, is available on all long-haul aircraft. Business features angled lie-flat seats that recline to two meters in length. Each seat includes a 10.4" touchscreen TV monitor with interactive gaming and AVOD, a reading light, a personal telephone, and laptop power ports. Meal service features three-course meals and a cheese service, or an express menu served shortly after takeoff.
Initially debuting on Boeing 777s in June 2014, business-class seats were retrofitted onto all other aircraft types except for the Boeing 747-400, Airbus A380s, and Airbus A340-300s, 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), passengers can choose an entertainment program from over 1,000 hours of entertainment. The seat converts into a fully flat bed with 180-degree recline and features a touchscreen remote control, USB port, universal electrical outlet, new noise-canceling 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 2-4-2 (2-3-2 on the long-haul Airbus fleet and 3-3-3 for Alizé on the 777-300 serving Indian Ocean and Caribbean routes) configuration with 38-inch (97 cm) pitch (36 inches [91 cm] for long-haul Alizé 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-flyer mileage. On board, business-class amenities include Sennheiser noise-canceling headphones, an amenity kit (featuring socks, an eye mask, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and earplugs), improved blankets, and an enhanced meal service with a 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 an improved footrest, adding comfort to the passenger.
Economy Class
Air France's economy class, or main-cabin, 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 (a redundant feature to be stripped out in future remodels), and a touchscreen TV monitor with an AVOD interactive entertainment system, which has 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 that 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 Class 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 inches (10 cm) more seat pitch (36 inches [91 cm] versus the usual 32 inches [81 cm] 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 long-haul Economy product that features a new slimline seat providing up to an inch more legroom, a 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.
Thank you for learning along with us at Brooke In The Air Travel! This article has covered the basics of Air France for travelers, but please visit us at brookeintheairtravel.net to learn much more!
