Fleet
A modern and rationalized fleet
At 31 December 2011, the Air France fleet consisted of 387 aircraft in operation including 125 belonging to regional subsidiaries. The average lifespan of these aircraft is 9.3 years (9.2 years for the long-haul fleet and 9.9 years for the medium-haul fleet), making it one of the most modern and most rational fleets in the business.
The most modern fleet in Europe
A modern fleet enables Air France to:
• offer greater comfort to its passengers,
• achieve substantial fuel savings,
• limit greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution for local residents.
In 2011, to support its increasing offer, Air France is pursuing the modernization of its fleet with the arrival of 3 new Boeing 777-300ER and 2 Airbus A380s. The airline will gradually replace its Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft and freighters by Boeing 777-300ERs with similar capacity and fittings, and by Boeing 777 Freighters. The airline also continues to renew the oldest aircraft in its Airbus A320/321 medium-haul fleet by latest-generation aircraft.
Key figures
The average age of the Air France long-haul fleet (excluding freighters) is 9.3 years. The 104 aircraft in the Air France long-haul fleet are divided into two aircraft families, Boeing and Airbus, and five types of aircraft, the A330-200, the A340-300, the A380, the Boeing 747-400 and 777-200ER and 300ER.
A rationalized fleet
The Air France fleet is made up of aircraft which are technically similar to one another so that the maximum benefit from technical commonality can be achieved, thanks to tighter cost control in crew training and maintenance. In this way, Air France operates all the A320 aircraft types in its medium-haul fleet and the A330/A340 aircraft types in its long-haul fleet.
A flexible fleet management
Air transport is a fast-growing sector. Flexibility is an important fleet optimization tool, which enables us to adjust capacity to demand as closely as possible.
This flexibility is obtained through:
- contract clauses which enable airlines to adjust delivery deadlines, within the limits of contractual notice, and/or to modify the version delivered within an aircraft family;
- operating lease contracts: this system enables Air France to leverage each year some 5% of its capacity by returning aircraft or extending the lease. AIR FRANCE KLM finances about one-third of its fleet with operating leases.
