Air France is one of the largest airlines in the world. It is part of the Air France – KLM group and was a founding member of SkyTeam.
Its primary hub is Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) with secondary operations at Orly airport. CDG is the primary hub for most intercontinental operations, particularly for business and hub-and-spoke routes connecting through Paris, while Orly is utilized for leisure services to French overseas territories.
Air France HOP! and Transavia France
Air France also has three subsidiary carriers: HOP!, Transavia France and Joon (to be launched in 2018). HOP! is a regional operator that flies to secondary and tertiary markets in France, along with a few major airports in Europe and smaller ones in Eastern Europe. HOP! is based out of Lyon and Orly, and flies ATR 42s, Bombardier CRJ 700s, and Embraer 145/170/190 series.
Transavia France is based out of Orly, Lyon, and Nantes, and operates 737-800s to destinations in Northern Africa, the Near East, and large leisure-oriented markets in Southern Europe, the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe.
Air France Mainline
Air France mainline is a predominantly Airbus-oriented fleet with the exception of long-haul, of which the 777 makes up the backbone. Short-haul, the carrier has an entirely Airbus A320-oriented family, offering four models in the A318, A319, A320 and A321 variants.
Air France has 21 Airbus A350s on order, along with 3 787s and 2 Airbus A320s.
Long-haul, Air France has 10 Airbus A380s, which are operated flown to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Mexico City, Abidjan, Johannesburg, and Shanghai. It does not intend to take any more deliveries of A380-800s.
Air France also operates 9 Airbus A340-300s, which is becoming more obsolete. The A340 is utilized on routes from Paris CDG to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, St. Maarten, Bogota, Nouakchott, Bamako, Conakry, Freetown, Lome, Ouagadougou, Niamey, Antananarivo, Cape Town, St. Denis de Reunion, Daoula, Contonou, Beirut, and Tehran.
It also operates the legacy 777-200ER, which flies to the following markets:
Along with the 777-300ER, which is more or less the backbone of its long-haul fleet:
And then finally, the Airbus A330-200, which is its lightest-configured aircraft.
From its Paris Orly hub, Air France offers service to the following long-haul markets
- Sainte-Denis de Reunion
- New York JFK
- Pointe-a Pitre
- Fort-de France
- Cayenne
It also has a very sizable 5th-freedom network:
Regionally-speaking, Air France is present in virtually every market, with the exception of Australia. It is known for having a sizable presence in West and Central Africa, in contrast to KLM which has a larger presence in East Africa as well as the Middle East.
In the Americas region, the market is balanced between Air France and KLM, although many of the transatlantic services from Paris and Amsterdam to the United States are flown on Transatlantic JV partner Delta (and soon to include Virgin Atlantic as well). For example, Delta flies Portland to Amsterdam and Seattle to Paris in lieu of KLM and Air France, respectively. Air France is a bit more represented in the Caribbean due to historical and political ties with the Eastern Caribbean resort and ethnic markets, although KLM is also well-represented in the Netherland Antilles.
In Asia, Air France is a bit more limited, as it only serves Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Wuhan, Shanghai, Peking, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo. Comparatively, KLM serves many of those markets, but also cargo-heavy and ethnic destinations such as Xiamen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Denpasar.
Not pictured here is India. Air France flies to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, while KLM flies to Delhi. Both carriers have an extensive agreement with Jet Airways.
Finally, Air France is very well-represented in Continental Europe
Partnerships
Finally, Air France has a series of partners, both within SkyTeam as well as outside of SkyTeam.
