5 Iconic Aircraft That Have Defined Air France’s Fleet Over The Years

Over 90 years since it was first established at Le Bourget Airport,

Air France

has been one of Europe’s oldest airlines and is still operating today. During this time, the fleet has constantly modernized to include the best aircraft for the current times; this means that the French carrier has seen some exciting aircraft bear its colors. Let’s take a look at five of them.

1

Concorde

The only supersonic jet

The

Concorde

is probably the most iconic aircraft Air France has ever operated. This is not only because it was (and remains to this day) the only passenger jet to have ever carried passengers commercially beyond the speed of sound, but it was also scarce, with only

British Airways

and Air France having ever flown the type.

Photo: ODIN Daniel | Shutterstock

AF’s SST jet could be seen on the iconic

Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

to

New York JFK Airport

flight on flight numbers Air France 001 and Air France 002, similar to what British Airways did with their Concordes.

Today, passengers who want to fly on the iconic flight numbers will not be on a Concorde. Sadly, these were retired in 2003, but according to Business Traveller, the flights are now operated by A350s, which feature Air France’s new flagship A350.

2

Boeing 747-100

The original jumbojet

Air France was one of the launch customers of the

Boeing 747

. Its journey with the type began in 1970, when, according to Airlinegeeks.com, they took delivery of its first airframe on June 3rd of that year – the type was seen on subsonic services to New York, but also on all other major long-haul international routes – it was it’s a subsonic flagship

We decided to focus on the -100 variant as it is one of the classic jumbos; there are hardly any left in service, making it unique – but the airline also operated the -200, the less popular -300, and the -400. The latter was in service until 2016.

Photo: Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace (Air and Space Museum)

The upper deck of the classics (-100 and -200s) featured a luxurious lounge area, which today can be compared to what can be found on Emirates’ A380s. It was a space where first class passengers could relax and socialize on long flights.

3

A380

The superjumbo

The superjumbo needs no introduction to aviation fans or the general public. It is the biggest commercial passenger aircraft ever made—in theory, it could carry 868 passengers, but no airline has ordered such a dense layout.

Photo: roibu | Shutterstock

During the pandemic, fearing the market would never return to normal, Air France retired their

Airbus A380

.

For 11 years, from October 2009, when it was first delivered, until March 2020, the world’s largest passenger jet flew by Air France to Johannesburg, Washington Dulles, New York, and LA (among other destinations). Its last flight in March 2020 was reserved for the airline’s employees.

4

Boeing 727

The small Boeing trijet

This

Boeing 727

was manufactured in the 1960s and had its first commercial flight with Eastern Airways in 1964. Boeing designed this jet after the success of its 707 programs to focus on shorter-range flights, typically short—and medium-haul domestic and international sectors.

According to a cabin crew instructor working for Air France, who posted about the jet, the first of these trijets was delivered in March 1968. Le Monde, a French newspaper, explains (in French) where the type was deployed. It was the airline’s flagship aircraft for regional routes to destinations like London. Again, according to the same article, the British capital was reported to be the launch destination for the type.

The jet proved popular with the French national carrier, having been delivered until the 1980s. Of course, today, it is no longer in service, and most of the airframes have been scrapped by now, but we reported in an article back in 2023 that F-BOJA, the first AF 727 delivered, is still intact and preserved in the north of the country to be used for training purposes.

5

The A340-300

The other Airbus quadjet

This aircraft was also a victim of the pandemic just like the A380, the last units left the fleet in 2020. It was the mainstay of the airline’s Caribbean and African destinations. They were densely configured and mainly responded to holidaygoers’ expectations.

Photo:  Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

The A340 touched down in Air France’s fleet in 1993, and according to planespotters.net, the first registration was F-GLZB. This airframe stayed with the French airline until 2005, when it was transferred to Air Madrid. Six years later, in 2011, it broke up.

By March 2020, all A340s have left the fleet, and some, like F-GLZK, have found new lives in other carriers like Kam Air of Afghanistan

Photo: Skycolors | Shutterstock

In fact, the A340 fleet was attached to AF’s short-lived leisure airline Joon in the later part of its service life, from 2017 until 2019, when the airline was folded back into Air France.

Honorable mentions

This list could only go in-depth on five aircraft, but there are a couple of others which we believe, whilst they did not make a list, could be talked about in length too.

• The Sud-Aviation Caravelle
• The Bombardier CRJs
• The A300
• The TriStar
• The DC10