Air France announce order for Airbus A200 aircraft, set time frame to retire A380.


In what Aviation enthusiast can best describe as somewhat expected, Air France announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 60 A220-300 aircraft. The deal also includes an additional 30 options and 30 acquisition rights which could potentially see an order of 120 aircraft.

The aircraft are planned to be delivered from September 2021 and will replace the airline’s existing A218 and A319 fleet of around 51 aircraft. The airline has stated that, “This aircraft will allow the company to increase its competitiveness by reducing its cost per seat by more than 10% compared to the aircraft it will replace.”

In a statement by Mr Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer, Airbus “It is an honour for Airbus that Air France, a long-standing valued customer, has endorsed our latest family member, the A220, for its fleet renewal plans.”

Air France also announced that it would phase out all of its Airbus A380’s by 2022. It had previously been announced that three aircraft would be retired.

Part of the reason given for the early retirement were the quad engine configuration of the aircraft, maintenance and operational costs of the aircraft as factors for difficulty in operating the type profitably. Another factor is that the airline’s A380s now feature a very outdated cabin product, refurbishing the cabin of an A380 is a very expensive process and would be economically in-viable for the type.





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