Air France

Air France is the national flag carrier of France.

A flag carrier is the primary airline that represents a specific nation. Today, the company is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group. It is headquartered at the Roissypôle complex. This complex sits on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport. This airport serves as the airline's global and domestic hub. Air France connects many parts of the world through passenger and cargo services.

The airline uses a diverse fleet of aircraft to manage different flight needs. For long-haul routes, it operates wide-body jets. These are large aircraft designed for traveling across oceans. The airline uses Boeing and Airbus models for these long trips.

For short-haul routes, it uses narrow-body aircraft. The Airbus A320 family is a common choice for these shorter distances. For regional domestic and European services, it uses Air France Hop. This subsidiary operates a fleet of regional jet aircraft.

On November 20, 2009, the airline added the Airbus A380 to its fleet. This service began with flights between Paris and New York.

The history of Air France began with several smaller companies. One predecessor was the Compagnie générale transaérienne, founded in 1909. This company flew the world's first scheduled passenger-carrying fixed-wing flights in 1913. On August 30, 1933, five airlines merged to form Air France. These included Compagnie Générale Aéropostale and Société Générale des Transports Aériens.

Another was the Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne. Air Orient and Air Union were also part of this merger. These companies had already built large networks across Europe and North Africa.

Following World War II, the French government changed how the airline was managed. In June 1945, all French air transport companies were nationalized. By December 1945, a government decree gave Air France control of the entire national network. The company was officially set up as Société Nationale Air France on January 1, 1946. In 1946, the airline appointed its very first flight attendants. It also opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris. By 1948, the airline operated 130 aircraft. This made it one of the largest fleets in the world at that time.

The introduction of jet technology transformed the airline's operations. In August 1953, Air France entered the jet age. It began flying the de Havilland Comet series 1A on routes like Paris to Rome. By 1960, the airline began uninterrupted jet operations with the Sud Aviation Caravelle.

It also used the Boeing 707 during this era. These jet airliners were significant because they cut travel times in half. They also improved comfort for passengers. Air France also became a major operator of the Boeing 747. This allowed the airline to carry much larger groups of people at once.

One of the most famous eras for the airline involved supersonic travel. In January 1976, Air France began operating the Concorde. The Concorde was a supersonic transport, or SST. This means the plane could fly faster than the speed of sound.

Air France operated daily transatlantic services to New York. The flight from Paris to New York took only 3 hours and 23 minutes. This was twice the speed of sound. Air France was one of only two airlines to operate such services regularly. This era of high-speed flight ended in late May 2003.

Air France maintains a massive global presence today. In 2019, the airline carried 46,803,000 passengers.

In 2018, the airline and its regional subsidiary Hop carried 51.4 million passengers. The airline serves 201 destinations in 78 different countries. This number includes 93 destinations when counting French overseas territories. The airline is also a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance. This alliance helps different airlines work together across the globe. Through this network, Air France continues to be a major part of international aviation.