Air France-KLM have announced the definitive end of Air France Airbus A380 operations.
Initially scheduled by the end of 2022, the Airbus A380 fleet will be ‘phased out’ with immediate effect. Presumably that means they won’t fly any of them again.
Air France has nine Airbus A380 aircraft in the current fleet. Five are owned by Air France or on finance lease, while four are on operating lease.
The global impact of the Airbus A380 phase-out write down is estimated at 500 million euros and will be booked in the second quarter of 2020 as a non-current cost/expenses.
Airbus A380 will be replaced by new generation aircraft, including Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, whose deliveries are ongoing.
The Air France-KLM Group says it is simplifying its fleet to be more more competitive, by continuing its transformation with more modern, high-performance aircraft with a significantly reduced environmental footprint.
Simplifying the fleet looks like a good idea for Air France as they have a huge collection of different aircraft types. The Air France Fleet at 31 December 2019 was:
- 18 Airbus A318
- 33 Airbus A319
- 44 Airbus A320
- 20 Airbus A321
- 15 Airbus A330
- 4 Airbus A340
- 3 Airbus A350
- 10 Airbus A380
- 68 Boeing 777
- 9 Boeing 787
- 1 ATR42
- 3 ATR 72
- 11 Bombardier CRJ 700
- 14 Bombardier CRJ 1000
- 17 Embraer 145
- 15 Embraer 170
- 15 Embraer 190
N.B. Image credit: Air France
