Air France-KLM has announced its intention to order fifty A350s directly from Airbus with a further forty purchase rights. Deliveries of the firm-ordered jets are expected between 2026 and 2030. The aircraft will allow the holding to replace its previous-generation A330 and B777 types, rendering the Franco-Dutch holding the world's largest A350 Family operator.
The holding said the order would include both A350-900s and A350-1000s but did not provide an exact split. The widebodies will be operated by both Air France (AF, Paris CDG) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) but did not disclose any exact details, saying only that it would have the "flexibility to allocate aircraft within its portfolio of airlines, according to market dynamics and local regulatory conditions".
The new order will come on top of an existing commitment for forty-one A350-900s for Air France (of which 22 are currently in service) and eight A350Fs for Air France and Martinair (Netherlands) (MP, Amsterdam Schiphol) (none in service yet). Seven A350-900s were initially ordered for KLM but were transferred to the French carrier in 2019 when the holding decided to focus KLM's fleet on the B787.
With up to 99 A350 Family aircraft in its fleet by the end of the decade, Air France-KLM will overtake Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) as the world's largest operator of the type. The Singaporean carrier has an order for fifty-eight A350-900s (two left to be delivered), seven A350-900(ULR)s (all in service), and seven A350Fs (none delivered yet), the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
Air France's previous-generation widebody fleet comprises fifteen A330-200s, eighteen B777-200ERs, and forty-three B777-300(ER)s. In turn, KLM operates six A330-200s, five A330-300s, fifteen B777-200ERs, and sixteen B777-300ERs. The group also operates twenty-three B787-9s and thirteen B787-10s (with five more on order) between Air France and KLM.
