Air France (AF, Paris CDG) is including a possible stretch of the A220-300, tentatively dubbed the A220-500, in its future narrowbody fleet planning despite Airbus having no immediate plans to launch any such variant.
The French carrier said in a presentation during its investor day that its target narrowbody fleet would include between 110 and 115 aircraft, staying at the current level. Over half of these aircraft will be A220s, of which Air France recently ordered sixty. The carrier also has thirty options and thirty purchase rights for the A220s. According to the presentation, the Airbus Canada (ABK, Montréal Mirabel) regional jets could come in -300 or -500 variant, although the latter was accompanied with a question mark.
The slide indicates that while the remainder of the narrowbody fleet would initially consist of A320-200s and A321s, in the long-run, these aircraft will be replaced with new generation units which have yet to be determined.
Air France has not placed orders for A320neo or B737 MAX aircraft as yet.
The carrier's general fleet strategy centres on the reduction of cockpit diversity by, among others, the retirement of ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops and E145s from its short-haul fleet.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Air France's current narrowbody fleet numbers 114 aircraft, including eighteen A318-100s (14.5 years old on average), thirty-three A319-100s (18.4), forty-three A320-200s (10.2), five A321-100s (24.9), and fifteen A321-200s (14.4). The French flag carrier owns most of its narrowbody Airbus jets with just thirty-five A320-200s and nine A321-200s dry-leased from lessors.
For its part, Airbus said that while it was in constant dialogue with customers, it was currently firmed focused on ramping up the production of A220-100s and -300s.
