Air France (AF, Paris CDG) has ordered ten additional A350-900s as it looks to recover capacity lost through the upcoming retirement of its A380-800s and A340-300s, parent firm Air France-KLM said in a press release.
Including the new order, Air France's A350-900 fleet will increase to a total of 38 units, including three that have already been delivered.
As such, the incremental A350-900 order will allow Air France to accelerate the retirement of its four remaining A340-300s during the first quarter of 2021. It also plans to retire its nine remaining A380-800s by the end of 2022.
"This is the next step for Air France as it pursues the same fleet simplification strategy," it said. "As a result, in 2023, the Air France long-haul fleet will consist of 116 aircraft split amongst only four families: Airbus A330s and A350s, and Boeing 787s and 777s."
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Air France's widebody passenger fleet currently includes fifteen A330-200s, twenty-five B777-200(ER)s, forty-three B777-300(ER)s, and nine B787-9s.
Air France also highlighted that its sister carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) is "well on its way to simplifying its long-haul fleet". The Dutch carrier plans to retire its eight A330-200s, five A330-300s, three B747-400s, and seven B747-400(M)s in order to focus on operating B777-200(ER)s, -300(ER)s, B787-9s, and B787-10s.
