Air France 
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Air France is today, one of the world's leading Airlines and a global leader in air transport.
The Airline is one of the subsidiaries of the Air France KLM Group, the world´s leading Airline group in terms of turnover.
The equity of the société AIR FRANCE is wholly owned by Air France KLM.
On 31 March 2006, the breakdown of AIR FRANCE KLM capital into 269,383,518 shares, worth a nominal value of 8.50 euros, was as follows :
- Float: 65.8%
- French State: 18.6%
- Employees: 14.1%
- Treasury: 1.5%
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Strong Points
The Air France Group´s strategy, underway for several years now, is profitable growth based on the airline´s fundamental assets, namely:
- The Paris-CDG hub, providing the link between the medium-haul and long-haul networks of Air France and its partners. Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2 is already Europe's most efficient hub. With the Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2 hub, opened in 1996, Air France has a valuable asset to ensure its development in the coming years;
- A balanced network, offering a natural cover in the event of crisis. Air France has a dominant position on its domestic market. Despite competition from the TGV, the high-speed rail link, the French domestic market is one of the largest in Europe. Moreover, Air France is taking full advantage of this extremely buoyant local market, located in the heart of the Paris region, one of the world's most popular and affluent areas and home to 11 million people, not to mention significant freight traffic.;
- A worldwide alliance, well integrated and growing;
- A strong relationship with our customers;
- A strict cost control strategy.
The fleet´s rationalization and flexibility have a primordial role to play in the profitable growth of the Group.
Thanks to this strategy, Air France has registered positive results for the last eight years despite years of crisis in the airline industry. Furthermore, today this strategy has enabled Air France to take a leading role in the sector´s consolidation through its merger with KLM.
Destinations
Air France targets fast-growing markets.
On the strength of the combined networks of Air France and KLM, Air France ispursuing its summer 2006 (April to September) development policy on the fastgrowingmarkets of Latin America and Asia, as well as to oil and gas destinations.
The Group has launched a new twice weekly service to Chengdu, via Amsterdam with KLM.This summer, Air France and KLM are operating a total of 53 weekly flights between Europeand China.
The Group serves five destinations in India, namely Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bombay, Delhiand Madras. Air France and KLM now offer 36 weekly flights to India.
We are increasing capacity to our oil and gas destinations.
Air France will fly twice daily toHouston and there will be daily flights to Teheran.In Europe, Air France will be extending its medium-haul network with three new destinationsthis summer: Erevan (Armenia), Leipzig (Germany) and Katowice (Poland).
Fleet
On 30 June 2006, Air France has a modern, rationalised fleet of 387 aircraft in operation, including 129 aircraft belonging to the regional subsidiaries and 4 to Air Ivoire.
The fleet´s development is being managed in line with a strategy combining both flexibility and rationalization:
- Flexibility, thanks to clauses making it possible to adjust aircraft delivery dates or change models within the same family;
- Rationalization, by acquirin modern aircraft with similar technical characteristics, i.e. targeting "family effects" in order to capitalise on the technical uniformity of aircraft. Bringing these craft into service makes it possible to manage not only crew training costs but also maintenance and fuel costs more effectively.
Lastly, the introduction of more efficient aircraft will enable the Group to optimize the overall level of environmental performance.
WIP: to incorporate information below
Long-haul fleet
A rationalized and upgraded fleet
Long-haul Fleet in operation as of 30 June 2006 comprised 95 aircraft in total:
- 16 Airbus A330-200
- 20 Airbus A340-300
- 19 Boeing 747-200, Boeing 747-300 and Boeing 747-400
- 40 Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 777-300ER
The Air France cargo fleet is made up of 12 Boeing 747 freighters, including seven Boeing 747-200F and five Boeing 747-400ERF.
The Air France-KLM Group has ordered Boeing 777Fs. The Air France cargo fleet is being upgraded so in May 2005 the Air France-KLM Group ordered five 777F twin-engined freighters and took options on three additional aircraft that will gradually be brought into service as from autumn 2008. These new aircraft will replace the existing Boeing 747-200Fs.
Medium-haul fleet
A fleet organized around the Airbus A320 family of aircraft.
Regional fleet
A fleet of aircraft seating under 110 passengers.
Quality
Quality is an integral part of Air France's strategy; firstly because everyone at Air France is constantly striving to improve products and services provided for customers, and secondly because Air France has decided to adopt a policy of Management through Quality.
Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta, together with President and Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, have just restated Air France's ambition: to be, with KLM, the benchmark airline in the quality of quality, safety and the environment (QSE). This implies developing any methods aimed at safeguarding and improving flight safety so as to earn all our customers' preference.
External Links
Official website of Air France
