• Air France Tile
    Air France
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    AF/AFR
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
    Year Founded:
    1933
    Alliance:
    SkyTeam
    Airline Group:
    Air France-KLM
    CEO:
    Anne Rigail
    Country:
    France
    Region:
    Europe

Wednesday, June 29th, saw the delivery of Air France's 18th Airbus A350. The widebody jet was flown from Airbus facilities in Toulouse to Air France's main hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. With a total commitment for 38 A350s, Airbus is nearly halfway through fulfilling its commitment to the Air France-KLM Group. Let's look at this latest delivery and how the airline will be using the jet.

Delivery flight and aircraft details

As mentioned, the delivery of Air France's 18th A350 took place on June 29th. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, the delivery flight was an evening service, departing Toulouse at 18:43 local time and arriving in Paris at 19:43. With Toulouse and Paris CDG being just 375 miles (603km) apart from one another, the flight took only an hour.

The aircraft is registered F-HTYR and, according to AIB Family Flights, was first spotted in its full Air France livery on May 3rd. It was then seen completing one of its first engine runs and taxi checks on May 16th. This aircraft completed four test flights with a cumulative duration of nearly eight hours. These test flights took place on May 20th, June 1st, June 14th, and June 17th.

Air France 18th A350 delivery flight
The delivery flight took just one hour to complete. Photo: FlightRadar24.com

Launching into regular service the next day

While airBaltic might hold the record for the fastest turnaround for a commercial flight after a first delivery (50 minutes), Air France's 18th A350 didn't spend too long on the ground in Paris either. For F-HTYR, less than a full day had passed before the jet was already performing its first passenger flight.

This first service took place on June 30th and departed Paris at 12:57 as flight AF218 to Mumbai. One can only imagine how 'fresh' that new airplane smell would have been!

Since arriving at Air France on Wednesday, the A350-900 has flown not only to Mumbai but also Montreal. Indeed, returning from Montreal on the morning of July 2nd, the jet has been working quite steadily since entering service - perhaps a sign of the airline's eagerness to make the most of the summer season.

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20 more A350s to go

With 18 A350s now delivered, Air France is expecting 20 more of the type. This order has its origins in June 2013, when the Air France-KLM Group placed an order for 25 Airbus A350-900s, with an option to take another 25.

It was later decided that Air France would take 21 of the new jets, and KLM would take seven. However, the Dutch airline never took the plane as its parent group would decide to swap orders around, between its upcoming 787 and A350 deliveries.

klm_a350_c_airbus_1024
KLM would end up taking some Air France 787s instead of adopting the A350 into its fleet. Photo: Airbus

In December of 2019, the Air France-KLM Group would decide to increase its fleet of Airbus A350s by placing a firm order for 10 additional -900s, this would take its total order for the type to 38 aircraft. In a 2019 statement from Airbus, Air France-KLM Group CEO Benjamin Smith hailed the A350 as "a jewel of European expertise and a passenger favorite. We are excited to see it become a core asset of the Air France fleet.”

Have you flown on an Air France A350 yet? And do you think KLM would have benefitted from adopting the type into its fleet? Share your experiences and opinions by leaving a comment!

Source: AIB Family Flights, FlightRadar24.com, ch-aviation.com