• Air France, Airbus, A220-500
    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

Air France has 15 A330-200s, the first two delivered in December 2001 and the last in April 2005. Averaging 19.8 years, ch-aviation.com shows that they're its second-oldest widebody after its 22.2-year-old B777-200ERs.

The 15 include F-GZCD, which has recently undergone maintenance but which, when writing, is en route to Cameroon, demonstrating the importance of the subfleet to Africa.

Air France's A330s: 224 seats

With only 224 seats, Air France's A330-200s have the fewest seats of aircraft in its widebody fleet. In 2019, they underwent a product refresh, more or less resulting in an all-new cabin.

They have 36 fully flat business seats (2-2-2), 21 in premium economy (2-3-2), and just 167 in economy (in a more comfortable 2-4-2 config). Air France's A330s have 22% fewer economy seats than the next widebody, one config of the B777-200ER. In contrast, it has a larger business cabin than the A350-900 and B787-9 and some B777-200ERs.

Air France's A330s
When writing, three A330-200s are in the air. Highlighted is AF306 bound to Niamey (Niger) and onto Lomé (Togo). Image: Flightradar24.

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A330 network: a summary

Air France exclusively uses its A330-200s from its primary hub at Paris CDG. With around 80% of flights, they're mainly deployed to sub-Saharan Africa, where – as is often the case – quite a few routes are operated on a one-stop, and typically triangular, basis.

One-stops enable smaller cities to be served while increasing frequencies, connectivity, and competitiveness. While they help with higher loads, they have higher complexity and costs. Costs can be reduced with triangular routes, such as Paris-Ouagagoudou-Cotonou-Paris.

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Air France's A330 routes

Between September 8th and March 25th, a list of the A330's route network is shown below and is subject to change. Not surprisingly, they tend to be used on either thinner routes, including to Anglophone Africa or those where Air France is especially dominant.

Despite the significance of Africa, it is St Maarten, in the Caribbean, that'll see the type the most in the examined period. Note that not all routes will always operate at the specified frequency (see 'up to'), while some will also see other aircraft.

  • Paris CDG to St Maarten: up to 2x daily A330 flights
  • Paris CDG to Conakry: 1x daily (4x weekly nonstop, 3x weekly triangularly with Freetown)
  • Paris CDG to Malabo: up to 1x daily (via Douala in both directions)
  • Paris CDG to Abidjan: up to 1x daily
  • Paris CDG to Lagos: up to 1x daily
  • Paris CDG to Tel Aviv: up to 1x daily
  • Paris CDG to Cotonou: up to 1x daily (5x weekly nonstop, 1x weekly triangularly continuing to Ouagadougou, 1x weekly triangularly via Ouagadougou)
  • Paris CDG to Libreville: up to 1x daily
  • Paris CDG to Beirut: up to 1x daily
  • Paris CDG to Lomé: up to 1x daily (4x weekly via Niamey in both directions, 3x weekly nonstop)
  • Paris CDG to Accra: up to 1x daily (4x weekly triangularly via Ouagadougou, 3x weekly triangularly to Ouaga)
  • Paris CDG to Yaoundé: 5x weekly (3x weekly triangularly via Bangui, 2x weekly nonstop)
  • Paris CDG to Abuja: 4x weekly (2x weekly triangularly via N'Djamena, 2x weekly triangularly to N'Djamena)
  • Paris CDG to Cayenne: 3x weekly (uses the A330 until March 5th)
  • Paris CDG to Banjul: up to 4x weekly (2x weekly triangularly via Nouakchott, 2x weekly triangularly to Nouakchott)
  • Paris CDG to Chennai: 3x weekly (uses the A330 from November 1st)
  • Paris CDG to Point-Noire: 3x weekly (uses the A330 until October 29th)
  • Paris CDG to Bengaluru: up to 1x daily A330 flights (only sees the A330 October 3rd-29th)
  • Paris CDG to Québec City: 3x weekly (route ends for the summer on October 29th)
  • Paris CDG to Fortaleza: 3x weekly (uses the A330 until October 28th)
  • Paris CDG to Luanda: 3x weekly (uses the A330 until October 27th)

Have you flown Air France's A330s? If so, share your experience in the comments.