While Air France is now nearly an all-Airbus airline, they still have 63 Boeing 777s, ten Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and 34 Embraers in their fleet of 256 planes. Now replaced by Airbus narrowbodies, there was a time when the French National flag carrier operated several Boeing 737s. Today, we will take a look at what Boeing 737s Air France had in its fleet.

Boeing 737-200

The Boeing 737-200 was a lengthened version of the Boeing 737-100 powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass engines. Able to accommodate 85 to 130 passengers, Air France took delivery of its first Boeing 737-200 on January 21, 1983. That same year Air France received another seven Boeing 737-200s from the Renton, Washington factory. There was then a gap of three years with Air France waiting on its next Boeing 737-200 until August 3, 1986.

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A second Boeing 737-200 arrived three weeks later and then two more the following year. In 1998 Air France acquired two second-hand Boeing 737-200s that had been delivered to German leisure airline Hapag-Lloyd Flug (TUI Group) in the summer of 1981. Air France flew the aircraft for two years and then passed them on to Patriate Airlines in 2002. Over 19 years, Air France operated 13 Boeing 737-200s.

Boeing 737-300 Classic

In 1984, Boeing improved upon the existing 737-200, allowing the aircraft to carry more passengers and fly a greater range. Air France took delivery of its first Boeing 737-300 on April 1, 1991. Three more followed in quick succession, with the last arriving on August 31, 1991.

In 1992 Air France took a Boeing 737-300 from Guadeloupe-based Air Caraibes. There was then a gap of six years before Air France acquired three used Boeing 737-300s from Air China, Vista Georgia, and

Asia Cargo Airlines. Over a period of 13 years, Air France had Nine Boeing 737-300s in its fleet.

Boeing 737-500 Classic

Designed as a replacement for the Boeing 737-200, the variant was launched after Boeing received an order for 20 aircraft from American low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines. The first Boeing 737-500 took to the skies for its maiden flight on June 30, 1989.

Able to accommodate up to 140 passengers, the aircraft had several improvements, including CFM56-3 engines, which were 25% more fuel efficient than the Boeing 737-200s Pratt & Whitney's.

Air France took delivery of its first Boeing 737-500 on August 30, 1991. Three more Boeing 737-500s arrived the same year, followed by five more in 1992. In 1993, four more Boeing 737-500 arrived in Paris, followed by another two in 1994. After their arrival, Air France did not get another Boeing 737-500 until 1997, when it received a former BoA - Boliviana de Aviación Boeing 737-500 that had been delivered to the South American airline in 1990.

In 1998 Air France took another four second-hand Boeing 737-500 from various airlines and then three more the following year from Aer Lingus, airBaltic, and Aerolíneas Argentinas. In 2000, Air France got two more used Boeing 737-500s from Malaysia Airlines and Bahamasair. In 2001 Air France received two more from Aer Lingus and Bahamasair. In total, Air France had 28 Boeing 737-500s over a span of 16 years. The last Air France Boeing 737-500 to be retired was F-GJNC which went to Air Namibia on October 24, 2007.

Sources: ch-aviation.

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  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