Air France-KLM announced (28-Jun-2019) plans to swap the remaining firm Boeing 787 and A350 orders between Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, in order to realise fleet efficiencies through harmonisation and accelerated growth of similar aircraft. Details of the fleet composition include:
- Six remaining 787s ordered for Air France will be transferred to KLM, and the current seven A350-900s on order for KLM will be transferred to Air France from 2021 to 2023;
- Air France operates nine 787-9s and one additional aircraft is scheduled to arrive in May-2020, resulting in a fleet of 10 787-9s for Air France in 2020;
- Air France will receive its first A350-900 in Sep-2019. It has already an additional 20 on firm order to which will be added the seven A350-900s initially intended for KLM, for a total of 28 aircraft;
- KLM currently operates 13 787-9s. This fleet will further grow to a total of 21 787s by the end of 2020 to which will be added the six 787s initially intended for Air France for a total of 27 aircraft.
The group stated options for further fleet development at Air France within the Air France-KLM group is "currently under study", in consultation with stakeholders. [more - original PR]