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Air France is one of the subsidiaries of the Air France KLM Group, the world´s leading airline group in terms of turnover. Air France took over the Dutch company KLM in May 2004, resulting in the creation of Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM is the largest airline company in the world in terms of operating revenues, and the third largest in the world (largest in Europe) in terms of passengers-kilometers. Both Air France and KLM continue to fly under their distinct brand names.
Air France was formed with the merger of five airlines: Air Orient, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Société Générale de Transport Aérien, Air Union and CIDNA. Air France had its inaugural flight on October7, 1933. During World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca, Morocco. After the Second World War the company was nationalized and Societe Nationale Air France was set up on January1, 1946. On September 30, 2003, Air France and Netherlands-based KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), announced the merging of the two airlines, the new company to be known as Air France-KLM. On May5, 2004 the merger was formalized.
As on March 31, 2006, the Air France has a fleet of 383 aircrafts. These include 13 Airbus A318, 45 Airbus A319, 67 Airbus A320, 13 Airbus A321, 16 Airbus A330-200, 20 Airbus A340-300, 11 Boeing 737-500, 18 Boeing 747-400, and 39 Boeing 777-200ER, 300ER. Air France presently flies to 200 destinations in 88 countries. In India, the destinations covered by Air France are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. From October 2006, Air France will also cover Chennai in India.