It seems that the Airbus A380 has had a long life at Air France. The new management, under the leadership of Benjamin Smith, the new Chief Executive Officer, has announced that the airline will reduce its A380 fleet by 50 %sfrom 10 to 5 aircraft. The first two aircraft will be returned to their owners next year, at the end of the leasing contract for these aircraft.
One of the first airlines in Europe to operate the Airbus A380, Air France is bringing the aircraft into service on seven lines on departure from Paris during the 2018-2019 winter season, mainly to North America. The Air France Airbus A380 will be landing in New York and Los Angeles, Mexico and Miami in the Americas, Abidjan and Johannesburg in Africa and Shanghai in Asia.
The aircraft, with its capacity of 516 passengers for the A380-800, is in fact only really profitable on long-haul routes flirting with the one million passengers. This mainly concerns the Paris-New York route and services to Guadeloupe and Martinique. On the other hand, Asia is the continent that has generated the biggest setbacks for the operation of A380 routes. Air France now only flies to Shanghai with the giant of the sky, whereas in the past it operated routes to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
The Airbus A380 has lost popularity, not least because passengers prefer to more varied frequencies high cabin density. Indeed, the conversion of certain routes to A380s is generally accompanied by a reduction in frequencies to a maximum of one flight a day, with the notable exception of New York which is served by A380 twice a day during the summer season. However, on routes such as Tokyo, Los Angeles or Hong KongPassengers want a degree of flexibility when it comes to timetables, with a greater choice of connections.
What's more, the aircraft has aged compared with the new Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 models. These two aircraft, with their smaller seating capacity - around 250 to 350 passengers - consume less fuel and are therefore more cost-effective. They also offer greater cabin comfort than the A380, notably by being quieter.
However, the operation of the Airbus A380 is still justified on routes where there is significant traffic saturation, such as Shanghai. As a result, the five aircraft that Air France will keep will benefit from a programme of upgrades. refurbishment of cabins with the installation of bed seats in business class offering a level of comfort similar to that of the Boeing 777 and 787, the aircraft which make up the bulk of the French airline's long-haul fleet today. This modernisation programme is due to start in 2020, and could give the A380 a bit of glamour to attract passengers once again.
