Air France (formally Société Air France, S.A.), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, (north of Paris). It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. As of 2011 Air France serves 35 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 156 destinations in 91 countries (including Overseas departments and territories of France) and also carried 59,513,000 passengers in 2011. The airline's global hub is at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with Paris Orly Airport, Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, Marseille Provence Airport, Toulouse Blagnac Airport, and Nice Côte d'Azur Airport serving as secondary hubs. Air France's corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located on the grounds of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris.
Air France was formed on 7 October 1933 from a merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA), and Société Générale de Transport Aérien (SGTA).
During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, Air France was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlin's Tempelhof and Tegel airports.
In 1990, Air France acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and international rival UTA – Union des Transports Aériens.
Air France served as France's primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM.
Between April 2001 and March 2002, the airline carried 43.3 million passengers and had a total revenue of €12.53bn. In November 2004, Air France ranked as the largest European airline with 25.5% total market share, and was the largest airline in the world in terms of operating revenue.
Air France operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing widebodied jets on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the A380 on 20 November 2009 with service to New York's JFK Airport from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. The carrier's regional airline subsidiary, Régional, operates the majority of its regional domestic and European scheduled services with a fleet of regional jet aircraft.
Read more about Air France: Passenger Figures, Destinations, Fleet, Cabin Classes, In Popular Culture
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the river lights, by design
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—Jules Mazarin (1602–1661)