2023-09-26 08:19:33
This is an important acquisition for Air France-KLM. The Franco-Dutch group announced this Monday that it intended to purchase 50 long-haul Airbus A350 aircraft. This order aims to “continue the renewal and rationalization of the long-haul fleet” of the group, indicated Air France-KLM in a communiqué. These aircraft will be able to carry up to 410 passengers over a distance of 16,000 km.
At the unit price, this would represent a cost of more than 16 billion dollars (around 15 billion euros), but Air France-KLM will almost certainly spend less due to the discounts granted by Airbus. Deliveries will take place from 2026 to 2030. This order is also “accompanied by acquisition rights for 40 additional aircraft”.
A model that consumes less
Once received, these 50 planes will replace the Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s “which will be gradually withdrawn from the group’s fleet”. To justify the choice of this model, Air France-KLM puts forward the ecological argument, these A350s allowing “a 25% reduction in fuel consumption compared to older aircraft of equivalent size”. The A350 “will play a key role in achieving our ambitious decarbonization objectives, including achieving -30% CO2 emissions per passenger/km by 2030,” says the CEO. of Air France-KLM Benjamin Smith, quoted in this same press release. Still according to Air France-KLM, the noise footprint of the A350s “is also reduced by 40%”.
The precise distribution of the 50 aircraft is not yet known, the order concerns both A350-900s and A350-1000s. “This will be a scalable order, offering the group the flexibility to allocate aircraft to its different companies based on market dynamics and the local regulatory framework,” explains Air France-KLM. The company already has 22 A350-900s at its disposal and is due to receive 19 more soon.
As reported BFMTVAirbus for its part said it was “extremely grateful to the Air France-KLM group for the trust it continues to place in Airbus”, even speaking of “an important step” in the partnership between the two groups.
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