Air France/KLM: Plans for 100 planes
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
In the competition, Airbus’s A350 XWB will be up against Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner with the airline possibly splitting the order.
“We’ll be looking at the two possibilities and evaluating the commercial needs of our airlines and the performance of each aircraft,” Chief Financial Officer Philippe Calavia was quoted saying by Bloomberg.
“One of the conditions of the bid will be being able to deliver the aircraft at the moment we need it.”
Bidding will begin next year, with the contract awarded by 2009.
Air France-KLM does not have immediate plans to increase its fleet of A380 superjumbos, saying it depended on traffic growth.
At present, it has 12 A380s on firm order, plus options for another two outstanding.
The carrier’s KLM unit will be first to need the new widebody planes, in around 2012 or 2013, to replace its older models.
Air France needs the planes to replace its Boeing 777-200s. Boeing’s Dreamliner is set to enter service toward the end of next year, six months later than first planned, while Airbus’s A350 won’t be available until 2013.
Comments are closed.