Air France intends to benefit from 10 additional Airbus A350-900 widebody aircraft. The Air France-KLM Group has announced that it is expanding its order for the type up to 38 aircraft in total.

The first Airbus A350 XWB out of the initial order for 28 aircraft reached the flag carrier of France in September, 2019. According to the carrier, this delivery marked the beginning of a new stage in the airline’s modernisation process.

Under the same modernisation, Air France has also begun phasing out Airbus A380 aircraft and until 2022 the airline plans to eliminate the last world’s largest commercial airliner from its fleet. The first superjumbo  has been already retired.

Thus, instead of Airbus A380 planes, which appeared to be too costly and not efficient enough, Air France is determined to deploy the brand new Airbus A350 XWB planes.

“Rationalising and modernising the fleet is central to our effort to regain our leading position in Europe,” said Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM Group,  in a statement.