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 new Air France serves 36 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 168 destinations in 93 countries (including Overseas departments and territories of France) and also carried 59,513,000 passengers in new. The airlines 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 dAzur Airport serving as secondary hubs. Air Frances corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located on the grounds of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris.\r
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).\r
During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, Air France was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlins Tempelhof and Tegel airports.\r
In 1990, Air France acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and international rival UTA – Union de Transports Aériens.\r
Air France served as Frances primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM.\r
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.\r
Air France operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing widebody jets on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the A380 on 20 November new with service to New Yorks JFK Airport from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The carriers regional airline subsidiary, HOP!, operates the majority of its regional domestic and European scheduled services with a fleet of regional jet aircraft.\r
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The Airbus A321 is a stretched first derivative of the standard A320. The variant was launched in 1988,] when the A320 began operations. Compared with the A320, the A321s major change is the stretched fuselage, which is lengthened by 6.94 metres (22 ft 9 in); the A321 is the largest of the A320 family. This is achieved by adding a 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in) front plug immediately forward of wing, and a 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in) rear plug. To maintain performance, double-slotted flaps were included, in addition to increasing the wing area by 4 m2 (43 sq ft), to 128 m2 (1,380 sq ft). Other minor modifications were made to accommodate the A321-100s 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) increase in maximum takeoff weight to 83,000 kg (183,000 lb). The maiden flight of the first of two prototypes came on 11 March 1993. The A321-100 entered service in 1994.\r
The basic A321-100 features a reduction in range compared to the A320 as extra fuel tankage was not added to the initial design to compensate for the extra weight. To overcome this Airbus launched the heavier and longer range A321-200 development in 1995 which has a full-passenger transcontinental US range. This is achieved through higher thrust engines (V2533-A5 or CFM56-5B3), minor structural strengthening, and an increase in fuel capacity with the installation of one or two optional 2,990 L (790 US gal) tanks in the rear underfloor hold. The additional fuel tankage increases the total fuel capacity of this model to 30,030 L (7,930 US gal). These modifications also increased the maximum takeoff weight of the A321-200 to 93,000 kg (205,000 lb). This variant first flew in December 1996. Its direct competitors include the Boeing 757-200 and the 737-900/900ER.\r
Airbus announced the development of a longer range version named A321neoLR that will be available in 2019. It is positioned to replace the Boeing 757-200 in transatlantic and similar markets where the range and payload of the 737-900 is insufficient to replace the 757-200. The new A321LR will have 206 seats; Business Class will offer 16 seats with 36 pitch and Economy will offer 190 seats at a 30-inch pitch. Airbus claims the maximum range at full payload of 4,000 nautical miles will exceed the range of Boeings winglet-equipped 757-200W, but will burn less fuel per passenger. The A321LR will be equipped with three auxiliary fuel tanks including one at centerline. Boeing has not decided how it will replace the 757, but is not working on a 757 MAX, or a longer range 737-9 MAX
