Air France (formally Société Air France) is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, France (near Paris), and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. Air France serves 20 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 150 destinations in 83 countries (including Overseas departments and territories of France). The airline's global hub is at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with Paris Orly Airport, Lyon-Saint Exupéry 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). In 1990, the airline 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 43.3mn 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 wide-body jetliners on long-haul routes, and utilises Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France debuted 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 and turboprop aircraft.Régional (Compagnie Aérienne Européenne), Company Profile

[Last contributor : Alan Liefting , Content under LGPL licence]