Air France-KLM To Launch Medium-Haul Tender This Year

The Franco-Dutch airline group will allow leases to expire on three A380s by 2021.

By Cathy Buyck • Contributor - Europe

February 20, 2019

Air France-KLM this year will launch a tender for the procurement of medium-haul aircraft and spend half of its 2019 capital expenditure on fleet renewal and upgrading as CEO Ben Smith now turns his energy toward returning the Franco-Dutch group to what he calls its “natural position at the top of the industry in Europe.” Executives already hinted early last year that Air France-KLM had begun preparing tender requests to all manufacturers for its short- and medium-haul fleet renewal program, but the process suffered delays due to the ongoing social unrest at Air France that led to the resignation of former CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac and deepening Franco-Dutch tensions on the integration of the group. “With labor and governance issues sorted, we now know which flexibility we have to focus on the third priority: developing a strategic commercial vision which will enable us to recapture the leading position in Europe,” Smith said during the company’s full-year results briefing on Wednesday.

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