Air France Boeing 747 fleet to be phased out by 2016

Air France has announced it will be phasing out its fleet of Boeing 747 aircrafts by the year 2016. The airline, which is currently restructuring its operations, has said that it is being forced to take this decision because of the declining passenger demand.

Air France is presently facing a deep financial crisis and is suffering heavy losses for quite some years now. To ward off its financial woes, the airline has further announced it will be laying off another 2,600 jobs. The airline is also discussing a new voluntary redundancy plan with some of its more than 69,000 staff.

The airline has also conceded the fact that it will be ending the period with a deficit for a sixth successive year. The airline said that it has finally abandoned a plan to break even this year.

Frederic Gagey, Chief Executive of Air France, said that the airline is currently battling a weak demand and is in deep financial woes. He also said that Air France is contemplating to convert its subsidiary airline Transavia into a low-cost carrier, and an announcement regarding this can be expected on October 4.