Air France’s 75th birthday: aircraft painted in 1946 livery

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Air France’s 75th anniversary: an aircraft repainted in 1946 livery

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To mark its 75th anniversary, Air France has repainted one of its Airbus A320s in the same livery as back in 1946. Ambassador of the Company’s 75th anniversary, this plane, the F-GFKJ, will join the medium-haul fleet for the next two years. It will be arriving in Paris-Charles de Gaulle from Toulouse at 2:30pm on 21st November 2008.

The aircraft has been baptised “Pays de Roissy”, as a reference to the association aiming to expand the economic develop of 110 communes situated around Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.

“For its 75th anniversary, Air France has chosen to highlight its rich historic and cultural heritage. This livery corresponds to the era when the first jet planes were introduced into the Air France fleet, and the airline’s rebirth after the war, when it’s network already covered five continents”, declared François Brousse, Air France’s Head of Corporate Communications.

This livery features the seahorse, a symbol to which all Air France staff are strongly attached. The emblem of Air Orient, it combines the head of Pegasus, the horse of Greek mythology, and the tail of the dragon Annam to form the symbol of the relationship between Europe and the Far East. This story is told at www.airfrancelasaga.com through picture archives on the history of the Company since its inception.

A new-generation paint, more environmentally-friendly

The paint for the aircraft was made in five days at the “La Croix du Sud” maintenance site in Toulouse-Blagnac, as part of a major overhaul, consisting in taking apart all parts of the aircraft for inspection, repair, re-assembly and tests. It took 540 kilos of new-generation paint for this operation. The paint used needs very little solvent, which makes it more environmentally-friendly.

The Airbus A320 in the Air France fleet

Air France operates 65 Airbus A320s on its medium-haul network in France, Europe and the French Caribbean.

Air France press release, Friday 21 November 2008