Air France-KLM Group has reduced its order for Airbus A350-1000s, opting to convert most of them to the smaller -900 variant.
The company had ordered 50 of the twinjets in 2023 – an initial commitment to six -900s in July, followed by 33 more in December alongside 11 of the -1000 model.
It stated at the time that it would use the A350s to replace older aircraft including the Airbus A330 and Boeing 777.
Airbus’s latest backlog figures, covering the first seven months of this year, indicate that eight of the group’s 11 A350-1000s have been switched to -900s.
Air France had previously placed an individual order for 38 A350-900s – of which 36 have been delivered – as well as four A350 freighters.
With the additional agreement for 50, Air France-KLM is poised to become the largest operator of A350s.
Air France-KLM Group’s cargo operation Martinair also had four A350Fs on order, but the Airbus update shows one of these aircraft has been trimmed from the backlog.
Airbus has secured total orders for 1,009 A350-900s as well as 354 A350-900s and 65 A350Fs.