Air France’s fleet consists of 120 widebody aircraft. It has 43 Boeing 777-300ERs, 41 Airbus A350-900s, 18 777-200ERs, ten 787-9s, and eight A330-200s. Twin-aisle equipment constitutes over half of its mainline passenger fleet (52%).
Given its A380s and 747-400s are long gone, its most intriguing aircraft is, perhaps, the 777-300ER. Or, more specifically, the low-premium, very high-capacity, 472-seat 300ER. Occasionally, I examine an airline’s high-density equipment. Recently, I looked at Emirates’ 615-seat A380s, Air Canada’s 450-seat 300ERs, and ANA’s 429-seat 787-10s. This is the latest analysis.
Air France’s 472-Seat 777s Summarized
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According to AeroLOPA, the 
SkyTeam member has four different configurations of the 777-300ER, each better deployed in certain markets depending on the extent and nature of demand. The 300ER’s total capacity varies from just 296 seats to 472 seats.
Its most notable version is its very high-capacity leisure layout. This has just 14 seats in business (1-2-1), 28 seats in premium economy (2-4-2; 38″ pitch), and a whopping 430 seats in economy (in an undesirable 3-4-3 arrangement; 31″ pitch). In other words, a massive 91% of the capacity is in the bog-standard economy.
Unsurprisingly, the 472-seater is Air France’s highest-capacity layout. It has been since its A380s were retired. According to ch-aviation, it has 12 300ERs with 472 seats, with their ages varying from 13.7 years to 19.7 years.
Due to the number of seats, the aircraft are very heavy and consequently have a higher trip cost than lower-capacity alternatives. Their competitive weapon is their very low seat-mile cost, with the high passenger volume offsetting lower yields from less premium demand. This is critical to where they’re deployed, which—needless to say—revolves around leisure and visiting friends and relatives routes.
Where Air France Will Fly Its 472-Seaters
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Cirium Diio data for January-June 2026 show that 28 routes will see the very high-capacity Triple Seven: 25 from 
Paris CDG and three from Paris Orly. However, ten links have fewer than ten departures through the first half, with the destinations mainly being in Africa, the Near East, and South America. In all, CDG will have 1,258 departures on it, against 261 from Orly. It will account for 4% of the airline’s widebody flights from CDG and 100% from Orly.
Destinations include Phuket, which saw Air France for the first time in December 2025. And as discussed in the next section, the 472-seater took off to Punta Cana in mid-January 2026, with that route last served three years ago. Elsewhere, the configuration was first deployed to Ottawa last year, although it only had a smattering of flights in September. In 2026, it will be deployed between January and June (no flights in February), with the frequency varying dramatically: from a weekly to a five times weekly service.
Unsurprisingly, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion—all part of France—account for the bulk of the 472-seater’s operation. A whopping 57% of its services are to them, which is in part because of their frequencies and that they’re served from both CDG and Orly. The 472-seater is not used elsewhere from Orly.
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Air France Is Back In Punta Cana
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You might have wondered about the context of this article. Why was it published now? Part of the reason was that on Tuesday, January 13, the SkyTeam member took off from CDG to Punta Cana. The ever-popular Dominican Republic beach gateway has been part of its network for many years—even the 747-200, 747-300, and 747-400 were flown there. However, the route was suspended in March 2023.
Punta Cana is now served again, albeit in a limited way. First, Air France only operates three times weekly, down from daily three years ago. Second, the service will only exist through the remainder of the northern aviation winter season, with the last Caribbean-bound departure taking place on March 28. The 472-seat 777-300ER is used, just as it was on many occasions since 2021.