AF et le 747 classic : fin du film... 1970/2007

[flyrelax]

dans Airliners aujourd'hui, ce petit article bien documenté :

The end of an era.

Following the retirement of all its B747 "Classic" (-200/-300) from passenger services last year (The last one was F-BTDH on Sept.1st 2006), Air France was still operating 3 B747-200F : F-GCBG, F-GCBL, F-GCBM.

On December 20th 2007, for the last time, 2 B747-200 Cargo under Air France livery landed at CDG, the first one coming from NBO, the second one from LOS.

Flashback :

On September 19th 1966, Air France is placing an order for 4 B747-100

On April 9th 1970, Air France is among the very first airline in the world to receive its first brand new Boeing 747-100, F-BPVA.






The aircraft is landing at 9:14AM at Orly Airport, coming from Seattle after a nonstop flight of 9h05mn.
F-BVFB is delivered on April 15th and F-BVFC on May 13th.

They are equipped with 350 seats and a "Smoking Bar" at the upper deck.

On June 3rd 1970, F-BPVA operates the first Air France B747 commercial flight ORY-JFK.

The 4th aircraft, F-BPVD, is delivered on July 14th 1970.

Starting November 1970, the B747 is introduced on ORY-PTP with 3 x Weekly flights.

In 1972, the B747 fleet is reaching 8 aircraft : F-BPVA, VB, VC, VD, VE, VF, VG, VH.

On April 17th 1972, AF is authorized to land in SGN. The B747 is introduced on the line ORY-THR-BOM-BKK-SGN

November 19th 1972, the B747 is used on the Paris - Reunion Island route (including enroute stops at NCE, JED, NBO, JIB, TNR, according to the day they operate).

3 more B747-100 are delivered in 1973 :
F-BPVK & F-BPVJ in February. N28888 in Mars. This last one was supposed to become F-BPVI but had a short life, as it was destroyed by fire on the ground at Bombay on June 12th 1975.

On September 29th 1974, the first B747 Cargo, F-BPVO, is delivered. It is called "Super Pelican" as a reference to the B707-320C Pelicans. It is used from Oct. 1974 on the Paris-Montreal-US East Coat route.



Progressively, the B747 are replacing the B707 on the South American and South East Asian AF network.

Following the oil crises in 1975, Air France removes the Bar from the upper deck and replaces it with additional seats...
The new configuration of the B747 becomes 16 First / 68 Business / 276 Economy.

The B747 are now deployed on the following routes :

Paris-New York
Paris-Boston
Paris-Montreal-Chicago
Paris-Fort de France / Pointe a Pitre
Paris-Anchorage-Tokyo
Paris-Tel Aviv-Tehran-Bombay-Bangkok-Saigon
Paris-Tehran-Delhi-Bombay-Bangkok-Hong-kong-Manila-Tokyo

On July 1st 1975, Air France operates the Paris-Reunion island route with only 1 stop at NBO.

On May 20th 1976, the B747 is replacing the B707 on the rout Paris-Toronto-Los Angeles.
The new Air France livery is pplied on the B747 :




On October 12th 1976, Air France receives its second B747 Cargo, the first aircraft with the new GE CF6-5E2 engines and an increased MTOW to 371,95 tons.

Satisfied by the performances of its B747, Air France in pacing an order for 10 B747-200 Combi, powered by the GE CF6-5E2 engines. They are the perfect replacement for the B707 on the long distances. Their range will allow Air France to offer nonstop B747 flights from Paris to Caracas, Los Angeles or Bombay.

Air France is also launching what becomes, at that time, the longest nonstop flight : PARIS - RIO DE JANEIRO.

Air France receives also its First 2 B747-200 ALL PAX, configured with 24 First/91 Business / 226 Economy, delivered in April 1979 and Feb. 1980.

They are assigned on the Paris-Moscow-Tokyo route, and later on the Paris-Los Angeles-Papeete.

On March 31st 1977, Air France opens a Paris-Cayenne-Manaus-Lima with a B747.

Starting May 1st 1977, Air France operates Paris - Bogota twice a week.

Starting Avril 2nd 1978, Los Angeles and Chicago are served nonstop from Paris.

Starting April 27th 1979, the B747 is used on the Paris-Dakar-Buenos Aires-Santiago de Chile route.

Starting April 6th 1980, the B747 is replacing the B707 on the Paris-Beijing route (the flight is routing Paris-Karachi-Delhi-Beijing).

On Dec.13th 1980, AF opens MLH-LYS-PTP/FDF with a B747-100.

From 1977 to 1985, the B747-200 Combi allows Air France to increase frequencies on the existing routes but also to open new ones in Central Africa, South America (CCS and GIG nonstop), and North America : Miami, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Houston-Mexico, Boston-Philadelphia.

Starting 1985, Air France buys 3 more B747-200-Combi (F-GCBH, BI, BJ) & 3 B747-200F (F-GCBK, BL, BM).

On Dec.2nd 1985, F-GCBC, a B747-200 Combi is lost : it veered off the runway on landing, crossed a ditch and collided with a concrete ramp at Rio de Janeiro-Galeao International Airport, Brazil. 0 fatalities / 273 on board.




Following an agreement signed with the Soviet Union, Air France operates the first Paris-Tokyo nonstop flight on April 4th 1986.

December 3rd 1986 : Air France is using the B747 on Paris - Saint Martin/Marteen - Pointe a Pitre - Paris



March 1988 : Air France is leasing for 1 year a B747-100 (F-BPVD) to Air Inter. The aircraft is used by the French domestic airline on its biggest routes from Orly to Marseille/Toulouse/Bordeaux/Nice. Following this experience, Air Inter wants to buy from JAL 3 second hand B747SR, but finally will add more A300 to its fleet and increase frequencies.

May 4th 1989 : Air France re-opens Tokyo-Papeete (1 x Weekly)

Feb.26th 1990 : the 9th B747-200F is delivered to AF

In 1990, Air France is buying the other French airline UTA.
UTA is operating a fleet of 8 747 :

2 B747-300 : F-GETA, F-GETB
2 B747-200 SUD : F-BTDG, F-BTDH
2 B747-200F : F-GBOX, F-GPAN.
1 B747-400 : F-GEXA
1 B747-300 leased on a short term (F-GFUK) pending the delivery of the second B744 F-GEXB.

F-GPAN is used by UTA for the car manufacturer "Peugeot" and operating an "air bridge" between Lyon and Kano (Nigeria) where Peugeot had an important factory.

They are all integrated to the Air France fleet (except F-GFUK, returned to lessor).
The 4 B747-300 (actually 2 B743 2 B742-SUD) receive a new high density configuration and are used on the Caribbean network. Starting 2001, they are based at ORY and operate exclusively to/from PTP and FDF (and domestic flights to NCE and AJA during the summer season).

In 1992/1993, the retirement of the first B747-100 begins. 6 Aircraft are retired from service (F-BPVA, VC, VD, VK, VN, VQ).
F-BPVB is leased to CORSAIR and F-PBVG is used as a Charter for the summer season 1994.

Only 8 B747-100 remain in service, half of them on the Caribbean network. During the summer 1993, F-BPVL & F-BPVM are configured in a singe 499 Y Class and operate cheap Charter flights on behalf of AF's Tour Operator "Jet Tour" under the name of "Jumbo".




The arrival of the first A340 signs the beginning of the end for the B747-200 Combi. They are converted into full freighters, or into full PAX versions to replace the remaining old B747-100.

On September 12th 1993, Air France Cargo opens a CDG-TPE flight under the name of "Air France Asie", for political reasons. The flight is routing CDG-SEL-TPE / TPE-BKK-DXB-CDG.




A passenger flight CDG-TPE is also opened , under the same name, by an A340-200 but will be closed a year after.

Summer 1997 : Air France Cargo receives its 12th B747-200 Freighter. Entebbe, Cotonou, Libreville are added to the cargo network.

On March 5th 1999, the B747 Cargo F-GPAN is lost in a crash landing at MAA.

The last B747-100 is retired from service at the end of 1999 and donated to the Paris-le Bourget Air & Space Museum



Following the 9/11 terrorist attack, AF decides :

- The retirement of 1 B747-00 Cargo.
- The retirement of 4 B747-200 PAX (summer 2002)

Only the 4 B747-300 "Classic" based at ORY remain in service from Feb.12th 2004 , after the last B747-200 PAX, F-GCBA is retired following its last RUN-ORY flight.



March 2006 : Air France receives its first Orly-based B777-300ER. They are replacing the B747-300 on the Caribbean network from ORY.

Following the Israeli aggression on Lebanon during the summer 2006, the service of the last 2 B747-300 F-BTDG & DH is extended until the end of the summer. They are used for sanitary evacuation of people from Lebanon, operating several flight between Cyprus and France.

F-BTDH is finally retired on September 1st 2006.

The B747-400ERF are progressively replacing the B747-200 Cargo.
On May 18th 2005, Air France is placing an order for 8 B777-200LRF, becoming the launch company of this type, after being also the launch company for the B777-300ER. They will be delivered starting September 2008.

Between this April 9th 1970 and Dec.20th 2007, Air France has operated a total of 47 Boeing 747 -100/-200/-300, Pax versions, -Combi and Freighters.

On a total fleet of 16 Boeing 747-400, 3 of them were retired from service this year and converted into freighters (F-GISA, SB, SE). The 13 remaining B744 will be all retired within the next 4 years and replaced by 13 aditional B777-300ER ordered last May.

[opslady]

Merci bien pour ce recap detaille, Gerald!

Merci egalement a Ben4844 qui m'avait gentillement envoye un mp 3 heures avant ce poste pour me signaler ce tuyau sur Netliners, mais je l'ai lu trop tard...il m'a dit de prendre un mouchoir..

Comme je lui ai dit, je me sens comme si la plus grande partie de ma carriere se deroulait devant mes yeux.
..meme ma vie..attends, on dit ca juste avant la mort, non??!!!!
--j'avais raconte plus d'une fois, il y a une photo de moi , etudiante de 18 ans en '72 devant le F-BPVB-- 1972, mon premier voyage en France..faut vraiment trouver cette photo.

[didier le chaton]

allez Cathy , sèche tes larmes !
garde simplement tous les bons souvenirs que cet avion t'a apportés ! c'est tellement plus sympa !

grosses bises attendries pour 2008 !

[4Cs]

Didier, tu as eu le très beau livre édité par la DGOA sur le 747 classique de 1970 à 2007? J'ai eu la chance d'en avoir un exemplaire hier, magnifique!

[opslady]

Didier, on donne ce beau bouquin a n'importe qui!!

Meme a certains "heavy alcohol-consuming gentlemen from Bordeaux!"
Cherchez bien, vous trouverez une photo de mon chef d'escale.

note: demanagement-->le sujet m'a dit qu'il prefere la maison Air France

[flyrelax]

LE LIVRE.... il est arrivé un peu tard pour Noel mais je craque...




non, non, je ne suis pas n'importe qui... étant extérieur à la compagnie je suis fier d'avoir reçu ce bouquin.

Et j'aurais un peu moins bête la prochaine fois qu'on me parlera du Jumbo !

[opslady]

Pour la fin de la Division 747-CLQ, je leur ai envoye un petit cadeau de l'escale de Chicago.
Ca ressemble a un panneau affiche aux Operations Cargo depuis des lustres, un cadeau d'un Cdb 747 actuellement retraite;

cliquer sur l'image

Sauf, sur le panneau aux OPS, on lit "All Airbus will be Towed".

[caledo]

Ce livre sera-t'il disponible en librairie ?