Air France grounds 747 after 40 years

Air France marked the exit of the last of 68 Boeing 747s that have graced its fleet over 40 years with a valedictory tour spanning Normandy to Mont Blanc and the Mediterranean -- while saying that the aviation icon could survive until 2020 at Dutch arm KLM. Replaced at the French carrier by smaller Boeing 777s and a handful of Airbus Group SE A380s, the jet still numbers more than 20 examples at KLM, where the priority has been to retire Boeing MD-11s, Alexandre De Juniac, president of parent Air France-KLM Group, said Thursday.<br/>“It’s just a question of age,” De Juniac said. “The KLM fleet is younger than Air France’s.” Not that many KLM clients are likely to complain about a model that’s exiting global fleets because of the inefficiency of its four engines rather than any lack of refinement. When Air France began selling tickets for its final flights with the 747 concerns were raised about likely demand; instead it was deluged with applications from 30,000 people eager to bid au revoir in person to a model dubbed the Queen of the Skies on its debut in 1970. KLM currently has 22 747s, seven of them all-passenger variants and another 15 so-called combis, which have a larger freight capacity, of which two will be phased out in coming weeks. The business cabins of the jetliners, which serve destinations including New York, Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as Dutch holiday spots such as Curacao, were refurbished in 2013. <br/>