Air France has taken delivery of their 41st Airbus A220, registration F-HPNP, which has been named ‘Bergerac’. On December 29, 2024, the aircraft departed the Airbus assembly plant in Mirabel, Canada, bound for Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
On Wednesday (January 8, 2025) Air France announced the delivery of their 41st Airbus A220, which has been named ‘Bergerac.’ The aircraft, registration F-HPNP, departed the Airbus assembly facility in Mirabel, Canada on December 29th, 2024, bound for the carrier’s Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) hub, with its first passenger revenue flight taking place on December 31st to Barcelona. On the forward fuselage is its name ‘Bergerac’, paying tribute to this town of art and history located in the Dordogne region of France. Air France honors the regions of mainland France and the Overseas Territories by naming their aircraft after towns and cities with a special link to aviation, or to France’s cultural heritage.
The carrier’s tradition of naming aircraft, inherited from the world of shipping, began in the 1930s. The repertoire of names has evolved over the years, ranging from provinces to adjectives, constellations, birds, or castles until 1970. Air France decided to resume this tradition in 2019, this time only using the names of cities and towns. Currently, 162 towns and cities are honored across the Air France fleet, including the French capital, with an Airbus A350 named ‘Paris’ joining the fleet in summer 2024. Likewise, other A350s recently joining the fleet bear the names of Narbonne, Bourges and Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, among others.
In 2024, 22 new names were added to aircraft already in service and refurbished, as well as to new, latest generation Airbus A220s and A350s. The Air France-KLM Group is currently investing nearly €2.0 billion annually in the acquisition of new generation aircraft that will deliver fuel use and emissions reductions of up to 25 percent, along with a smaller noise footprint compared to previous generation aircraft. By 2030, the Group’s fleet will be comprised of 80 percent new-generation aircraft, compared to 5.0 percent in 2019 and 26 percent in 2024.
Source: Air France