Air France wants to cut its Airbus A380 fleet. The French newspaper Les Echos   
   writes that CEO Ben Smith has made the decision about this. He has chosen to   
   stick to only five of these super jumbo's. The French currently have ten A380s   
   in use.   
       
   Five of them have been leased. The lease contract for two aircraft expires at   
   the end of 2019. Those super jumbo's then go back to Airbus. Also the other   
   leased A380s will be retired in due course. The five own aircraft will be   
   modernized from the autumn of 2020.   
       
   Earlier, Air France had already reduced its order at Airbus for the super   
   jumbo's from twelve to ten. The airline prefers the smaller A350 from Airbus   
   and the Boeing 777-300ER from Boeing, which are cheaper and more economical to   
   use.   
       
   The fact that Air France is holding on to five super jumbo's for the time   
   being, according to the newspaper, also has to do with the fact that there are   
   no parties to take over the aircraft. For some of the phased-out A380s from   
   Singapore Airlines, no new owner could be found recently.   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99 SR33   
    * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)