Air France has once again extended the planned operations of its remaining Airbus A318 aircraft. According to the latest schedule data published by specialist portal AeroRoutes, the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family is currently scheduled to remain in regular service with the French carrier until 27 March 2027.

The A318 had previously been scheduled to leave Air France’s regular flight programme on 8 November 2026, but the latest update extends its operations by almost five months. The 27 March date coincides with the end of the 2026/27 winter scheduling season and should therefore not yet be regarded as an officially confirmed date for the type’s final commercial flight. AeroRoutes specifically refers to the currently published schedule, which remains subject to further changes.

During this additional period, the A318 is scheduled to remain present on a large number of domestic and European routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Planned destinations include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Bordeaux, Brest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Milan, Montpellier, Munich, Nantes, Nice, Rome, Toulouse, Turin, Venice and Warsaw, alongside selected services to Bergen, Malaga, Vienna and Zagreb.

Of particular interest to the Croatian market, AeroRoutes also lists a planned A318 operation on the Paris–Zagreb route on 10 March 2027. Of course, given that the flight is scheduled several months in advance and Air France has only a very small number of A318s remaining, an aircraft substitution before the flight remains possible.

Air France is today the last major scheduled passenger operator of the A318, an aircraft that never achieved the commercial success of its larger A320-family siblings. The A318 was conceived as the smallest member of the family, intended for routes with lower demand while retaining a high degree of commonality in systems, pilot training and maintenance with the A319, A320 and A321.

Its size, however, ultimately became one of its greatest disadvantages. Despite its shorter fuselage and lower passenger capacity, the A318 retained much of the weight, complexity and operating costs associated with the larger members of the family. Developments in the regional and small narrowbody aircraft market further reduced its competitiveness, and production ended after a relatively limited number of deliveries.

Air France was one of the most important operators of the type and has used the A318 on domestic and European routes for more than two decades. Its role, however, has rapidly diminished in recent years following the arrival of the new-generation Airbus A220-300.

The French carrier took delivery of its first A220-300 in September 2021, with its order covering a total of 60 aircraft. When introducing the new type, Air France said the A220 would gradually replace its A318s and A319s, as well as part of its A320 fleet. According to the airline, the A220-300 delivers approximately 10% lower operating costs and around 20% lower CO₂ emissions compared with the aircraft it replaces. Its noise footprint is also around 34% lower. (corporate.airfrance.com)

The fleet renewal process is now entering its final stages when it comes to the smallest members of Air France’s previous-generation A320 family. In its 2026 half-year report, Air France-KLM noted the continued accelerated modernisation of the Air France fleet, with the A220 becoming one of the carrier’s key aircraft types on short- and medium-haul routes.

The extension of A318 operations therefore does not represent a change in Air France’s long-term fleet strategy, but rather another postponement of the final retirement of an aircraft type that has already virtually disappeared from scheduled passenger service.

Interestingly, Air France has already published its preliminary schedule for the 2027 summer season, which begins on 28 March – one day after the A318’s currently scheduled final day of operations. In the data currently available, the A318 does not appear beyond the end of the winter season, although AeroRoutes notes that the summer 2027 schedule will continue to undergo changes over the coming months.

If the current schedule remains unchanged, Air France’s “Baby Bus” will therefore remain in regular passenger service into spring 2027. For aviation enthusiasts, this means several more months of opportunities to fly on one of Airbus’ rarest passenger aircraft still in operation today – including, at least according to the current schedule, another opportunity to see the type in Zagreb.