Background
Air France was formed on 7 October 1933 from a merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie
Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA), and Société Générale de Transport Aérien (SGTA). In 1990, the airline acquired
the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and international rival UTA - Union des Transports Aériens. Air France
served as France's primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM. Between April 2001 and
March 2002, the airline carried 43.3mn passengers and had a total revenue of €12.53bn. In November 2004, Air France ranked
as the largest European airline with 25.5% total market share, and was the largest airline in the world in terms of operating
revenue.