CURRENTLY HEADQUARTERED IN TREMBLAY-EN-FRANCE , AIR FRANCE WAS FOUNDED IN 1933 AS A MERGER BETWEEN FIVE SEPARATE AIRLINES

A joint venture between Air Orient , Air Union , Compagnie Générale Aéropostale , Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne ( CIDNA ) and Société Générale des Transports Aériens - the latter of which was the first commercial airline in France - Air France began offering small passenger flights of roughly 15 people in French-made aircraft , such as the Potez 62 , Bloch 220 and Dewoitine 338 . Utilising the extensive flight networks established by each of its constituent founding companies , Air France had a breadth of service which stretched to London , North Africa , South America and Asia-Pacific . Halted during the years of the Second World War , Air France was nationalised in 1945 and by 1948 covered over 160,000km - making it the largest flight network on Earth .