Air France has taken delivery of its first A350-900.

The first jet out of a total order of 28, the plane was handed over to Anne Rigail, Air France chief executive, and Benjamin Smith, Air France-KLM group chief executive officer, by Airbus chief commercial officer, Christian Scherer, during a ceremony held in Toulouse, France.

Air France will deploy the A350-900 fleet on its transatlantic and Asia routes.

The aircraft features a comfortable three class layout with 324 seats including 34 full-flat business, 24 premium economy and 266 economy class seats.

In line with Air France’s commitment to the environment, the all-new A350-900 will provide a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions when compared to the plane it will replace.

Additionally, the aircraft’s delivery flight from Toulouse to Paris will be powered with a blend of conventional and synthetic biofuel.

Air France operates an Airbus fleet of 143 aircraft.

It includes 114 single-aisle and 29 wide-body planes.

The airline recently opted to purchase Airbus’ newest aircraft family member, the A220, which will join the fleet over the next few years.

At the end of August, the A350 XWB family had received 913 firm orders from 51 customers worldwide.