Air France | 1979
«In der Luft haben wir die Europawahl mit dem Airbus längst entschieden.» (In the air, we decided the European election long ago, with the Airbus.) Air France wrote this in April 1979, two months before the first direct elections to the European Parliament, held from 7 to 10 June.
The Airbus was itself a European project. After Britain withdrew in 1969, France and West Germany carried it forward, and Airbus Industrie was formally created in December 1970. Its first aircraft, the A300, flew in October 1972. It was the world's first wide-body airliner with only two engines.
Air France was the launch customer. In May 1974 it put the A300 into service between Paris and London. In this ad we can see the German angle: the copy calls the Airbus a German-French joint development and announces that it now also flies Frankfurt–Paris. The registration on the fuselage reads F-BVGA.
The A300 was built until 2007. Air France merged with KLM in 2004, and Airbus grew from a European bet into one of the two largest makers of airliners in the world.
An airline turning an election into a slogan: could you imagine an ad like this today?
Text in the ad
In der Luft haben wir die Europawahl mit dem Airbus längst entschieden.
In den europäischen Ländern wird dieses Jahr die Europawahl entschieden. In der Luft haben wir die Entscheidung längst getroffen: als erste Fluggesellschaft haben wir schon 1974 den Airbus in Dienst gestellt.
Als deutsch-französische Gemeinschaftsentwicklung beweist der Airbus seither in der Praxis, wie erfolgreich Zusammenarbeit über die Grenzen hinweg sein kann.
Noch in diesem Jahr werden 14 Airbus für uns in 21 Länder fliegen – mehr als für irgendeine andere Fluggesellschaft. Viele internationale Passagiere haben unser leises geräumiges Flugzeug schon schätzen gelernt – jetzt auch auf der Strecke Frankfurt–Paris.
Buchen Sie in Ihrem IATA-Reisebüro. Oder bei uns, Ihrer Linie für Langstrecken.
Air France
Translation:
In the air, we decided the European election long ago, with the Airbus.
This year the European countries will decide the European election. In the air, we made our decision long ago: we were the first airline to put the Airbus into service, back in 1974.
As a German-French joint development, the Airbus has since shown in practice how successful cooperation across borders can be.
This very year, 14 Airbuses will fly for us to 21 countries – more than for any other airline. Many international passengers have already come to appreciate our quiet, spacious aircraft – now on the Frankfurt–Paris route too.
Book at your IATA travel agency. Or with us, your long-haul airline.
Air France
- Brand
- Air France
- Year
- 1979
- Decade
- 1970s
- Country
- Germany
- Medium
- Magazine
- Themes
- Transport & aviation
- Original publication
- Der Spiegel, 1979
