ATHOS A350, an aerial ballet for 90 years of Air France and 70 years of the Patrouille de France.
To round off a year of celebrations marking Air France’s 90th and the Patrouille de France’s 70th anniversaries, the two jewels of the French aviation industry are honoured in a special film featuring them together in spectacular aerial footage.
At the end of September 2023, the company’s 22nd Airbus A350-900 named “Les Sables-d’Olonne” made its ferry flight from the manufacturer’s assembly site in Toulouse to the Air France global hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. For the occasion, the pilots of the Patrouille de France Alphajet operating a positioning flight in preparation for an airshow in the Occitanie region flew alongside the aircraft as part of an air display choreographed to perfection.
The operation was filmed at an altitude of over 2,500 metres above the Camargue. Meticulously prepared by the crews, this special mission dubbed “Athos A350” involved eleven aircraft of various sizes and operating at different speeds flying together to create exceptional images.
Directed by Eric Magnan (Airborne Films), a specialist in aerial footage, the film was shot from a French TBM 700 DAHER camera-mounted aircraft incorporating a leading-edge gyro-stabilized camera system. The original music by composer Augustin Saldjian was performed by the Prague philharmonic orchestra.
