Most of the affected flights have been short and medium-haul.

Differences between long- and short- to medium-haul also persisted at the Franco-Dutch group.

Medium-haul suffered from a poor domestic market.

For example, the U.K. has long-haul services integrated with medium-haul and commuter trains.

Thomas Cook has also been growing share in higher margin medium-haul business, benefiting from a trend towards all-inclusive packages and non-euro destinations.

The possible upgrade of the medium-haul A320 is designed to compete with Bombardier's new C-Series.

Passengers were frustrated, but Air France said nearly eight out of ten long-haul flights were operating, and more than half of its medium-haul and domestic services were unaffected.

Boeing's workhorse medium-haul 737 - the largest selling commercial aircraft - has been under intense pressure since Airbus launched the upgraded and more fuel-efficient A320neo series in December 2010.

Bregier told a business conference here that the global economic slide had already affected output, with Airbus next month planning to scale back production of its medium-haul A320 to 34 per month from 36.

The last set of quarterly results revealed revenues that were below target, with Alexandre de Juniac, the new chief executive, adding that the turnround in its medium-haul and cargo businesses was taking longer than expected.

Although the company was upbeat in its assessment of current trading, it reported change in holiday-makers habits, most notably a switch from long-haul to medium-haul flights, with Greece, in particular, emerging as a popular destination.

Air France-KLM is to launch a new cost-cutting drive as the airline admitted that its existing programme had not proved enough to turn round its medium-haul and cargo businesses in the face of continued economic weakness.

US jet leasing firm CIT Aerospace has agreed a plan to buy 50 Airbus A320neo new generation medium-haul jets, both firms said at the Paris International Air Show on Tuesday.

The A320neo is Airbus' bid to counter rival aircraft such as Canada's Bombadier CSeries and China's C919, as well as heading off Boeing, which has not yet decided on the future of its medium-haul 737.

People will abandon medium-haul (defined as lasting from 3-6 hours) and short-haul flights (defined as lasting fewer than 3 hours) in favor of alternate forms of transportation like high-speed rail service for commuters and buses for tourists.