One of the AF particularities is that flying an approach with A/THR engaged is considered as abnormal. Why ?
After the Habsheim disaster, the confidence in the Airbus 320 was “low” among AF pilots.
Despite the fact that the A/THR was one of the most reliable system on this aircraft, some ayatollahs were spreading the idea that this automatism was dangerous and never to be used on landing.
I remember almost killing a captain after using A/THR until the flare.
And now, even if it’s not clearly written in the SOPs, it is well admitted for AF crew that AP OFF means A/THR OFF.
And it’s still difficult to have an FO performed an automatic approach with AP disconnected at MDH if the weather is poor.