AF KLM passenger numbers drop

But load factor rises 

Air France KLM today (September 8) reported a drop in passenger numbers for August of 3.8% to 6.6m.

But the carrier said its 2.9% fall in traffic was smaller than its 4.2% cut in capacity.

It said this was the second month running that the traffic drop was less than the capacity cut.

The carrier said this had led to a rise in its oad factor of 1.1% to 84.8%.

 It said the capacity cuts had "put a stop to the deterioration in unit revenues."

In its Q1 results announced in July, AF KLM said passenger revenues were down by 18.47% and cargo revenue down by 41.5%. The group suffered a total loss of 20.5% in revenue.

The figures for August show a 4.9% drop in traffic on its America network with capacity down 6.8%.

But the load factor on transatlantic flights rose by 1.8% to 89%.

There was a "slight improvement" on its Asia network with a traffic decline of "just 2.7%" and a 5.2% cut in capacity.

On the European network, AF KLM said traffic fell by 4.7% with a 6.1% capacity cut. The load facto rose by 1.1% to 79%.

Air France announced last week it is starting formal talks with the workers' council this week, the Comité Central d'Entreprise (CCE) to try and reach agreement on a "voluntary redundancy plan" for 1,500 of its staff by October 21.

www.airfrance.com   www.klm.com