Air France-KLM posted a net profit of 324 million euros in the second quarter, for the first time since the summer of 2019 before the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 epidemic hit the airline sector.
Although the pandemic and the traffic restrictions it has caused have caused it to lose some 11,000 million euros in two years, the Franco-Dutch company saw its activity resume between April and June, with three times as many passengers in one year, and a quarter, turnover multiplied by almost two and a half, to 6,700 million euros.
For the CEO of the Benjamin Smith group, it is the “dedication” and “sense of collective responsibility” of the employees that have allowed these results “above expectations”.
Compared to 2019, the last full year before the crisis, the group deployed 82% of its capacity in the second quarter, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), one of the industry benchmarks.
However, it slightly lowers the capacity for summer and autumn, expecting a proportion “between 80% and 85% in the third quarter”, or 5 points less than before, and between 85 and 90% in the fourth trimester.
The lack of personnel penalizes the group
For the low cost Transavia, one of the spearheads of its development, this index will remain “above 100” in the second half, the group reaffirmed.
Airport understaffing, which can lead to flight delays and cancellations, affects many platforms in Europe. For Air France-KLM, the impact is strongest at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, where KLM is based.
Amsterdam-Schiphol announced in mid-June that it would limit the number of travelers this summer and cancel flights to avoid congestion at the airport.
“The strong recovery we are seeing this summer is putting the entire airline industry to the test,” observes Benjamin Smith. “The satisfaction of our customers is at the center of our priorities and we know that we have not been able to provide the quality of service that is expected of us,” he lamented.
Source: BFM TV
