Air France-KLM makes profit, despite terrorism threat & competition

Like for many of its competitors, the second quarter was somewhat hard on Air France-KLM. The French-Dutch airline saw its turnover drop by 5 percent, though still managed to get a profit below the line. Continuing strong competition and the threat of terrorism was the main pressure points for the airline group's income, they group announced on Wednesday, ANP reports. In the second quarter Air France-KLM made a turnover of 6.22 billion euros, 5 percent lower than the same quarter last year. Net profit amounted to 41 million euros, compared to a 79 million euro loss a year earlier.Operating profit increased from 179 million to 317 million euros. The airline group got a boost from a low fuel bill, but even without that the group managed to cut flight costs by 1.5 percent. For the rest of the year, new CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac first wants to focus on everyone in the airline working towards the same goal, he said while presenting the second quarter results on Tuesday. He added that he found a high mutual distrust within the company and that has to change. He stressed that KLM does not have to worry about its independent position in this. "Air France-KLM is a group consisting of two companies from different countries with their own culture", Janaillac said. He added that the cooperation could always be better, there is no intention of merging Air France and KLM any further. Janaillac took over from Alexandre de Juniac three weeks ago. He expects that he will have clearer vision for the company by this fall.