Worst year ever for Air France-KLM: €7.1 billion loss in 2020

2020 was the worst year ever for Air France-KLM. The airline combination suffered a historic loss of 7.1 billion euros. Before 2020, 2009-2010 was Air France-KLM's worst year with a loss of 1.6 billion euros, NOS reports.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic decreased significantly in 2020 and the planes that did depart were much less full. Air France-KLM saw its number of passengers plummet by 67 percent. Freight transport decreased by 21 percent.

Shareholders; equity fell from 2.1 billion euros to a negative shareholders' equity of 5.4 billion euros in one year.

In the last three months of 2020, the airline combination lost 1 billion euros - the lowest quarterly loss of last year. The worst period was the second quarter, when the pandemic hit and air traffic was largely grounded. In that quarter, the company suffered a loss of 2.6 billion euros. 

KLM also announced its separate figures. The Dutch airline's turnover almost halved to 5 billion euros. "KLM's financial results show how serious the situation is," CEO Pieter Elbers said. KLM previously announced that it will cut nearly 6 thousand jobs in order to survive this crisis.

The Dutch and French governments are working on a new support package for the airline company. Last year the Dutch government gave KLM 3.4 billion euros in state aid, while the French government gave Air France 7 billion euros in aid. The governments are clashing over the terms of the new aid.