Air France-KLM suffers €3.3 billion loss, but recovery is happening

Air France-KLM suffered a 3.3 billion euros loss last year. But while the airline combination's figures are still solidly in the red, the loss is quickly declining. In the first coronavirus year 2020, the French-Dutch company suffered a loss of 7.1 billion euros, NOS reports.

The coronavirus restrictions still massively affected air travel last year. Air France-KLM transported less than 45 million people in 2021, compared to over 100 million in pre-pandemic 2019. But the aviation sector is recovering, and Air France-KLM with it. The company has been doing better and better in the past quarters.

Dutch airline KLM even made a profit in the past two quarters. Air France made a profit in the last quarter of 2021 for the first time since the pandemic struck. "Last quarter was a turning point," said Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. "The crisis is not over yet, but it makes us optimistic about the future."

Air France-KLM received a great deal of financial support from the Dutch and French governments during the coronavirus crisis.

KLM received a support package of 3.4 billion euros in loans and guarantees from the Dutch government and 1.7 billion euros in wage support through the NOW regulation. KLM made significant cuts to its workforce to get through the crisis, cutting nearly 6,000 jobs. 

KLM CEO Pieter Elbers announced last month that this would be his last term at the company, according to NOS. His term expires in May and he and the supervisory board jointly decided that he would not run for a third term.