KLM profits down to €650 mil. last year; Record profit for Air France-KLM group

The KLM Group booked a profit of 650 million euros last year, down from 706 million euros in 2022. The Dutch airline spoke of “strong annual results” pressured by bad weather, limited fleet availability, and global tensions in the fourth quarter. Air France-KLM booked a profit of 934 million euros last year, up 28 percent compared to a year earlier and a record for the airline combination.

Last year, the KLM Group’s revenues amounted to 12.1 billion euros, compared to 10.7 billion euros in 2022. In the last quarter, the Dutch airline and its subsidiaries suffered an operating loss of 18 million euros.

In quarter four of 2023, KLM had to cancel many flights due to bad weather limiting the runway capacity at Schiphol. It also struggled with a limited fleet due to maintenance taking longer than expected. “Rebooking and compensating customers and hiring additional aircraft increased costs.” The ongoing wars in Russia and Gaza also meant canceled flights and detouring around the affected airspaces.

KLM carried 30.3 million passengers to their destinations in 2023. Transavia transported 8.9 million travelers.

“Financially, 2023 was a solid year for KLM. We generated revenues of 12 billion euros, strengthened our financial position, and reduced our net debt to 1.35 billion euros,” Chief Financial Officer Erik Swelheim said. “Operating profits came under pressure as costs rose while we were still operating below pre-Covid capacity.”

The KLM Group aims to improve its profit margins in the coming years so that it can finance planned investments, Swelheim said. “We look to the future with confidence as demand for air travel continues to be strong.”

The Air France-KLM combination also had a strong year but suffered a loss in the fourth quarter. Revenue climbed 14 percent to 30 billion euros, and the airline combination booked a record profit of 934 million euros. In total, the airline combination transported over 93 million travelers compared to 83 million the year before. That number is still below the pre-pandemic 104 million passengers in 2019.

In quarter four, Air France-KLM suffered a loss of 56 million euros, down from a profit of 134 million euros a year earlier. “The operating result was impacted by the geopolitical situation in Africa and the Middle East,” the airline combination said. That led to 65 million euros in additional costs. The war in Gaza, for example, meant that Air France, KLM, and Transavia did not fly to the region in the last quarter.

Air France-KLM expects these issues to also affect its results in the first quarter of 2024. Air France has resumed flying to Israel at the end of January. KLM will only start flying to Tel Aviv again in April, and Transavia has suspended flights until at least June.