Air France-KLM records largest quarterly loss since the coronavirus crisis

Air France-KLM suffered a loss of almost half a billion euros in the first quarter. That is the largest quarterly loss since the first quarter of 2022, around the end of the coronavirus pandemic. The negative result was partly due to high costs at KLM as a result of disrupted service in January and February. There was also a reduction in turnover from the group’s freight division.

In the first three months of this year, Air France-KLM recorded a net loss of 480 million euros. A year earlier, the loss was 337 million euros, and in 2022 it was 552 million euros.

Air France-KLM managed to increase its total turnover by more than 5 percent to over 6.6 billion euros. The number of passengers also increased, by just over 6 percent to almost 21 million.

The disruptions at KLM were caused by problems with the supply of parts. Together with a shortage of technical personnel for aircraft maintenance, this resulted in fewer available aircraft. As a result, KLM was forced to compensate passengers, resulting in incidental costs of 50 million euros.

In addition to the compensation costs, the aviation group also had to deal with lower turnover from the cargo division this quarter. This amount fell by almost 17 percent on an annual basis to 562 million euros. Air France-KLM noted in the results that demand for cargo flights was relatively high at the beginning of this year, partly due to the disruptions in the Red Sea.

However, the company was unable to adequately respond to that demand. This was, for example, due to restrictions on Asian flights because the airspace above Russia is avoided.

Transavia contributed to the higher overall turnover that the group achieved. The Air France-KLM subsidiary recorded a turnover of 462 million euros, an increase of 22 percent.

The number of passengers also increased by almost 9 percent, while capacity was expanded by more than 11 percent. At the bottom line, a loss of 166 million euros still remained, but that was 6 million euros less than in the first three months of 2023.

Transavia previously announced adjustments to its flight schedule, partly due to the delay in major maintenance. It concerns an unknown number of flights in the period up to the end of June.

Air France-KLM achieved a record profit of 934 million euros for the whole of 2023. The last quarter of that year was loss-making, partly due to the war in Gaza and the bad weather around Schiphol during the winter months.