Air France-KLM expects Paris Olympics to cost it €200 mil. in lost income

Air France-KLM expects to lose around 200 million euros this summer due to the Olympic Games. Many travelers seem to be avoiding Paris during the sports tournament, given that the number of summer bookings is lagging behind.

The Games, which are from July 26 to August 11 in the French capital, will mainly impact Air France’s results. That was also the case in June. Air France-KLM reported on Thursday, when publishing its second-quarter results, that the tournament had a negative impact of 40 million euros on Air France’s results.

Air France-KLM said that the booking figures for Paris are disappointing compared to other European cities. The number of flights from Paris is also below average, possibly because the French are postponing their holidays until after the Olympic Games. The airline expects the flow of travelers to pick up again after the tournament. The number of bookings in the fourth quarter of this year is in line with the same period in 2023.

In the past quarter, Air France-KLM transported almost 26 million passengers, 4.4 percent more than a year earlier. Transavia, in particular, welcomed more travelers on board. At that subsidiary, the number of passengers increased by more than 12 percent to 6.6 million.

Air France-KLM’s total turnover amounted to almost 8 billion euros in the months of April to June, over 4 percent more than a year earlier. Both sister companies saw their turnover increase, but there were differences in the operating results. For Air France, profits fell by 287 million to 195 million euros, partly due to the impact of the Games and higher wage costs. KLM’s profit rose slightly to 260 million euros.

Transavia achieved a turnover of 834 million euros in the second quarter, over 18 percent more than a year earlier. The increase was partly due to the fact that passengers now pay to take certain types of hand luggage, such as a trolley case. Partly because of this, the airline’s operating result came to 26 million euros. A year earlier, it was still an operating loss of 1 million euros.