Air France KLM’s cargo continues its gradual turnaround with an operating loss of €244 million ($257.9 million) in 2016.
The group continues its restructuring to address weak global trade and overcapacity, cutting freighter capacity by 24 per cent, reducing operations to six aircraft.
Cargo revenue was down 14.7 per cent in 2016 to €2 billion and down 10. 8 per cent to €546 million in the fourth quarter.
Capacity in available tonne kilometres fell 4.6 per cent for the year but revenue tonne kilometres were also down 6.3 per cent, pushing the load factor down 1.1 percentage point to 59.3 per cent.
Cargo volumes declined 6.2 per cent to 1.1 million tonnes during 2016 and by five per cent in the fourth quarter to 293,000 tonnes.
For the whole group, revenue was down 3.3 per cent to €24.8 billion but net income was up 524 per cent to €792 million.
Air France KLM chairman of the board of directors, Jean-Marc Janaillac says: “While the fall in the oil price significantly reduced the Group’s costs, the geopolitical context, competition and industry overcapacity all resulted in lower unit revenues.”
Air France’s operating result fell from €426 million in 2015 to €372 million but KLM saw significant improvements, up from €384 million in 2015 to €681 million in 2016.
