LONDON – For the third quarter 2022, Air France and KLM remained among the most active airlines to accommodate the travel recovery, with a capacity for network passenger activity at index 85%.
The airline group says that this is in line with the upper end of the guidance provided, meaning that the Group has delivered according to its plan.
Overview
For the third quarter, the Air France-KLM Group posted a positive operating result of 1,024 million euros, up by 897 million euros at a constant currency compared to last year. This increase was driven by an increase in capacity, load factor and yield.
Despite some isolated disruptions in Paris, operations were more robust in France than in other European countries while Schiphol remains in a challenging situation, in a context of a very tight labour market conditions, and imposed capacity restrictions to KLM.
Air France and KLM did their utmost to mitigate these challenges and continue to prioritise safeguarding the trust of their customers.
For the third quarter, these disruptions resulted in 60 million euros additional compensation costs compared to the same quarter in 2019. Capacity Air France-KLM is confident that the recovery context will continue and therefore, the Group expects the capacity in Available Seat Kilometers for Air France-KLM Network passenger activity at an index of:
· Circa 85% for the fourth quarter of 2022
· Circa 80% for the Full Year 2022
· Circa 90% for the first quarter of 2023
All indices compared to the respective period of 2019.
The capacity of Transavia keeps on growing with Available Seat Kilometers expected at an index of circa 115 for the full year and at an index of circa 140 in both the fourth quarter 2022 and the first quarter 2023 compared to 2019.
Yield
The yield environment should remain healthy for the winter season with a solid demand in line with the capacity, resulting in yield levels above 2019. Expected operating result Above 900 million euros for Full Year 2022, based on fuel forward curve at 21 October 2022 and under currently foreseen circumstances.
Cashflow
As of September 30 2022, the Group has a strong 12.3 billion euros of liquidity and credit lines at its disposal. Full year 2022 Net Capex spending is estimated at circa 2.3 billion euros, which is 80% fleet & fleet related and 20% IT & Ground related.
Passenger uplift
Air France-KLM welcomed 25 million passengers in Q3, which is 47.6% above the same quarter in previous year. As capacity increased by 29.1% and traffic increased by 70.7%, the load factor increased by 21.6 points compared to last year.
Group CEO statement
Commenting on the results, Mr. Benjamin Smith, Group CEO, said: “Thanks to solid preparation and to our agile approach to capacity, Air France-KLM was able to make the most of the strong travel demand this quarter.”
“While the situation remains unsatisfactory in some key airports, notably impacting KLM at its Amsterdam Schiphol hub, we saw significant improvements following the operational challenges that had erupted earlier this year.”
“The Group posted a strong operating result in spite of rising fuel costs and inflation, and the Group remains confident in its ability to further increase capacity during the Winter season. I would like to thank all customers who chose to fly with us, and our employees who did their very best to welcome them at every step of their journey.”
“Going forward we will continue to implement our transformation plan and accelerate our sustainability efforts, as illustrated by the recent signing of long-term SAF supply contracts.”
“This reinforces our position as a responsible leader in transportation, as well as our commitment to being frontrunners in the decarbonization of our industry.”
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