Air France-KLM says it has accelerated the implementation of
its transformation plan in order to “build a solid post-crisis model”. The
group’s CEO made the statement as the group announced first quarter revenues of
€2.2 billion, 57 per cent down on last year on a constant currency basis. The
group made an operating loss of €1,179 million during the quarter.
The group’s airlines carried 4.8 million passengers during
the period, a decline of 73.4 per cent on 2020, and it says customer booking behaviour is still short-term oriented.
Air France-KLM said it expected the start of the second quarter
to be similarly subdued, thanks to the stricter lockdown in France,
continuation of the lockdown in the Netherlands and travel restrictions
worldwide.
Group CEO Benjamin Smith said: “A year into the Covid crisis,
lockdown measures and travel restrictions in our home markets and around the
world continue to strongly impact the Group’s activity. In this
ever-challenging environment, the Group has nevertheless shown its resilience,
maintaining a strict control of its capacity and costs.
“The success of the first set of capital-strengthening
measures completed in April, allows us to look forward to the summer season
with greater confidence, hoping that the progress of the vaccination roll-out
worldwide and the implementation of travel passes will allow borders to reopen
and traffic to recover.
“In the meantime, we have accelerated the implementation of
our transformation plan to build a solid post-crisis model. This includes the
execution of our voluntary departure plans, which are progressing as expected.
In the coming months, we will continue our strict cost control approach while
reinforcing our sustainability commitments, in line with our ambitious
environmental roadmap."