The Air France-KLM group has reported a loss of €2.6 billion for the second quarter of 2020, leading to a €4.4 billion loss for the half-year to June 30 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Air France-KLM said passenger numbers were down 95.6 percent year over year in the second quarter, with unit revenue falling 42.8 percent. When looking at the group's individual components, Air France and its subsidiaries lost more than €1 billion, while KLM reported a loss of €493 million. Transavia posted a negative result of €111 million.
The €2.6 billion loss compares with a profit of €97 million for the same quarter last year.
The group has shored up its liquidity to €14.2 billion thanks largely to €10.4 billion in emergency aid from the French and Dutch governments. Air France-KLM said the reserves will allow it to "weather the crisis and restructure its business."
Air France is planning to cut 6,560 jobs from its workforce by the end of 2022 as part of its recovery plan, which includes the early retirement of its Airbus A380 fleet. A further 1,020 jobs will go at Hop, and KLM said 2,000 staff have already signed up for voluntary redundancy. The group has warned of the need to "significantly reduce the number of employees" in order to survive a recovery that it expects will take several years.
Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith commented: "The second quarter results demonstrate the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the activity of the Air France-KLM Group and of all airlines worldwide. … The exceptional support of the French and Dutch governments has provided Air France-KLM with the liquidity needed to weather the crisis and ensure a gradual recovery in business. However, the uncertainties linked to the health situation, the opening of borders and the general economic situation are very strong. We must also adapt to important changes in customers' behaviour. This context pushes us to accelerate our transformation to improve our economic and environmental performance according to the main pillars of our strategic plan. I am confident in our ability to implement these projects with our teams in order to emerge from this exceptional crisis."
Originally published in BTN Europe.