In order to facilitate year on year comparisons passenger data has been restated to include the passenger business of Martinair.

Activity in March benefited from a favourable comparison basis due to the Japanese tsunami and the political crisis in Ivory Coast last year.

Passenger business
Passenger activity in March 2012 recorded a 6.8% rise in traffic for capacity up by 1.8%. The load factor improved by 3.8 points to 82.5%. The number of passengers rose 6.3% to 6.37 millions. Unit revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) ex-currency improved in a context of a sharp rise in the fuel price.

• On the Americas network, traffic was up 9.7% and capacity by 2.5%, leading to a 5.8 point gain in load factor to the high level of 88.2%.
• Asia network comparatives benefited from the impact on last year’s data of the Japanese tsunami, and recorded a 6.0% rise in traffic for capacity up by 1.8%. The load factor improved by 3.4 points to 86.7%.
• The Africa and Middle East network saw a 9.3% rise in traffic for capacity up by 2.8%. The load factor gained 4.7 points to 78.9%.
• On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network, traffic and capacity declined by 1.7% and 2.3% respectively. The load factor improved slightly, by 0.5 points to 84.1%.
• Traffic on the European network rose 7.2% for capacity up by 2.7%. The load factor stood at 71.9% (+3.0 points).

Cargo business
Cargo recorded a 3.4% drop in traffic for capacity down by 0.6%. The load factor declined by 2.0 points to 69.2%. Unit revenue per available ton kilometer (RATK) ex-currency was stable relative to March 2011.

Recent developments

• Air France continues its commercial drive from Nice and Toulouse, having inaugurated on 1st and 3rd April, 18 new routes to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. The target is to transport, in one year, two million additional passengers from its three bases, Marseille, Toulouse and Nice.
• Air France unveiled, with Aéroports de Paris, an ambitious development plan for its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub. In Summer 2012, Air France will welcome its passengers in new infrastructures, with improved connections and upgraded facilities.
• Air France and KLM launched ‘SkyPriority’ on 26th March in both the hubs of Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol as well as Paris-Orly. Via a harmonized ground service throughout the world, SkyTeam premium passengers benefit from numerous advantages from the point of check-in until luggage delivery.
• Air France-KLM is pursuing the development of its offer towards Africa. KLM inaugurated on 27th March a new route to Luanda, Angola. Air France announced a daily flight to Abuja, Nigeria from June 4th 2012.
• Air France deployed the Airbus A380 on the Singapore route. In Summer 2012, seven destinations will be served by Air France with an A380: New York JFK, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Montreal, Johannesburg, Tokyo-Narita et Singapore.