KLM had to cancel flights in the fourth quarter due to limited runway capacity at Schiphol, caused by bad weather, and due to reduced fleet deployability. Rebooking and compensating customers, and hiring additional aircraft, increased costs. Geopolitical tensions also persisted, which meant that KLM continued to bypass Russian airspace. This led to a need for more pilots in the cockpit on some Asian flights. At Cargo, supply exceeded demand in the fourth quarter, which also put pressure on results.

These factors led to an operating loss of EUR 18 million in the fourth quarter, compared to an operating loss of EUR 2 million in 2022. Revenues in the fourth quarter amounted to EUR 3 billion, compared to EUR 2.8 billion in 2022.

More contented passengers
Thanks to the tremendous efforts of all KLM employees, customer satisfaction expressed in the net promoter score (NPS) rose from 37 to 39 in 2023. KLM carried 30.3 million passengers to their destinations in 2023. Transavia welcomed 8.9 million passengers aboard its flights and took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo in December. This innovative aircraft type will contribute to achieving the sustainability goals of the entire KLM Group.

At Engineering & Maintenance (E&M), hundreds of new employees were recruited to address staff shortages and we will continue hiring in 2024. Revenues continued to recover at E&M in 2023.

At Cargo, revenues have returned to pre-Covid levels, but they are coming under pressure due to the slowdown in global trade.

KLM recorded an operating loss of €128 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the €3 million operating profit in the first quarter of 2022, when it received €140 million under the Dutch government's emergency job-retention scheme (NOW).

Capacity management was KLM’s top priority at the start of new year. We adjusted the number of flights to the number of employees available both at Schiphol Airport and internally. Further complications included delays in component deliveries and the reduced operational deployability of the Embraer E2. As a result, total capacity (for both intercontinental and European flights) dropped to about 88% of capacity in 2019.

We welcomed a total of 7.8 million passengers in the first quarter, 6.3 million at KLM and 1.5 million at Transavia. Transavia's results were impacted by the cap on the number of passengers boarding locally at Schiphol Airport. Cargo faced slightly weaker demand than in the first quarter of last year, leading to a drop in revenue from cargo transported on both passenger flights and freighters. Engineering & Maintenance continued to be troubled by supply chain issues, resulting in delays in the delivery of components.

KLM received its last contribution of €140 million under the emergency job-retention scheme (NOW) in the first quarter (previous year: €321 million), which contributed to the positive results.

Only €942 million was withdrawn from the loan package of €3.4 billion in 2020. And, as was also the case for 2021 as a whole, nothing was withdrawn in the first quarter of 2022. The repayment in the second quarter is €311 million, which reduces the outstanding debt of this loan package from €942 million to €631 million. If recovery continues, KLM may make further repayments later this year.

Improvements in all business areas

The first quarter of this fiscal year showed a mixed picture. Our customers are keen to travel again and are now able to, and this is reflected in the results. In total, we welcomed 4.8 million passengers on board, compared to 1.4 million in the first quarter of 2021. The upward trend in bookings continued despite the conflict in Ukraine and the closure of Russian airspace, forcing flights to and from South Korea, China and Japan to make a detour.

Once again, Cargo performance was excellent in the first quarter. Transavia also performed well, benefiting from the further relaxation of entry restrictions affecting holiday destinations. Engineering & Maintenance (E&M) showed a strong improvement in first-quarter turnover.

At the same time, key markets in Asia are still closed to international travellers. Additionally, the global airline industry is facing rising costs and scarcity in the labour market, which are putting pressure on operations. This also applies to KLM.

Operation under pressure despite commitment of KLM staff

Operations were already under pressure in the first quarter of 2022 due to numerous operational changes and scarcity in the labour market. This did not lead to any major disruptions. However, with steadily increasing passenger numbers and the situation at Schiphol in terms of capacity shortages in many places, the past few weeks have been very difficult for operations. Many thanks for all the efforts of KLM colleagues and sincere apologies to our customers who were inconvenienced.

Passenger numbers fell by 95% in the second quarter of 2020, from over 9 million to less than half a million. Operating income amounted to a loss of €493 million. During the same period in 2019, we earned €270 million in profit.

The figures for the first half-year reflect a marginally more favourable picture, because KLM performed well in January and February before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Nonetheless, KLM’s turnover almost halved to a figure of €2.8 billion in the first six months of 2020 in comparison with the same period in 2019.

Operating income amounted to a loss of €768 million for the first half-year, compared to a profit of €223 million for the same period in 2019. A decline of almost €1 billion.

Capacity fell by more than 50%, coupled with a decline in passenger numbers of more than 60% to a figure of 8.1 million for the KLM Group as whole. Of this figure, KLM transported 6.7 million passengers and Transavia 1.4 million. Cargo performed relatively well: cargo volume amounted to 229,550 tonnes, representing a 22.3% decline. Despite reduced (belly) capacity, flights to a range of destinations only carried cargo instead of passengers. Cargo was also carried in the cabins of passenger aircraft.

The Air France-KLM press release can be found here.