KLM has succeeded in achieving a further increase in passenger traffic. This may be attributed to a combination of new KLM destinations and a multitude of commercial and operational initiatives, including fleet renewal, optimisation of flight schedules and improvements in customer service.

KLM’s cargo traffic was down 5.6% compared to last year, keeping pace with a 4.3% decline in capacity. This resulted in a 1-point decline in load factor compared to February 2016.

(*) The joint Air France KLM Traffic Results of January 2017 can be found in the download box. 

• 5.3 million passengers, +1.8%
• Rise in capacity on the Americas driven by development in Latin America (+9.9%); capacity up +1.1% on North America
• Significant impact from medium-haul restructuring
• Increase in Unit revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) ex-currency versus February 2013

​Cargo

• Improvement in load factor
• Unit revenue per available tonne kilometre (RATK) ex-currency stable versus February 2013

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Recent developments

• Air France and KLM announced the details of their Summer 2014 schedules (from 30^th March to 25^th October). In long-haul the main development is focused on Latin America with the opening of Brasilia thanks to the partnership agreement with GOL, and the continuation of the Santiago service launched by KLM in February. The impact of Transform 2015 on medium-haul translates into capacity reductions at Air France, while aircraft densification and the reduction in turnaround times enables KLM to increase its offer, launching four new destinations in Europe. 
• After suspending sales in Venezuela since the end of  January, the group will reduce capacity on the Paris-Caracas route by 45% as from April 2014.
• At the beginning of March, SkyTeam welcomed its 20^th member, Garuda, the Indonesian carrier. 13 out of the 20 alliance members are based outside Europe and North America.

Agenda

• 7^th April 2014: March 2014 traffic
• 30^th April 2014: Q1 2014 results
• 12^th May 2014: April 2014 traffic

Passenger business
February 2013 saw stable traffic and capacity, as well as load factor at 80.4%. The group flew 5.34 million passengers the same number as in in February 2012. Unit revenues per available seat kilometre (RASK) ex-currency increased compared with February 2012.

• On the Americas network traffic declined by 1.8% while capacity was reduced by 0.9%, leading to a 0.8 point drop in load factor to 83.8%. 
• The Asia network recorded a rise of 4.4% in traffic for capacity up by 3.2%. The load factor gained one point to 85.4%.
• On the Africa and Middle East network, traffic declined by 2.3% with capacity reduced by 2.7%. The load factor gained 0.3 points to 77.5%. 
• The Caribbean and Indian Ocean network recorded a 4.7% drop in traffic, in line with the 4.8% drop in capacity. The load factor gained 0.2 points to 87.4%.
• The European network, which was most affected by industrial action in February 2012, recorded a 2.0% increase in traffic for capacity up by 2.7%. The load factor stood at 68.6%, down 0.5 points.

Cargo business
In the context of Chinese New Year, cargo recorded a 4.3% decline in traffic, in line with a 4.2% reduction in capacity. The load factor was stable at 63.6%. Unit revenue per available tonne kilometre (RATK) ex-currency increased compared with February 2012.

Recent developments

• Air France-KLM announced its Summer 2013 program. Capacity growth will be limited to 1.5% of which +2.4% on long-haul and -2.1% on medium-haul.  Long haul development will be focused on the most dynamic markets of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The medium-haul program reflects the planned changes under ‘Transform 2015’: 6% reduction in point-to-point, densification of rotations, reduction in turn-around times, and addition of seats on the B737s.
• On 20th February 2013, Air France and three unions representing the cabin crew signed a statement of agreements, enabling the drafting of a new collective agreement facilitating the necessary productivity gains in the framework of Transform 2015. Between now and March 14, these three unions will consult their members on the content of this agreement.

February activity was affected by strike action at Air France. Elsewhere, the extra day relative to February 2011 represented an additional 3.5% of activity.

Passenger businessFebruary 2012 passenger activity posted a 6.2% increase in traffic for capacity up by 2.5%, leading to a 2.8 point improvement in load factor to 80.5%. Passenger numbers stood at 5.34 million (+5.0%). Unit revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) was up, but was not sufficient to offset the increase in the fuel bill.

• On the Americas network, traffic increased by 13.1% and capacity by 4.8%, leading to a 6.1 point gain in the load factor to 84.5%. While the increase in capacity was primarily linked to the Latin American network, the increase in traffic occurred on both the North and Latin American networks.
• The Asia network posted a traffic increase in line with that of capacity (+1.6% and +1.9% respectively), with the load factor virtually unchanged at 84.3% (-0.3 point).
• The Africa and Middle East network saw a 6.9% increase in traffic with capacity up by 3.1% thanks to the dynamic Africa network. As a result, the load factor gained 2.7 points to 77.2%.
• On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network, traffic rose by 1.1% for a 0.6% reduction in capacity, the load factor gaining 1.4 points to 87.2%.
• The European network, most affected by the strike action, recorded a traffic increase of 4.9% for capacity up by 1.2%. The load factor stood at 69.1%, up 2.4 points.

Cargo business
Cargo recorded a 5.1% fall in traffic for a very limited increase in capacity (+0.8%), leading to a 4.0 points decline in load factor to 63.7%. Unit revenue per available tonne kilometre ex-currency (RATK) was down relative to February 2011 on the back of the decline in volumes, but unit revenue per revenue ton-kilometre held up well.

Recent developments

• Air France-KLM announced its Summer 2012 Schedule with capacity growth limited to 0.6%, of which +0.8% in long haul and -0.2 % in medium haul excluding the provincial bases. Including the launch of the Marseille, Toulouse and Nice bases, where the Group’s medium-haul business will see a 3.0% increase, total capacity will increase to 1.4%.
• KLM and Kenya Airways will shortly launch a twice-weekly joint cargo service between Nairobi and the Guangdong industrial zone in China. They are the first carriers to offer a non-stop cargo service between Africa and China.
• Air France is pursuing the development of its Marseille base with the launch of a twice-weekly non-stop service to Berlin, increasing the number of destinations served on departure from Marseille this summer to 34.

Activity in February was affected by adverse weather conditions as well as four days of strikes by French Air Traffic controllers. The impact of these factors on revenues is estimated at some 22 million euros. Nevertheless the decline in traffic was limited to 0.6% while capacity was reduced by 5.0%, enabling the load factor to gain 3.5 points to 77.7%. The group carried 4.8 million passengers (-2.2%). Since January, comparables benefit from a favourable base.
Unit revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) excluding currency was above the level of February 2009.

On the Americas network traffic was slightly up by 0.2% with capacity down by 7.1%. The load factor gained 5.8 points to 80.1%. Load factors improved both on North and Latin American routes.
Traffic was virtually stable on the Asia network (-0.4%) with capacity down 3.9%.The load factor gained 3.0 points to 86.1%, confirming the progressive recovery in demand volume on this network.
On the Africa and Middle East network, the decline in traffic was in line with that of capacity (-2.3% and -2.5% respectively). The load factor rose 0.2 points to 75.4%.
The Caribbean and Indian Ocean network saw traffic rise by 3.0% for stable capacity (-0.3%). As a result the load factor gained 2.7 points to 84.0%.
On the European network, severely affected by the adverse weather conditions and the air traffic control strike, capacity was reduced by 7.7%. The drop in traffic was limited to 3.3% enabling the load factor to progress by 2.9 points to 63.6%.

Cargo business

Cargo was also affected by the weather conditions and the strikes. Traffic was down 2.1% for capacity reduced by 13.5%. The load factor gained 8.3 points to 70.8%. Unit revenues per available ton kilometer (RATK) continued to improve relative to February 2009.

Statistic(PDF, 318KB)