KLM Cargo also shows favourable traffic figures. On the whole, traffic volumes rose by 1.3% in May against a capacity increase of 0.8%, generating a marginal cargo load factor increase of 0.4 percentage points.

The joint Air France KLM traffic results for May 2017 are available in the download box in this message. 

• On the Americas network, traffic and capacity declined by 1.8% and 2.6% respectively. The load factor stood at 86.7% (+0.7 points).
• The Asia network, which was affected in 2011 by the impact of the Japanese tsunami, saw a 4.3% increase in traffic for capacity up by 3.4%. The load factor improved by 0.7 points to 81.9%.
• The Africa and Middle East network recorded a 1.8% drop in traffic, considerably lower than the reduction in capacity of 6.8%. The load factor gained 3.9 points to 75.2%.
• On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network, traffic was down by 8.0% for capacity down by 11.1%. As a result, the load factor gained 2.7 points to 80.9%.
• The European network saw a rise in traffic of 2.6% for capacity up by 3.2%. The load factor declined slightly to 74.2% (-0.4 points).

Cargo business
The cargo business recorded an 8.8% drop in traffic for capacity reduced by 3.9%. The load factor declined by 3.4 points to 64.3%. Unit revenue per available ton kilometer (RATK) ex-currency decreased relative to May 2011.

Recent developments

• The group is pursuing its expansion in Africa: On 15th May, KLM launched three weekly flights to Lusaka (Zambia) operated by an Airbus A330, and Air France launched on 4th June a daily flight to Abuja (Nigeria), also operated by an Airbus A330.
• Saudia joined SkyTeam, taking the number of members to 16. Saudia is the first SkyTeam member based in the Middle East, and represents a solid base for the alliance in this region.
• Air France launched a daily flight to Los Angeles, operated by an Airbus A380, the third US destination to be served by this aircraft after New York and Washington. Air France flies to Los Angeles from Paris-Charles de Gaulle with two daily flights by Airbus A380 and Boeing B777.

Traffic increased by 4.3% in May while capacity remained flat (+0.1%) enabling the load factor to gain 3.3 points to 80.6%. The group carried 6.2 million passengers (+1.6%). Unit revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) excluding currency increased markedly compared to the level of May 2009, with strong momentum both in economy class and in premium class. For long-haul, the increase was particularly noticeable in the Asia and Americas
networks. For medium-haul, the Paris-Europe routes benefited especially from the launch of the new “Premium Eco” product aimed at business travelers, which has been well received by customers.

On the Americas network, traffic rose by 5.0% with capacity down by a slight 0.4%. The load factor gained 3.8 points to 86.5%.
On the Asia network, traffic improved sharply (+9.7%) while capacity increased by 4.1%. The load factor gained 4.3 points to 83.7%.
On the Africa and Middle East network, traffic increased by 4.4% with capacity up by 1.8%. The load factor gained 1.9 point to 73.7%.
On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network, traffic was down slightly by 0.7% while capacity increased by 1.7%. The load factor gave up 1.8 point to 78.7%.
Capacity adjustments continued on the European network and led to a capacity reduction of 5.6%. Stable traffic (-0.1%) allowed a 4.1 point gain in the load factor to 74.1%.


Cargo business

Traffic progressed markedly by 8.7% while capacity was reduced by 3.2%. The load factor gained 7.8 points to 70.6%, driven by high load factors in passenger aircraft bellies. Unit revenue per available ton kilometer (RATK) was significantly above the level of May 2009.

Statistics(PDF, 394KB)