Air France and KLM lost a stunning €7.1 billion in net income amid the global pandemic that grounded international travel.
Passenger numbers in 2020 fell 67%, the French and Dutch airline stated in an announcement, and income fell 59% in comparison with the last yr,
CEO Benjamin Smith acknowledged that “2020 tested the Air France-KLM Group with the most severe crisis ever experienced by the air transport industry”.
Smith added that state help from the French and Dutch governments had helped the company significantly.
Nicholas Hirst, chief correspondent for EU Competition at MLex, a market perception and analysis organization, informed that governments are committed to helping the companies get by the crisis.
“Basically we’re seeing billions and billions of euros in loans, grants and cash being handed out to air companies in Europe, of course this has not being distributed like-for-like in an equal fashion,” Hirst noted.
Travel restrictions introduced in France and the Netherlands after the Christmas holidays haven’t helped the company within the first quarter of 2021.
“We begin 2021 looking forward that this yr will see an upturn in traffic as soon as vaccination is deployed on a large scale and borders once again reopen,” Smith continued.
