Passenger business
The economic crisis continued to impact business traffic, with a decline in unit revenues. On the other hand, the further decline in the oil price had a positive impact on the fuel bill. Traffic fell by 1.9% with capacity down 1.2% leading to a slight decline in load factor to 76.6% (-0.5 points). The group carried 5.2 million passengers (-6.1%).
On the Americas network, traffic rose 1.9% with capacity up by 2.8%. The load factor stood at 80.3% (0.7 points).
The Asia network saw traffic down by 3.9% with a 2.8% decline in capacity. The load factor remained high at 83.6%, down 0.9 points.
On the Africa and Middle East network traffic increased by 0.8% with capacity up 1.4%. The load factor declined slightly to 76.3% (-0.4 points).
The Caribbean and Indian Ocean network saw a 2.4% drop in traffic with capacity down by 1.1%. The load factor declined 1.1 point to 83.6%
The European network was especially affected by adverse weather conditions, which led to the closure of several airports for many hours or even days during the course of the month. Traffic fell 7.9% with capacity down 6.7%. The load factor declined by 0.8 points to 59.9%.
Cargo business
As of January 1st 2009, the group consolidated the cargo activities of Martinair, which represent the latter’s main business. Excluding Martinair, traffic and capacity dropped by 23.3% and 10.4% respectively, leading to a 9 point decline in load factor to 53.5%. Including Martinair from January 2009, traffic fell 1.2% with capacity up by 10.9%. The load factor fell 6.8 points to 55.6%.
Commercial update
Air France, KLM and the Canadian carrier, WestJet, have signed a protocol agreement with a view to developing, from the end of this year or the beginning of next, new commercial relations between the three companies. These will include code-sharing on Air France, KLM and WestJet flights between the Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver hubs. Air France and KLM will thereby reinforce their position on routes to and from Canada, with a wide choice of destinations.
