Air France-KLM closed the corona year 2020 with a loss of 7.1 billion euros. The airline company was faced with a sharp drop in passengers’ number due to travel restrictions and the lack of bookings.
CEO Ben Smith speaks of the worst crisis the aviation industry has ever faced.
The airline company saw its turnover drop by 59 percent to 11.1 billion euros. The passenger flow dried up by 67.3 percent to more than 34 million travellers.
In order to keep costs down, Air France-KLM cut the workforce, among other things. Personnel costs fell by 35 percent as 8,700 people left the company.
In addition, the company held up its hand in Paris and The Hague for wage subsidies. Staff were also asked for a wage offer. The latter was also necessary for KLM to gain support from the Dutch government.
In total, Air France-KLM received 10.4 billion euros in loans and guarantees. About 3.4 billion euros of this came from The Hague. The company said it still had 9.8 billion euros in liquidity and credit lines at the end of December. In the meantime, the debt has increased by almost 5 billion euros to 11 billion euros in a year.