by Joanna Plucinska
LONDON (Reuters) – Air France KLM said on Friday that bookings in 2023 were almost at 2019 levels, as the airline expects margins to rise in the medium term.
The Franco-Dutch group of airlines reported fourth quarter turnover up nearly 50% year-on-year to 7.13 billion euros.
“The beginning of 2022 was difficult, with the persistence of the COVID-19 epidemic, the beginning of the war (in Ukraine), and then the difficulties in airports and inflation. I am however very Glad to say we ended the fourth quarter of 2022 better than we did in 2019,” Air France-KLM Chief Financial Officer Steven Zaat said on a conference call.
The group indicated that the full reimbursement of the aid paid by the French State by April was on track and that its net debt now stood at 6.3 billion euros, down 1 .9 billion euros on an annual basis.
Steven Zaat has explained that the staff shortage at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is unlikely to improve by the end of June.
“We are seeing an improvement, which is very good. We are of course feeling the effects of the overall staff shortage, also at the airports, but we are seeing that operations are gradually resuming,” said Steven Zaat.
(Report Joanna Plucinska; Camille Raynaud, edited by Kate Entringer)
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