Air France-KLM Traffic Up 5.9 Percent
Friday October 6, 8:25 am ET
Air France-KLM Traffic Up 5.9 Percent in September
PARIS (AP) -- Air France-KLM posted a 5.9 percent increase in September traffic on Friday and announced a reduction in its fuel surcharge on tickets, after oil prices eased off earlier highs.
Traffic, a measure that takes account of the number of passengers and distance flown, rose to 17.01 billion revenue passenger kilometers (10.57 billion revenue passenger miles) last month from 16.07 billion revenue passenger kilometers (9.99 billion passenger miles) a year earlier.
September passenger numbers rose 4.3 percent to 6.42 million, and Air France-KLM said the gains contributed to a 6.4 percent traffic increase for April-September, the first half of its fiscal year, and a 5.5 percent increase in passenger numbers.
Friday's data show a slowing of growth in passenger numbers, both from August -- when they rose 4.7 percent on the year -- and from the 6.3 percent year-on-year increase posted for April-September 2005.
The group's load factor, or the proportion of seats filled, came in at 82.8 percent in September, down 0.3 percentage points on the previous month.
The world's largest airline by revenue also announced a cut to its fuel surcharge, in response to a recent decline in oil prices. The move will pare euro1 (US$1.27) from the cost of a domestic flight, euro2 (US$2.54) from medium-haul trips and euro7 (US$8.90) from long-haul tickets, effective Saturday.
Air France-KLM is scheduled to report its first-half earnings on Nov. 23. |
