Air France/KLM Combo Boosts Cargo Carried

In July, KLM cargo increased (up 11.9%) as did its capacity (up 11.7%). Cargo loads were up minimally at 75.2%, up less than 1%. During the same period, AF’s cargo traffic was up 10.6%, capacity increased by 10.6%, which meant 1% growth in load factors, to 62.0%.

For the entire first quarter of 2004, all cargo business grew by 8.6% year over year. However, cargo yield declined by 2.4% for AF and down 3.2% for KLM. The combination explained the income drop by pointing to an “increasingly competitive environment in the airfreight sector which put pressure on yield which declined by 2.7% (combined), which included a negative currency effect of 2.4%.

For July, the Caribbean-Indian Ocean segment of airfreight business for the carriers was the only one showing a decline, with revenues down 3.1%, although for the first quarter, revenues were up in the sector by 3.6%. Greatest income growth for the quarter was in airfreight traffic in Asia-Pacific (up16.4%), the Middle East and Africa (up 12.9%) and Europe (up 10.8%).