Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
Bad results
Air France-KLM and IAG have big losses in the first half of the year, despite the recovery
Boeing 777-200ER
British Airways
Aaron Davis, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rafael Ramos
7/30/2021
The two large European airline groups Air France-KLM and IAG have released their financial results for the first half of the year. Both had billionaire losses in the period, despite the sector's recovery.
The loss of Air France-KLM was around 1.49 billion euros, but there was an increase compared to the previous year. Between April and June, more than 7 million passengers were transported, representing an increase of 477% compared to the year 2020. Revenues also increased by 132.5% compared to the previous year. In absolute numbers, this means 2.75 billion euros.
Promising a 7% smaller fleet for 2022 (compared to 2019), the company said it will remain focused on projects to reduce its costs and that pre-pandemic levels should only resume in 2024.
However, the numbers show that a rebound is closer now than ever. “There is a big appetite for travel; where people can travel, they will travel,” said Steven Zaat, chief financial officer of Air France-KLM. “But, of course, we are still far from 2019 levels.”
The IAG Group, which owns companies such as British Airways and Iberia, posted a loss of 2.05 billion euros in the period. Revenue for the period was 2.21 billion euros, representing a drop of 58.2% compared to the same period in 2020. Only Iberia and Vueling had good results because of demand within the European continent, less affected than international travel.
The IAG group preferred not to make any financial forecasts because of the instability and uncertainty about the economy going forward.
Airbus A319 da Iberia
Bene Riobó, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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