© Reuters. File photo: The first Air his French airliner Airbus A350 takes off after a ceremony at the aircraft manufacturer’s headquarters in Colomiers, near Toulouse, France, on September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
Joanna Purcinska
LONDON (Reuters) – Air France-KLM said on Friday that bookings for 2023 have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels as global travel demand rebounded and fourth-quarter operating profit beat expectations.
Shares of airlines rose more than 6% before the start of trading, hitting their highest level since June and outperforming a generally bearish stock market. Pan-Europe he fell 0.85% at 0805 GMT.
The carrier reported fourth-quarter revenue of €7.1 billion ($7.55 billion), an increase of nearly 50% year-on-year.
Operating profit was better than expected, down 45% to €134 million due to higher costs, including fuel.
Last year was a difficult one as the travel industry struggled with pandemic-related restrictions and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine sent prices of jet fuel and other key commodities skyrocketing.
Air France also lost 170 million euros in revenue last year as travel was disrupted after Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport limited capacity due to staff shortages.
“I am very happy to be able to say that Q4 2022 ended better than Q4 2019,” added Zaat.
The company said it planned to fully repay French government aid by April 2023 and reported net debt of €6.3 billion, down €1.9 billion from the previous year.
But Zaat said the staffing shortage at Schiphol may not be resolved by the end of June.
Royal Schiphol Group said on Friday that operational difficulties continued and it was unclear when the airport would return to 2019 levels of passenger numbers, given the annual flight limit of 440,000 flights imposed by the Dutch government. .
“It’s improving, so that’s very good. Of course, we’re still affected by the fact that there are labor shortages everywhere, but also at airports..but gradually operations are really on track.” Zaat said.
Air France-KLM Chief Executive Ben Smith also warned that European airlines must go head-to-head with Chinese airlines that can still fly over Russian airspace.
“Between Paris and Seoul, flight times can take up to three hours,” Smith told the Financial Times. “If you have a Chinese aircraft carrier flying over Russia, they have an unfair advantage over us.”
($1 = 0.9403 Euro)