The Air France KLM Group has reported a return to profit for 2022, following the release of its full year 2022 results.
“We close out the year with a positive nett income, having turned the page on COVID, and look to the future with confidence in our ability to address the challenges ahead,” said Air France KLM CEO, Benjamin Smith.
The group has reported a positive nett income of €728 million (R14,1bn) for 2022, an increase of €4,02 billion (R78,1bn) compared with 2021. Overall revenues for 2022 were €26,4 billion (R512,6bn), up 84,4% year on year.
It welcomed 83,3 million passengers, 86,5% more than the previous year, while it reported an increase of 44,2% in capacity.
In terms of the outlook for 2023, capacity for the group, including Transavia, is expected to reach 95%-100% for the full year, compared with 2019.
Last year, the group also saw its highest fourth quarter revenues in history. Revenues for Q4 were up 47,3% to €7,1 billion (R137,9bn), compared with the same quarter in 2021.
The group provided interesting insights into the trends observed for different areas in the fourth quarter, including:
- North Atlantic: slightly down after the summer's performance, but still very dynamic, with capacity slightly higher than 2019. Good performance of the business cabin for Air France and premium economy cabin for KLM.
- Africa: A strong corporate recovery was observed in all areas. For KLM, the performance was driven by East and South Africa with strong yield increase linked to positive cabin mix and a positive economy yield evolution. For Air France, performance was driven by West and Central African countries with a good steering strategy.
- Short and medium-haul: Strong demand on the Air France side, resulting in slightly higher load factors than in 2019. KLM volumes were impacted by capacity cuts in the context of a tight labour market, as well as imposed departing passenger limits, though yield development was favourable.
