Europe's biggest airline Air France-KLM sees passenger traffic drop

Air France-KLM, Europe's biggest airline, which has already been forced to cut operations in the economic crisis, saw passenger traffic fall 6.4 per cent last month, the company said yesdterday.

The biggest drop came in Asia, where passenger numbers fell 10.8 per cent, while traffic in Africa and the Middle East dropped just 0.2 per cent. The European network saw a 6.8-per cent decline in traffic.

Air France-KLM said it carried a total of 6.4 million passengers last month.

The airline said, however, that the decline in cargo traffic had stabilised, edging down only 0.4 per cent in the course of the month.

"These figures confirm again the trend towards a stabilisation of the cargo activity, with a progressive adjustment of capacity to demand," it said.

Franco-Dutch Air France-KLM lost €814 million in the first three months of the year - its first loss since the 2003 merger of Air France and KLM - and it has announced plans to cut 2,700 jobs.