After a huge air pocket with the Covid and a slight slowdown with the war in Ukraine with the increase in fuel and sometimes longer routes to avoid Russia, the CEO of Air France-KLM, Benjamin Smith has found the smile: "The recovery is here," he said during the presentation of the results for the first quarter.
“It sets the stage for a successful summer season,” he added.
As for many airlines, bookings in March for the summer holidays have started to rise again significantly.
Result ?
The company posted a third consecutive quarter of pre-tax profits of 221 million euros compared to the loss of 628 million euros recorded last year for the same period.
A result higher than the company's forecasts.
Again in the green
Under these conditions, Benjamin Smith now expects its operating profit to be “at breakeven” in the second quarter, before becoming “clearly positive” in the third quarter.
In addition, the group, which wishes to repay the aid paid by France and the Netherlands to cope with the impact of the pandemic, has announced that it is working on capital strengthening measures such as a capital increase or the issue of quasi-equity instruments to achieve this.
Air France-KLM announced in February plans to raise up to four billion euros to repay this aid.
"Progress has been made to refinance up to 500 million euros of Air France assets," said the CEO.