May 20, 2010
Air France posted its largest loss in 15 years after the airline yesterday reported a full-year net loss of €1.56bn.
Chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon dubbed the year “annus horribilis” after the airline suffered a number of set backs, including the Brazil crash last June which resulted in the death of 228 passengers, the disruptions caused by Iceland’s volcano as well as a fall in air traffic, particularly in cargo.
This year’s loss is almost double the €811m loss reported for the previous financial year.
Air France said it will not pay a dividend because of the losses, which came after it paid out €637m in fuel costs and suffered from the biting effect of the recession.
Gourgeon said: “The global economic crisis had a profound effect on the entire airline industry.”
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He added: “We are therefore maintaining our objective of operating break-even for the current financial year excluding the impact of pre-2009 fuel hedges, and subject to the definitive cost of the closure of European airspace.”
Revenue fell by 15 per cent to €20.9bn, while passenger traffic also declined 3.2 per cent.
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