THE HAGUE, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Air France-KLM recorded a rise of passengers in the second quarter of 2019, but a decline of net profit, mainly due to higher fuel costs, the Franco-Dutch airline announced on Wednesday.
The amount of passengers rose to 27.8 million in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the same period last year. In the whole first half of 2019 the total amount of passengers was 50.5 million, an increase of 4.2 percent year on year from a year ago.
Net income declined by 30 million euros (33.4 million U.S. dollars), from 110 million euros in the second quarter of 2018 to 80 million euros in Q2 of 2019, mainly due to rising fuel costs. In the first half of 2019 Air France-KLM even recorded a net loss of 240 million euros, compared to a loss of 159 million euros in H1 of 2018.
"In a challenging environment, Air France-KLM posted a robust second quarter," Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, said in a press statement. "The slight increase in passenger unit revenue that we had anticipated, together with continued execution in unit cost reduction, enabled us to more than offset rising fuel costs."
"At the same time, we continue to implement our strategic vision focused on reducing costs and making our group more robust in the very competitive market place in Europe," Smith added.
The operating result of Air France-KLM amounted to 400 million euros in the second quarter of 2019, a rise of 54 million euros compared to the same period in 2018. In the first half of 2019 the operating result was 97 million euros, a decline of 131 euros compared to H1 of 2018.
Total revenues increased by 6.4 percent (4.5 percent at constant currency rates) in the second quarter to 7.050 billion euros. In the first half of 2019 revenues were 13.036 billion euros, a rise of 4.9 percent and 3.3 percent at constant currency rates compared to H1 of 2018.
