International News

PARIS, (APP/AFP) – Air France-KLM said
Wednesday it managed to cut its net loss significantly in the first half of this year but warned attacks had reduced the attractiveness of France as a travel destination.
“The global context in 2016 remains highly uncertain regarding the
geopolitical and economic environment in which we operate,” the French-Dutch
airline group said in a statement, citing “a special concern about France as a destination”.
The group cut its net loss to 114 million euros in the first half of
the year compared to 638 million in the same period in 2015.
On an operating basis, it made a profit of 218 million compared to a
loss of 238 million.
While the airline group even managed a net profit of 41 million euros
in the second quarter, it noted a “clear deterioration during the quarter” in revenues, which dropped by 5.2 percent.
The company’s shares soared nearly five percent in early Paris
trading. They later showed a gain of 3.4 percent while the main CAC 40 index was up 1.5 percent.
The results were announced as Air France faced another strike by
employees, which forced it to cancel 13 percent of flights on Wednesday during the peak summer travel season.
Chief financial officer Pierre-Francois Riolacci said unit revenue
fell by 5.6 percent in the second quarter, which he put down to the sluggish global economic recovery and “most of all the effect of the terror attacks that have struck Europe in recent quarters and which resumed with the Brussels attacks at the end of March.”