Air France-KLM Dec traffic up 3.1 pct; load factor 78.6 pct – UPDATE

PARIS (Thomson Financial) – Air France-KLM reported a 3.1 pct year-on-year rise in passenger traffic for December, following a slowdown at Air France at the end of the month because of strike action at Paris Orly airport.The airline said its load factor was down 0.8 percentage points at 78.6 pct thanks to a 4.1 pct capacity increase.The carrier said it recorded a further rise in unit revenue excluding currency impact.Overall, Air France-KLM carried 5.8 mln passengers, up 0.5 pct on the year-earlier period.The group’s Americas network saw a 4.7 pct traffic increase, while capacity grew 6.4 pct, leading to a 1.4 point slip in load factor to 83.1 pct.On its Asia network, traffic grew 4.9 pct while capacity was up 5.6 pct and load factor slipped 0.6 points to 82.1 pct.The Africa and Middle East network saw a 2.6 pct increase in traffic while capacity was up 5.7 pct, causing load factor to decline 2.4 points to 79.1 pct.Air France-KLM’s Caribbean and Indian Ocean network’s traffic was up 1.5 pct, capacity was stable and load factor rose 1.3 points to 83.6 pct.The airline’s European network saw traffic edge 0.2 pct lower while capacity was up by 0.7 pct, leading to a 0.6 point decline in load factor to 65.8 pct.Cargo activity saw a 2.9 pct traffic increase, driven by the Americas and Africa and Middle East networks, the airline said, adding that capacity was up 3.7 pct, while load factor declined 0.5 pct to 70.2 pct.helen.beresford@thomson.comhem/salCOPYRIGHTCopyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.