Air France-KLM二季度净利大降但经营利润好于预期，并下调全年运力增速

Heatwaves pushing European holidaymakers north, says Air France-KLM
Heatwaves are pushing travellers to shun summer holidays in southern European countries in favour of more northerly destinations, the head of Air France-KLM has said.
Chief executive Ben Smith said customers’ shift away from areas hit by sustained high temperatures was the “biggest change” the airline group has seen in recent weeks, as it reported a 70 per cent drop in second-quarter profits because of higher fuel prices.
“What we’re seeing is more Europeans who are avoiding . . . certain parts of France, Spain, all these places that are boiling hot or have fires,” he told the FT.
While many US visitors were sticking to their existing plans, the “biggest change in patterns” was Europeans heading “to the northern part of Europe this summer”, he added.
Wildfires have ravaged parts of France and Spain over the past week as the continent struggled with another heatwave, causing some holiday destinations to be evacuated.
Like its rivals, Air France-KLM has been hit by rising jet fuel prices stemming from the Iran conflict. The Franco-Dutch carrier on Thursday posted a €190mn net profit in the three months to the end of June, a drop of 70 per cent from a year earlier. Sales rose nearly 10 per cent to €9.3bn.
The price of jet fuel doubled immediately after the conflict began in February though it has started to drop. Air France-KLM expects its full-year fuel cost to be $8.9bn, about $2bn higher than a year ago. But this is lower than the $9.3bn it forecast at the end of March.
The group trimmed its projections for capacity for the year, saying long-haul capacity would grow up to 3 per cent, rather than up to 4 per cent, while short- and medium-haul would fall 1 per cent. Transavia, its budget carrier, would see growth of 8 per cent, down from up to 10 per cent.
“We haven’t cut any routes, we haven’t pulled any aeroplanes,” Smith said, adding that instead the carrier had put more aircraft into maintenance over the summer months or delayed launching new destinations.
Middle Eastern routes were among those affected, including services to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, which the company recently restarted. It will maintain flights from Paris at three times a week rather than increasing frequency.
“We’ve got some destinations, leisure destinations in south-east Asia that we were looking to do, so not just Bangkok, but also Phuket [in Thailand] and Manila [in the Philippines],” Smith said.
Air France-KLM late on Wednesday said it had lodged a binding bid for up to 49.9 per cent of state-owned Portuguese carrier TAP, the final stage in a contest with Germany’s Lufthansa for an airline that would give it an Iberian base for routes to Brazil and other South American countries. Analysts estimate TAP as a whole to be worth at least €1.5bn. Lufthansa late on Wednesday said it had also submitted a bid.
Smith declined to comment on the price offered by Air France-KLM, but said the company had long experience of dealing with state shareholders and had preserved KLM’s Dutch identity and headquarters.
“We serve four cities [in Brazil], they serve 11 cities . . . and it’s a lot of big cities where there won’t be overlap,” Smith said.