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Air France-KLM reports “progressive recovery” in unit revenues, Norwegian yields fall

Analysis

Air France-KLM's shares eased 1.1% (as the broader CAC 40 index dropped 1.4%) yesterday, as it revealed a 0.2 ppt decrease in Nov-2009 load factor. Air France-KLM reported unit revenues last month - as in October - are "progressively recovering", "relative to previous months", both in premium and economy class.

November saw a 3.2% decline in traffic, in line with the reduction in capacity of 2.9% - a slight improvement on recent months.

Air France-KLM group RPK growth and Ask growth: Nov-08 to Nov-09

Air France-KLM reported the following traffic highlights by region:

  • European network traffic fell 3.5% with capacity down by 3.1%. The load factor was almost stable at 65.4% (-0.3 points).
  • Americas network, the decline in traffic (-3.3%) was well below the reduction in capacity (-5.2%) leading to a 1.7 point increase in load factor to 82.8%.
  • The Asia network recorded a drop in traffic of 3.1% with capacity down 2.0%. The load factor declined by 0.9 points to 82.8%.
  • Africa and Middle East network traffic fell 3.0% with capacity down by 1.1%. The load factor gave up 1.5 points to 75.3%.
  • The Caribbean and Indian Ocean network recorded a 2.8% drop in traffic with stable capacity (+0.1%). As a result the load factor declined 2.5 points to 84.2%.

The group carried 5.4 million passengers, down 3.0% year-on-year, with the total affected by a pilot strike at Air France which led to declines in traffic and capacity of 0.8% and 0.7% respectively.

The carrier reported a 3.7 ppt improvement in cargo load factor to (72.4%) with a "strong improvement in unit revenue", reflecting "more dynamic activity" last month.

Elsewhere, Norwegian Air Shuttle reported a big decline in yields (-20%) last month, sending its shares slumping 6%, while British Airways' stock retreated 3.5% and easyJet fell 3.4%.

Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 08-Dec-09

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