London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Air France-KLM Hit By Massive €7.1bn Losses in 2020 As Groups Call For End Strict COVID-19 Lockdowns

Air France-KLM Hit By Massive €7.1bn Losses in 2020 As Groups Call For End Strict COVID-19 Lockdowns

The news comes as planes remain grounded due to strict national lockdowns in a bid to stop the spread of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, causing passenger numbers to fall sharply by 67 percent. 2020 was also cited as the "worst" year for aviation in history, a top global transport association has said in recent comments.

Air France-KLM nosedived to €7.1bn ($8.5bn) in 2020 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the company revealed in its 2020 yearly report on Thursday.

Last year “tested the Air France-KLM Group with the most severe crisis ever experienced by the air transport industry," chief executive Ben Smith said in a statement.

The news comes after the respective governments of the French-Dutch aviation giant pledged billions in aid to buoy revenues for the troubled travel season put on hold due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Cargo transport and flight schedule changes helped the firm to battle the fall in bookings, the company said.

“Thanks to the French and Dutch state support and this agile way of working, we were able to drastically reduce our costs, protect our cash, and continue the execution of major transformation plans within our airlines,” Mr Smith added.


According to the report, revenues plummeted 60.4 percent, or €9.2bn, including €2.1bn in restructuring and other measures the same year due to the pandemic.

But the carrier added it hoped for an improvement this year “as soon as vaccination is deployed on a large scale and borders once again reopen”.

2020 was also an "incredibly tough" year, company chief executive Pieter Elbers said, citing over 5,000 job cuts last year.

“It was with pain in our hearts that we had to say goodbye to more than 5,000 hard-working and dedicated colleagues in 2020,” he said in a statement.


The statements come after the International Air Transport Association, representing 82 percent of all global traffic, reported in early February that traffic in 2020 sank 65.9 percent compared to the year before and international travellers were slashed 75.6 percent below 2019 levels. According to figures from the organisation, 2021 would improve by 50.4 percent but faced a "severe downside risk" if governments continued to impose severe travel restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×