AirFrance-KLM report improved third quarter results

AirFrance-KLM have reported third quarter 2017 operating result of €1,022m, an improvement by €285m compared to last year. The main items contributing are the positive trend in Group’s unit revenues resulting in an increase of €266m, whereas the decrease in fuel price including hedge results contributed €61m. Adjusted for the interest portion of operating leases, the operating margin stood at 15.3% versus 11.9% at in the third quarter of 2016.
The Passenger unit revenue continued to improve in the third quarter, up 3.7% at constant currency. On long haul, there was a strong premium class performance with unit revenues up by 8.3%, while economy class was up by 3.1%. The improvement continued to be driven mainly by the strong recovery in Asia with unit revenue up 8.8%, and Latin America up 12.1%.
Over the period, the Maintenance order book has further increased to a record high of US$10.4bn end September 2017, exceeding the 2017 target. Margins remained at a solid level taking into account OEM supply chain pressure in engine business and change in product and business mix from mature to new contracts