Paris 2024: Games intensify Air France-KLM’s plummeting profits

Air France KLM general director Canadian Benjamin Smith arrives to attend an official state dinner. GETTY IMAGES

The Franco-Dutch airline, Air France-KLM, revealed last Thursday a report showing a significant drop in passenger numbers leading up to the Olympic Games, which has affected its earnings in the first half of 2024.

As a result, the company finds itself at a standstill heading into the second half of the year. The company plans to cut its annual forecasts and intensify its cost-saving efforts.

The issue is that the European firm had already warned at the beginning of July that the Games would reduce its revenue. This may seem contradictory given the expected influx of tourists to the French capital, but it has an explanation. Many tourists would avoid Paris, one of the most visited cities on the planet, during the Olympic competitions.

But the negative impact goes further. The numbers don’t lie: the airline has posted net losses of €400 million in the first six months of 2024. This is in stark contrast to the 260 million euros in profits recorded during the same period exactly a year ago.

According to the statement they released, “just in June, the impact of the loss of ticket sales was estimated at around €40 million.”

Thus, Air France-KLM cited higher fuel and wage costs as hurdles affecting its earnings. It’s worth noting that this occurred even as traffic increased by 4.4% over the year to 25 million passengers.

In response to this situation, the Franco-Dutch offices lowered their forecast for available seat kilometers (ASK) —a key metric in the profitability framework for revenue per flight— to 4% growth, 1% lower than the previous forecast.

Following this string of setbacks for the company, it is also expected to cut advertising budgets and non-essential expenses by 20% to try to tighten their belt for the remaining year, which has been so dire for Air France-KLM.



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