Air France to increase flights to Asian destinations
Business Times (Malaysia); Apr 15, 2002
BY THE END OF THE THIRD QUARTER, TRAFFIC HAD DROPPED 6.5 PER CENT WHILE
AIR France has joined the list of airlines increasing flights to major Asian destinations as demand improves amid economic recovery.
The additional flights also confirm its recovery after September 11 and its optimism in Asia's long-term potential.
The company will increase frequencies, among others to Manila, Shanghai and Tokyo.
This follows the move by regional carriers including Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Japan Airlines that have added new routes and reintroduced services that were cut in the wake of September 11.
Malaysia, for example, said it will restore flights to major international destinations and upgrade services at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to compete with Singapore's Changi Airport.
According to Air France, January and February revenue yield showed a faster-than-expected recovery of traffic since the terrorist attacks on September 11 last year.
"Under these circumstances, Air France is now targeting an operating profit for fiscal 2001-2002."
"In addition, it should be noted that the company expects to receive a total 60 to 80 million euros (1 euro = RM3.38) in compensation for operating losses and extra costs incurred by additional security measures following the September 11 events," the company said.
According to Marc Benedetti, executive vice-president and managing director of Air France Asia Pacific, the company's third quarter operations were disrupted by the September 11 attacks but financially it remained healthy.
"We were affected... but we were not doing so bad because we have got a well balanced network," he said. load factor fell 5 points to 70.6 per cent. Turnover fell 7.8 per cent to 2.91 billion euros.
Operating expenditure, however, fell 5.8 per cent via cost-cutting measures while net-debt-to-equity ratio remained at 0.79, which is comparable with that of March 2001.
"Air France's main objective is to return to the performance of year 2000 and 2001," Benedetti said, explaining that profits had increased by about 46 per cent and turnover stood at 9.48 billion euros in 2001. Air France serves 340 destinations in 41 countries.
From now on, two daily flights will be available out of Tokyo to Paris while another two frequencies will be added to the current three Shanghai- Paris route.
Apart from capitalising on its Sky Team alliance, Air France hopes to continue its commitment in enhancing services to its customers so it can grab a larger portion of the market.
"We want to focus on customer loyalty with partner airlines," he said.
Between April 2001 and February 2002, Air France worldwide traffic increased by 2.2 per cent while its load factor increased to 82 per cent.
For the Asia Pacific market, traffic increased by 6.9 per cent and load factor increased to 87.5 per cent.
"For Air France, Asia remains a major market with great potential," Benedetti said.
The company will also add another direct flight to Manila owing to the tremendous success of the three weekly direct flights launched last year.
"We are intrinsically French, but sensitive to the needs of travellers from Asia," Benedetti added.
Separately, Benedetti said, there are no plans to provide direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris, as the traffic between the two countries is not big enough to begin operations.
"Furthermore, we have good connections between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and we think we are offering good service via Singapore," he said, explaining that many passengers prefer to drop by Singapore before embarking for Paris.Debra Moreira