Air France-KLM Unveils March Traffic Slump

Air France-KLM unveiled a 9.4 percent slump in passenger traffic in March and another bleak month for cargo on Tuesday, as the global economic crisis continues to depress business travel and the flow of goods.

Europe's biggest airline also reported a "significant deterioration" in unit revenues as it wrestled to adjust seat capacity to demand, shedding further light on rough conditions which have forced it to ditch profit hopes for the fiscal year.

Air France-KLM said the 9.4 percent drop in March passenger volumes swamped a reduction of almost 3 percent in the seat capacity on offer. That depressed its load factor by 5.5 points to 75.5 percent.

Cargo traffic excluding Martinair, which was consolidated in January, fell 19.2 percent, bringing the load factor down 7.8 points to 61.4 percent. Air France-KLM cargo traffic tends to reflect global trade flows because of its international reach.

Sharpest falls in passenger traffic came on the Asian network, down 10.7 percent.

The airline group said conditions on its European network remained tough.