Air France-KLM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Public (Euronext: AF, AFA, Pink Sheets: AFLYY (ADR)) |
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| Founded | 2004 (by merger of Air France, founded in 1933 and KLM, founded in 1919) |
| Headquarters | Charles de Gaulle Airport, Roissy, France |
| Key people | Jean-Cyril Spinetta (Chairman of the board), Pierre-Henri Gourgeon (CEO), Peter Hartman (Vice-Chairman) |
| Industry | Airline industry |
| Products | Passenger flights (Air France, KLM, Brit Air, KLM cityhopper, etc.) Cargo activity (European Cargo House) Aircraft maintenance Catering (Servair, etc.) |
| Revenue | €23.97 billion (year to Mar 2009)[1] |
| Operating income | ▼ (€193 million) (yr - Mar 09)[1] |
| Profit | ▼ (€814 million) (yr - Mar 09)[1] |
| Employees | 106,930 (2009)[1] |
| Website | airfranceklm-finance.com |
Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF, AFA, Pink Sheets: AFLYY) is a European airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, France.
It is the largest airline company in the world in terms of total operating revenues, and also the largest in the world in terms of passenger-kilometres. The company's CEO is since 1 January 2009 Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, following Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
Both Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam airline alliance. They offer a frequent flyer program called Flying Blue. The company's namesake airlines rely on two major hubs: Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, near Paris, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, near Amsterdam.
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[edit] Financial details
In the fiscal year ending 31 March 2008, the total operating revenues of Air France-KLM amounted to €24.114 billion with a net profit of €748 million (US$1.18 billion), a net profit decrease of 16% compared to the previous year.
Air France-KLM is one of the most profitable airline companies in Europe, transporting 74.8 million passengers in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2008.
Private shareholders own 81.4% of the company with 37% held by former Air France shareholders and 21% held by former KLM shareholders. The French government owns the remaining 18.6%.
In June 2008, Air France-KLM agreed to pay $350 million to settle charges of cargo price fixing in an investigation conducted by the U.S. Justice Department. Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair Holland, and SAS Cargo Group also agreed to fines bringing the total to $504 million[2].
[edit] Subsidiaries and minor interests
Wholly-owned subsidiaries of Air France-KLM include:
Air France Cargo is part of Air France. Régional and Brit Air are regional airlines of Air France. Together with CityJet and VLM Airlines they are subsidiaries of Air France within Air France-KLM.
KLM Cargo is part of KLM. KLM cityhopper is the regional airline of KLM. Together with Martinair and Transavia Airlines they are subsidiaries of KLM within Air France-KLM.
Airlines in which Air France-KLM owns a minority interest:
Air Calédonie 2%
Air Mauritius 5%
Air Tahiti 7%- Airlinair 19.5%
Alitalia 25%
- CCM Airlines 12%
Kenya Airways 26%
Royal Air Maroc 3%
1 In partnership with Transavia Airlines, Air France has launched a new charter low-cost subsidiary based at Paris-Orly Airport near Paris named Transavia.com France,[3] which has begun operations in spring 2007 with leisure route services in the Mediterranean and North Africa. Transavia Airlines has a forty percent stake and Air France has a sixty percent stake. It operates seven Boeing 737-800s.
[edit] Potential negotiations with Japan Airlines
Air France-KLM, along with its partner Delta Air Lines, are in talks about investing with Japan Airlines, which is currently part of the Oneworld alliance (rival to SkyTeam) but is in financial problems. Air France-KLM, along with Delta and Delta's rival American Airlines (AMR Corporation; part of Oneworld) are discussing investments for some $200–300 million to help the financially-struggling carrier, which is Asia's largest airline by revenue. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan has recommended Air France-KLM and/or Delta for being partners because of its "healthy" financial status compared to AMR Corporation[4][5] (Delta was also recommended because of its extensive Asian network acquired by the Northwest Airlines merger); Korean Air, also a SkyTeam member, is also in talks with JAL on the negotiations. It is unclear whether JAL will stay in Oneworld or move into SkyTeam; a JAL official said that their membership with Oneworld "has not brought as many benefits as JAL had expected".[6] Air France, Alitalia, Korean Air and China Southern Airlines (as well as to-be-SkyTeam member Vietnam Airlines in 2010) are SkyTeam members that currently have codesharing with JAL.
[edit] Fleet
The fleet of Air France-KLM includes the fleets of its subsidiaries, the fleet of Air France (263), and the fleet of KLM (111). Furthermore the fleets of Régional (57), Brit Air (42), KLM cityhopper (46), CityJet (29), VLM Airlines (17), Transavia.com (29) and Martinair (13) are fully part of the company. The total number of planes in the fleet is 607 as of June 2009.
[edit] History
Air France-KLM was created by the mutually-agreed merger between Air France and Netherlands-based KLM on 5 May 2004.
As a result of the deal, the French government's share of Air France was reduced from 54.4% (of the former Air France) to 44% (of the combined airline). Its share was subsequently reduced to 25%, and later to 18.6%.
At the time of the merger in May 2004, Air France and KLM combined offered flights to 225 destinations in the world. In the year ending 21 March 2003, the two companies combined transported 66.3 million passengers.
In October 2005, Air France Cargo and KLM Cargo, the two freight subsidiaries of the group, announced a merge of their commercial activities. The Joint Cargo Management Team now operates the organisation worldwide from the Netherlands.
In a recent opening for a majority takeover of the loss-generating Alitalia, Air France-KLM was one of three bidders, and was favoured by the board of Alitalia.[7]. However, on 2 April 2008, it was reported that negotiations have been abandoned[8]. After the acquisition of Alitalia and Air One by Compagnia Aerea Italiana on 12 December 2008, Air France-KLM has announced it is interested once again in purchasing a participation in the new merged company. On 12 January 2009, Air France-KLM announced that it will buy a 25% share in this company for €323 million[9].
[edit] References
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Wikinews has related news: Air France-KLM interested in acquiring Czech Airlines |
- ^ a b c d "Consolidated financial statements 2008-09". Air France-KLM. http://www.airfranceklm-finance.com/sysmodules/RBS_fichier/admin/forcedownload.php?id=1107. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
- ^ NPR: NPR News In Brief
- ^ "Air France KLM close to launching new leisure carrier." Buyck, C. Air Transport World. 20 November 2006
- ^ Air France-KLM in talks to invest in JAL-source
- ^ JAL alliance talks heat up with Air France-KLM entry
- ^ Why are AA and DL courting JAL? - seattlepi.com
- ^ CNN coverage AlItalia takeover
- ^ [1] BBC news report
- ^ Air France seen beating tough odds for Alitalia, Reuters, 2 January 2009
[edit] External links
- Air France-KLM Financial page
- Air France-KLM Corporate Authentication & Authorization Services
- Air France-KLM Cargo
- Bluenity
- Air France-KLM Group Company profile from Yahoo!
