Air France and KLM to increase summer capacity

The summer schedule of Air France and KLM posts a 4.6% increase in capacity for summer 2008 in terms of available seat-km compared with summer 2007. This breaks down into 5.1% for the long-haul network and 3.2% for short and medium-haul routes.

On long-haul routes, KLM will be offering a new destination in Latin America, Panama, and, in cooperation with Northwest Airlines, expands its network of transatlantic routes. As of summer 2008, Air France will be implementing its Joint Venture agreement with its U.S. partner Delta, including a strengthened position of the partnership in London, Europe’s biggest market for traffic across the North Atlantic

In the medium-haul sector, Air France is offering 3 new destinations out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle and boosting capacity out of its Lyon hub, while KLM adds one new route, Amsterdam-Linköping (Sweden), and expands capacity on various other medium haul routes.

In response to the uncertainties in the global economic situation, and in a context of tougher competition, Air France is focusing more on the quality of its capacity increase than the quantity.