Air France-KLM Raises its Full-Year Forecasts

Air France-KLM had recently reported a 6.5 percent increase in passenger traffic, driving a 5.5 percent boost in group sales for the first quarter. Unveiling first-quarter results, the airline said it had also been helped by hedging against higher fuel prices.

For the three months to 30 June, Air France KLM made a net profit of €112 million. Operating profit for 2005-06 should be “significantly" above last year´s, the company said, upgrading its earlier estimate that the full-year earnings would be unchanged.

"Given the robustness of both activity levels and unit revenues, the results for the second quarter should see a marked improvement," Air France KLM said in a statement. Though operating profit increased by 27 percent, no comparative net profit figure is available for the same period last year due to the recent changes in international accounting rules.