Air France KLM

Passengers have flown from Leeds Bradford Airport for the first time in months after being halted in March as coronavirus lockdown restrictions stopped people travelling.

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As part of the West Yorkshire airport's plans to start moving people again, a Ryanair flight took off yesterday.

More airlines are to join Ryanair in restarting flights from Leeds Bradford Airport, with Eastern Airways resuming next Monday, KLM on 4 July, Jet2 on 15 July and Aer Lingus in August.

Passengers will have to wear face coverings in the terminal at Yeadon, with social distancing guidelines being enforced, the airport said.

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Air France is buying 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with an additional 30 purchase options and 30 acquisition rights.

The first aircraft should be delivered in September 2021.

"These decisions support the Air France-KLM Group's fleet competitiveness strategy," said Benjamin Smith, chief executive, of Air France KLM.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Air France KLM has reported a rise in its March passenger numbers compared with the previous year.

The airline said it carried 8.3 million passengers in March, up 3.4% from a year earlier.

However, Air France KLM's March passenger load factor dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 87.6%.

AFPCopyright: AFP

France is still upset with the Dutch government, which decided to suddenly buy a 14% stake in AirFrance-KLM on Tuesday.

The Netherlands government said it chose to buy the stake in order to "protect Dutch interests".

The Dutch now own a 14% stake in AirFrance-KLM, while France owns a 14.3% stake, which makes them almost equal.

"Between two states, which are friendly and close founding members of the European Union, such behaviour is unacceptable," French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told Public Senat television. "It's not reasonable to remain in this situation, which benefits nobody."

There had been concerns in early February that KLM boss Pieter Elbers would not be reappointed as chief executive of the Franco-Dutch airline holding company's division in the Netherlands.

In response, the Dutch government gave him its official backing, and KLM staff threatened to go on strike.

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The Dutch government has acquired a stake a 12.7% stake in the Air France-KLM holding group and aims to raise that to equal France's 14.3%, according to media reports.

The Netherland's move is aimed at increasing its influence in the carrier and protecting the country's economic interests, reports said.

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Dutch airline managers have warned that there will be strikes if KLM boss Pieter Elbers is not reappointed chief executive of the airline.

KLM's owner Air-France KLM is currently headed by Canadian chief executive Ben Smith, who was appointed only in September.

Mr Elbers heads the Franco-Dutch airline holding company's division in the Netherlands, and he has been given official backing from the Dutch government, AFP reports.

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Air France-KLM has posted a better than expected performance for the three months to September, with a 22% rise in quarterly net profit to €786m and a 4% jump in revenue to €7.5bn.

New chief executive Ben Smith called the results a "solid performance" and pledged to "build an ambitious and innovative strategy" for the group in coming months.

The former Air Canada executive started last month and has already struck a pay deal with unions to end industrial action that grounded hundreds of flights earlier this year.

However, he is yet to secure a separate agreement with pilots and is due to start negotiations next week.

Traffic was up 2.3% to 28.5 million passengers and load factors are expected to keep rising until February, helping offset a fuel bill that rose by a fifth to €1.38bn for the quarter.

Shares are 4.4% higher in Paris this morning at just under €9 - down from about €14 at the start of the year.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Investors across the aviation sector have been spooked by Ryanair's profit warning.

Easyjet is down 5.7%, while British Airways-owner IAG is down more than 3%. Wizzair fell 4.8%, Air France 3.5% and Lufthansa 2.2%.

Ryanair has blamed strikes for lowering its profit guidance and outlook for future trading.

But it seems investors fear there could be more than industrial action behind Ryanair's weaker forecasts, possibly indicating a drop in business across the sector.