Articles tagged “klm”

Leisure travel will lead airlines out of the pandemic, and the latest sign of that is the outsize performance of Air France-KLM's low-fare, leisure subsidiary, Transavia. The discount carrier's results bested even the group's cargo revenues, which carried it through the earlier part of the pandemic.

Emirates President Tim Clark is flouting the conventional wisdom to predict business travel will return to its pre-pandemic level by the end of this year, when many of his peers think it will take a couple of years for it to recovery fully? Wishful thinking, or is he on to something?

Global airlines said Monday they don't want to take the responsibility mandating Covid-19 vaccines for travelers. Instead, they're more than happy to stand behind national governments as they make jabs a condition for international arrivals.

It's too early to tell if travelers will flock to the U.S. after the Biden administration eased entry requirements for European visitors to the U.S., Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said. Instead, next summer could be when travel across the Atlantic resurges.

KLM forged ahead with its goal to halve carbon emissions by the end of the decade during the pandemic. It's making big investments in sustainable fuels and new jets with the hope that the European travel recovery is right around the corner.

Suddenly the phrase "continuous pricing" is on the lips of airline executives worldwide. The reason is that price competition will be fierce once international air travel rebounds. The new pricing method promises to help airlines extract the most money possible from passengers based on their willingness to pay.

The pandemic has sped up airline testing of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other technologies to train workforces more cost-effectively. Expect a few travel companies to join KLM in having "extended reality" IT teams by 2025.

KLM has a powerful brand and should be able to withstand this crisis. But it is not a good time for legacy European airlines that usually rely on lucrative corporate travelers.

For the moment, the drop in fuel price is benefiting Air France-KLM, but if the coronavirus outbreak doesn't ease off, this could all change.