AIR FRANCE KLM (AFKL) is poised to increase its capacity to Asia-Pacific in the next five years, as it anticipates the addition of one to two destinations annually to its coverage.
According to senior vice president for Asia-Pacific, Marnix Fruitema, the region recorded a 10 per cent increase in capacity in 2011, similar to the previous year. As the number one player between Asia and Europe with 260 flights a week, AFKL flies to 24 destinations in Asia, eight of which are in China.
Fruitema said: “This year, China remains a market that has delivered numbers and performance above our expectations, thanks to strong partnerships with [SkyTeam] operators in the region such as China Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern and in 2013, Xiamen Airlines.
“This year, KLM has a 15 per cent increase in capacity, while Air France registered about six per cent. After Xiamen this year, our ninth destination will be Wuhan in 2012.”
He added: “We will also increase capacity to Japan. So far, income between April and mid-December surged 15 per cent. The recovery has been amazing. Traffic out of Japan is good, but traffic from Europe lags behind.”
Despite Europe’s slowdown, the company remains confident about traffic from Europe to Asia and has seen the past months a continuous high load factor (90 per cent) to Asia. In 2012, the company is anticipating significant growth in the region given robust economic development.
Of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, Fruitema said: “We believe that this system should apply only to intra-European traffic for the time being. At this stage, I am not sure how this will impact airfares as well as demand. But what worries me is the airport fee and charges in Asia-Pacific. It is a tough issue, as different airports charge different cost.”
