Air France-KLM February Traffic Down 2.6 Percent

Air France-KLM said on Friday that February traffic fell 2.6 percent year-on-year, dragging load factor down 1.2 points to 74.3 percent, as a worsening environment hit passenger and cargo activities.

February 2009 had 28 days, while there were 29 days in the month last year, Air France-KLM said, adding that it had based its 2.6 percent fall on the months having the same number of days.

The group said the economic slowdown was continuing to impact business travel, but added February was also affected by school breaks, a half-day closure of Paris airports because of bad weather conditions and the general strike in the French Antilles.

European traffic posted the biggest fall, of 9 percent compared with February 2008, while the Africa and Middle East network posted the smallest decline, of 1.7 percent.