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Q3 2025 - AFKLM Results Press Release
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November 6, 2025
FY 2025 outlook reconfirmed
For 2025 the Group expects:
Commenting on the results, Mr. Benjamin Smith, Group CEO , said:
“During the third quarter, Air France–KLM once again demonstrated its resilience in a challenging environment. We maintained solid revenue growth and a stable operating margin, while cash generation remained strong over the first nine months - confirming the benefits of our continued focus on execution. Premium cabins performed exceptionally well across both Air France and KLM, further reinforcing our confidence in our premiumization strategy. Our fleet renewal continued to progress, with one-third of our aircraft now next-generation, quieter, and more fuel-efficient - a key milestone advancing both our sustainability ambitions and our customer experience. This progress is amplified by the rollout of free high-speed Wi-Fi at Air France, a true game changer for our customers. We expect 30% of the Air France fleet to be equipped by the end of 2025. Finally, we continued to broaden our global reach with new routes and strategic partnerships, further strengthening the Group’s network and competitive positioning”.
Q3 Group unit revenue broadly stable at constant currency and limited increase in unit cost
1) at constant fuel, constant currency and excluding ETS
*IFRS Operating free cash flow corrected from the repayment of deferred social charges, pensions contributions and wage taxes granted during the Covid period and payment of lease debt and interests paid and received
Operating result improvement driven by fuel price evolution
In the third quarter of 2025, Air France-KLM welcomed 29.2 million passengers which is 4.7% above last year. As capacity increased by 5.1% and traffic by 4.5%, the load factor decreased slightly from 89.3% to 88.8%.
The Group unit revenue per ASK was down -0.5% year-on-year at constant currency, due to a reduction in Cargo unit revenues (-5.1% at constant currency) and Transavia unit revenues (-2.8%). Passenger network showed a positive unit revenue development of +0.5% driven by premium cabins and long haul.
Passenger yields increased year on year for all long-haul areas while the load factor decreased for all long-haul areas except Caribbean and Indian Ocean (stable).
The operating result rose €23 million year-on-year to €1,203 million, with a stable margin of 13.1%. This operating result improvement was supported by a €107 million decrease in fuel price, partly offset by a 0.5% decline in unit revenues and a limited, as expected, increase of 1.3% in unit costs.
Q3 unit cost was up 1.3% as a consequence of the below elements:
Cash
For the first nine months of the year, the Group reported a positive operating free cash flow of €1,474 million, driven by a strong EBITDA (+€661m year on year) and by a positive working capital movement of €402 million, although impacted by the payment of deferrals inherited from the pandemic which amounted to €369 million. Net capex amounted to €2,567 million. Recurring adjusted operating free cash flow reached €715 million, an increase of €692 million year-on-year which was almost fully driven by the EBITDA improvement.
Net debt increased to €7.8 billion, up €455 million. The increase is mainly explained by the deferrals from the pandemic impacting the positive operating free cash flow of €1.5 billion. The new and modified lease debt amounted to €1.7 billion which was driven by fleet renewal and extension of current leases to cover delivery delays.
The leverage ratio stood at 1.6x, in line with the Group’s ambition of 1.5x to 2.0x.
At the end of September 2025, cash at hand stood at €9.5 billion, above the targeted range of €6–8 billion and slightly higher than at year-end 2024.
During the first nine months of 2025, the following financial transactions took place:
Above transactions enable the Group to simplify its balance sheet and optimize its cost of financing while maintaining financial flexibility. The Group’s strategy is to reduce the stock of subordinated instruments on its balance sheet. On October 15, the Group announced that it has decided to exercise its option to redeem all of the outstanding hybrid convertible bonds from the First Hard Call Date at a price per HC Bond equal to par (€100,000), in total €305 million plus accrued interest of €1,625 (the “Redemption price”) per HC bond, which shall be payable on Monday 24 November 2025. This redemption will be fully done via our own cash.
FY 2025 outlook reconfirmed
The Group expects
Sustainability
Sustainability is a collective responsibility, and Air France- KLM is committed to play its role. The Group supports the adoption of ambitious environmental targets, advocating for an industry- wide transformation that ensures a global level playing field.
Air France-KLM has become the first airline group to cooperate with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in supporting the development of the upcoming EU Flight Emissions Label (FEL) — a key initiative designed to provide passengers with more information on the environmental footprint of their flights.
Endorsed by the European Commission, this cooperation aims to equip consumers with standardized, reliable data on CO₂ emissions and energy efficiency for flights within Europe. The goal is to enable clients to make informed decisions when booking air travel. As part of this partnership, Air France-KLM will actively contribute by testing and providing feedback on EASA’s FEL portal, as well as on the technical and methodological design of the label, drawing on its operational expertise to help shape the future label. The Group’s participation underlines its commitment to working with regulators and industry partners to drive forward collective climate action in aviation.
Fleet Renewal
On August 25, 2025, Air France received its 46th Airbus A220-300 in Paris, delivered from Airbus’ Mirabel site in Canada. This ferry flight marked a first: the aircraft was delivered with a blend containing 50% SAF - an alternative to conventional fossil based aviation fuel - certified directly by Airbus. This milestone reflects the Air France-KLM Group’s commitment to accelerating the decarbonization of air transport.
Fleet renewal is a cornerstone of the Group’s Transition Plan. With fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions reduced by 20% per seat-kilometer compared with previous-generation aircraft, the Airbus A220 embodies this ambition.
In 2025 the Group took delivery of 38 new-generation aircraft across all its airlines. In the third quarter 1 A350, 2 B787-10, 6 A320/321neo family, 3 A220 and 2 E195-E2 were delivered.
These major investments – totaling more than €2 billion per year – are contributing to a fleet that could be composed of up to 80% new-generation aircraft by 2030.
At the end of September 2025, 32% of the Group’s fleet consisted of new-generation aircraft.
Post quarter events
Air France-KLM announced on the 23 of October that it has completed the acquisition of a 2.3% stake in Canadian carrier WestJet. This transaction was initially announced on May 9 , 2025.
Air France-KLM purchased that stake from its joint venture partner Delta Air Lines, which had taken a 15% minority stake in WestJet, as part of a previously announced separate transaction also involving Korean Air’s purchase of a 10% interest. That transaction closed on October 22nd, 2025. Air France-KLM further reinforces its commercial cooperation with the Canadian carrier and strengthens its footprint in the North American market.
WestJet, Canada’s second largest airline and the leading carrier in Western Canada, has been a partner of Air France-KLM since 2009 through codeshare- and loyalty program agreements. The airline ranks as Air France-KLM’s sixth largest partner in terms of enabled revenues. The partnership continues to strengthen as WestJet expands its long-haul network between Canada and Europe, offering more than 100 destinations that complement Air France-KLM’s network of over 300 destinations worldwide.
Business review
Network result
Compared to the third quarter of 2024, total revenues increased by +0.7% to €7,400 million. The operating result reached €889 million, up €8 million year-on-year at constant currency, mainly driven by a fuel price reduction.
The operating margin amounted to 12.0%, a decrease of -0.2 points compared to the third quarter of 2024.
Slight growth in unit revenues despite soft trading environment
During the third quarter of 2025, capacity in Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) was 3.4% higher than last year. Traffic growth (+2.9%) has led to a slightly lower load factor of 88.8%. Yield at constant currency showed an increase of 0.9%, leading to a unit revenue increase of 0.5% year-on-year at constant currency. The yield increase was fully driven by strong performance of premium cabins, La Premiere and business class, and by the premium economy cabin. Yield in the economy class was negative.
During the third quarter we observed the following trends in:
North Atlantic
Unit revenue was broadly stable despite a 4.8% capacity increase. The performance was strong in premium cabins with positive yields while economy cabin yield remained under pressure
Latin America
Unit revenue grew on the back of strong yields (+2.8%), while load factor was stable at 91% and capacity increased by 9.2%. The balance between industry supply and demand remained favorable across the quarter.
Asia & Middle East
Continued strong performance on Japan, Korea & South-East Asia, as well as Middle East where unit revenue was up 6%. Load factor was broadly stable at 90% and capacity showed an increase of almost 2%.
Caribbean & Indian Ocean
Capacity was stable during the quarter enabling Air France and KLM to grow their yields which drove an increase in unit revenue of around 4%. Load factor remained stable at 88%.
Africa
Capacity (+1.5%) and yields (+1.4%) were slightly up year-on-year while load factor slightly decreased (-1.6pt) to 88%, leading to broadly stable unit revenue development.
Short and Medium-haul
Overall, capacity rose 1.5%, with a broadly stable load factor at 86% and with yields remaining flat.
Cargo: Q3 unit revenues under pressure
Despite full freighter capacity negatively impacted by longer-than-expected maintenance, the third quarter capacity in Available Ton Kilometers (ATK) rose 4.0% year-on-year. Traffic decreased slightly (-0.3%), reducing the load factor by 1.9 points to 43.6%.
Together with a 0.8% decrease in yields, unit revenue per ATK decreased by -5.1% at constant currency.
Transavia: Challenging summer season
Transavia’s capacity in Available Seat Kilometers grew 13.8%, while traffic increased by 12.6%, resulting in a decrease in load factor of 0.9 points. Yields went down by 1.8% resulting in a unit revenue reduction of -2.8%.
Transavia Netherlands faced increased competition, partly due to redirected capacity from the Middle East towards other European destinations, putting the unit revenues under pressure. Also, the increase in Schiphol tariffs in combination with the increase of the ticket tax last year is resulting in higher ticket prices and pushing travelers to airports in Germany.
In France, performance was affected by a two days ATC strike early July and by the implementation of the TSBA since 1st of March 2025 which is impacting the unit revenue significantly.
Overall, unit cost increased by 2.0% mainly due to higher operational costs for Transavia France. Transavia Netherlands experienced smooth operations this summer resulting in significantly lower customer compensation than last year, partly compensated by an increase in wet lease activities.
Maintenance business: continuous double digit growth and improved operating margin
The maintenance segment continued its strong growth in Q3 2025 with third-party revenues up 12.9%, driven by a strong recovery in engine activities. Total revenues rose 10.2%. The operating result increased by €28 million and the operating margin improved to 6.3%, up 1.6 points from 2024.
During the quarter, Air France-KLM signed 5 new long-term MRO contracts with external customers. The Group will deliver engines, components and APU services to these operators across the globe, which is reinforcing its long term order book on these activities. The order book amounted to USD 10.4 billion as per the end of September 2025 versus USD 8.7 billion at the end of December 2024.
Air France’s Q3 operating result improved
Air France Group
In the third quarter, the operating result reached €799 million, up €67 million year-on-year. The operating margin improved 0.8 points compared to Q3 last year (which was negatively impacted by the Olympic Games) despite a two days ATC strike early July and the increase of the solidarity tax on tickets (TSBA) effective since March 1st, 2025. This tax increase has a significantly negative impact on the unit revenue.
KLM: Operating margin impacted by yield pressure in economy cabin
KLM Group
Third quarter revenues grew 1.2%, while capacity grew by more than 7%. Both yields and load factor decreased for Passenger network, Cargo and Transavia. Operations were impacted by labor disputes with two ground unions in September. In addition, the increase in landing & takeoff charges and the increase in passenger & security charges, implemented as per April 1 , 2025 have a significant impact on KLM Group’s unit revenue.
KLM as a connecting carrier is impacted by a reduction in low yielding passenger demand. However, premium classes and Premium Economy continue to perform strongly. Premium Economy ASKs increased by 28% and on higher capacity, load factor increased by 1 point and yields at constant currency increased 7%. Cargo unit revenues were negatively impacted by full freighter maintenance, driving negative mix effects.
Flying Blue stable operating result
Flying Blue Miles
In the third quarter Flying Blue Miles generated €221 million in total revenue, including revenues from third-party airline and non-airline partners. The operating margin reached 24.4%.
Revenue continued to grow year-on-year thanks to volumes and despite weaker USD. The cost of redeeming miles increased due to less favorable reward tickets (less seat availability for FB members compared to Q3 2024 where the Olympic Games had a positive effect on Flying Blue).
Nb: Sum of individual airline and Flying Blue results does not add up to AF-KLM total due to intercompany eliminations at Group level.
******
The results presentation is available at www.airfranceklm.com on November 6, 2025 from 8:00 am CET.
A conference call hosted by Mr. Smith (CEO) and Mr. Zaat (CFO) will be held on November 6, 2025, at 09.30 am CET.
To connect to the webcast, please use the link below:
https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/airfranceklm/20251106_1/
Income statement
Note: the sum of “Salaries and related costs” in the business review section is not equal to the above-mentioned figure due to corporate overhead, IT and other businesses not directly related to Network, Maintenance or Transavia
Consolidated balance sheet
Statement of Consolidated Cash Flows from January 1 until September 30, 2025
Recurring adjusted operating free cash flow
Net debt
Return on capital employed (ROCE)
Unit cost: net cost per ASK
Unit cost per ASK excluding fuel and ETS vs Q3 2024: +1.9% and vs 9m 2024: +3.1%
Definition: Unit cost = (total operating expenses - fuel - carbon emission - total other revenues) / Group Capacity in ASK
Group fleet at 30 September 2025
2025 TRAFFIC
Passenger network activity
Transavia activity
Total Group passenger activity
Cargo activity
Air France activity
KLM activity
1 At constant fuel, constant currency and excluding ETS
2 Check for the definition, the recurrent adjusted free cash flow table in the appendix of this press release
3 Against a constant fuel price, constant currency and excluding Emission Trading Scheme cost (ETS)
4 New generation fleet / Fleet in operation
5 Against a constant fuel price, constant currency and excluding Emission Trading Scheme cost (ETS)
1 Excluding Transavia
Attachment
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