Dutch airline, KLM, says its revenues increased by 1.7 per cent, rising to over €11bn in 2019.
The airline said it was a new record, adding that the KLM Group also broke the second record in its centenary year, carrying more than 44 million passengers, with KLM welcoming 35 million and Transavia nine million.
KLM said its operating income amounted to €853m, with a margin of 7.7 per cent.
According to the airline, owing to higher fuel costs and a challenging cargo market, the result was lower than what was achieved in 2018.
“Thanks to our good operating results, we were able to invest more than €1.3b in customers, staff, fleet, digitisation, lounges and other facilities in 2019, as was the case in 2018,” the airline said in a statement.
“We also further reduced our net debt and strengthened our equity capital position. Customer satisfaction was high once more, with an average Net Promoter Score of 41 for the year. We are proud of and deeply grateful for the loyalty of our customers.”
The airline said the results reflected its investment in innovation and sustainability, as well as the hard work of all KLM staff.
The airline, however, stated that there was uncertainty about growth outlook at Schiphol, declining results compared to 2018 and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, confirming how sensitive the industry was to geopolitical and other factors beyond its control.
KLM said it would continue to focus on costs, agility in making changes and the improvement of margins so that it could pursue its ambitious investment programme for the benefit of its customers and the future of the company.
