Air France reports an encouraging 8.5% growth in passenger revenues and a strong rise in yields over the first half of its financial year to September, raising expectations of a healthy profits performance when the figures are finally announced. The group has promised a full year profit of around Fr1 billion ($175 million). The upbeat sales growth comes despite a rise of only 1.6% in traffic, which the group blames on initial operating problems following the merger of Air France and its domestic sister company Air France Europe (formerly Air Inter) in April. Capacity has been cut by 14% in the increasingly competitive domestic market as the group attempts to pull it back to profit.
Source: Flight International
