The net loss of 320 million euros was worse than the 269-million-euro loss it suffered in the January-March period last year.
The airline group managed to trim costs but said in a statement that “unit cost improvement was more than offset by unit revenue, fuel bill and currency headwinds.”“As anticipated, the first quarter has been challenging for the European airline industry including the Air France-KLM Group, as substantial industry capacity growth in the off-peak business period led to unit revenue pressure,” chief executive Benjamin Smith was quoted as saying in the statement.
The group’s own budget airline, Transavia, expanded capacity by over 11% and filled more seats but with the Easter holiday falling in April this year, unit revenues declined.