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Airline downsizes

jc/dm afp/dpa/apApril 15, 2009

Europe's largest air carrier is planning to continue job cuts begun in the 2008-9 business year. It says it can reduce staff without forced redundancies, but that will depend on the economy.

https://p.dw.com/p/HXcl
A man stands at an Air France boarding desk
Amidst declining demand, jobs are being cutImage: AP

Air France-KLM made the news public in Paris on Wednesday, April 15.

"We should reduce our staff by 2500 to 3000 in the next two financial years," an airline spokeswoman told AFP news agency.

The airline shed around a thousand jobs in the business year 2008-2009 by not filling vacant positions and by terminating temporary contracts. Air France-KLM hopes that further cuts can be made by the same means.

The entire Air France-KLM group employs some 104,000 people, but what once was Europe's most profitable airline is having to cope with drops in revenue.

The carrier lost 505 million euros ($665 million) in the final quarter of 2008 and expects operative losses for the entire preceding business year to run at 200 million euros.

In March, passenger numbers dropped by 9-10 percent compared with the previous year.

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