The new COVID-19 outbreaks and a new strain of the virus pose a serious threat to Air France, a subsidiary of the Air France KLM Group, which has already been weakened by the downturn in travel demand. It seems that the French air carrier prepares for the worst financial scenario in 2021. The local media reported that Air France goes towards a loss of €2 billion in FY2021.
Air France reportedly has already prepared the budget for the financial year of 2021. According to the French media, the airline is likely to prepare for the worst financial scenario as it expects to face an operating loss of €2 billion in 2021. The expected loss could be equivalent to €5.4 million loss per day on average.
However, if the calculations are confirmed, Air France’s loss in 2021 would be 45% lower than the airline had suffered in 2020. The French airline also reportedly forecasts a 40% decrease in seat capacity in comparison to the pre-COVID-19 crisis levels in 2019.
In the previous financial report of Q3 2020, Air France indicated having suffered more than 1 billion operating loss while its net debt increased by €1.34 billion to €9.31 billion. Meanwhile, in Q2 2020, Air France reported an operating loss of €1.5 billion and almost €800 million operating loss for Q1 2020.