Air France-KLM reports euro809 million loss for 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net - Air France-KLM on Thursday, March 8, reported a euro809 million ($1 billion) loss for 2011, which the struggling carrier called a "tough year" beset by volatile fuel prices, political upheaval and a lackluster global economy.

According to The Associated Press, the Franco-Dutch airline said that a 4.5 percent increase in revenue to euro24.7 billion ($32.4 billion) wasn't enough to offset the high cost of jet fuel.

A string of uprisings in the Middle East over the past year has pushed oil prices higher. In just the last quarter of the year, the company said its fuel bill jumped 20 percent to euro1.6 billion.

The company said the Arab Spring also wreaked havoc on its business, while a tsunami in Japan decimated travel in its most important Asian market. Meanwhile, Europe's debt crisis pummeled the real economy in the airline's core market.

The company said its expansion in Latin America helped absorb some losses elsewhere, but not all.

As a result, the company posted a net loss of euro809 million for last year. In 2010, its net income was euro289 million.