Pieter Elbers is optimistic about KLM’s recovery. He thinks the Dutch airline will soon be able to continue without government support.
KLM had a very hard time during the corona crisis. For example, the company received NOW support. It will disappear in October, says Elbers. “We are able to absorb that. If the current trend continues, the world will look a lot brighter by the end of the year. We know the recovery is coming back.” he indicates to the Password.
KLM really needed that support. “We are happy with all this wage support. This allows us to employ staff and keep them at work. If we’ve learned anything it’s that we have to be agile”, Elbers continues, who does not assume that this NOW support should be extended.
KLM is heading in the right direction
Despite the figures of the second quarter were not yet something to write home about, the CEO of the Dutch airline does see progress. The loss of 10 million euros per day, the highest last year, has now fallen to 2 million euros. In fact, since June, the company has made neither a profit nor a loss.
“That confirms that our strategy is working. We had to rebuild that (six to seven thousand passengers a day instead of 100,000 a day, ed.) in the second quarter. That has worked well. In July, Schiphol was the busiest airport in Europe. That is mainly because of us.”
Holiday flights help
Elbers notes that many people feel the need to go on holiday. “We see that upward trend. That is why I am also pleased with the step taken by the Dutch government not to simply put more countries and areas on orange or red. Now the rest of Europe. There must be further harmonization about all corona requirements that countries now set.”
The CEO says that KLM’s recovery also depends on the United States. “How we recover after the summer depends on when the US allows travel from Europe again. I had hoped they would do that this month. We are now counting on September.” says Elbers.
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