BA, KLM passengers return

March 5, 2002 Posted: 1604 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Two of Europe's biggest carriers, British Airways and KLM, on Tuesday said passengers were continuing to return after the September 11 attacks.

Both airlines reported a decline in traffic in February from the same time a year earlier -- but the rate of decline has slowed and the current trend for  passenger numbers is rising.

BA, Europe's biggest airline, said passenger traffic fell 2.5 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 6.9 percent year-on-year decline in January.

It said passenger traffic on its transatlantic routes -- which account for a major portion of the airline's profits -- declined 3.5 percent in February from the same month in 2001. In January, transatlantic volume fell 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

"The seat factor (which measures how successfully an airline fills its seats) of 71.6 percent is the highest in 10 years for the month of February," BA said in a statement.

BA (BAY) shares were up 1.7 percent to 234 pence in afternoon trading on Tuesday in London.

Meanwhile Dutch national carrier KLM, Europe's fourth largest carrier, said its passenger load factor, or the number of seats filled, rose 3.7 percentage points to 79.4 percent in February from the same month a year earlier.

KLM said the February passenger number was based on 9 percent lower capacity than the same time in 2001, due to reduced services following September 11. As a result, the February number was the highest for the past 12 months.

KLM shares rose 3.5 percent to 17.08 in afternoon trading in Amsterdam.

Major airlines have struggled with falling revenues in the past year due to the global economic slump, drastically reduced travel – especially transatlantic flights -- following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and competition from discount carriers.

Last week, Lufthansa, Europe's second biggest airlines, said that it would increase flights to the U.S. by 40 percent from the end of March.

Lufthansa has been steadily adding capacity following the attacks, restarting flights this month from Munich to New York and introducing new flights from Munich to Shanghai.

Chief Executive Juergen Weber said passenger levels on Lufthansa's reduced fleet were nearly pre-September 11. However, the carrier still has 43 aircraft grounded.

Lufthansa (FLHA) shares were up 1.4 percent to 19.17 in Frankfurt.