Troubled Air France is considering plans to reduce its freighter capacity on routes to Paris and Amsterdam by 2015, a move that would leave two cargo airlines operating out of Paris and eight flying from Amsterdam, according to Shipping Gazette.
Options to cut the fleet further out of Amsterdam include cooperation with a third-party or retiring the planes, according to a company statement.
The action follows a 5.1 per cent decline in second quarter cargo revenues of EUR669 million (US$898.36 million) compared to the same period a year earlier, reported American Shipper.
"Faced with the slower-than-expected recovery of cargo demand, we will further decrease our full-freighter exposure but will remain a key player in the cargo business," said Air France-KLM chairman Alexandre de Juniac.
The carrier reduced freighter capacity 8.6 per cent in the second quarter, with total cargo capacity falling by two per cent.
In the first half of the year, total cargo capacity fell by 1.5 per cent, while cargo traffic was flat. Cargo revenues of EUR1.34 billion were down 4.3 per cent, compared to the same period in 2013.