Air France posted the following performance during May:
Passenger operations
* Capacity up 11.7% in ASK (available seat-km)
* Traffic up 9.6% in RPK (revenue passenger-km)
* Load factor of 76.1% (down 1.4 points)

Although load factors remain high, results for Atlantic routes show signs of the economic slowdown in the USA. On the other hand traffic remains strong on the African and Caribbean/Indian Ocean networks as well as on French domestic routes.
Overall, advance bookings look satisfactory for the months ahead.

** Long-haul flights
Traffic on long-haul flights grew by 11.5% against a 13.8% increase in capacity. The load factor reached 78.4% (down 1.6 points).

* Capacity on North American routes increased by 17.2% primarily due to the launch of a daily service to Dallas. Traffic grew 7.8% and the load factor stood at 78.2% (down 6.8 points). The difficulties experienced by the regional carrier Comair# have significantly affected operations to Cincinnati, as they disrupt connections to other US cities from this hub.
* In the Latin American sector, capacity substantially increased (up 25.5%) with the implementation of two additional weekly flights to Rio de Janeiro and 3 non-stop weekly flights to Santiago in Chile, which were served via Buenos Aires until now. Traffic rose 17% and the load factor dropped 5.2 points to 71.9%.
* On Asian routes, capacity grew by 7.6% and traffic by 2.1%. The load factor dropped 4 points to 75.8% mainly due to the overcapacity situation on Indian routes.
* On the African/Middle East network, capacity increased by 13.1% and traffic by 12.2%. The load factor stabilized at 74.4% (down 0.6 points). Although African routes enjoyed excellent traffic with 3.3-point rise in the load factor (77.4%), results for the Middle Eastern network reflected the deterioration of the political situation in the area.
* Traffic on Caribbean/Indian Ocean routes grew 25.9% for an 11% increase in capacity. The load factor gained 10.2 points, reaching 86.1%.

# Subsidiary of Delta Air Lines

** International medium-haul services
The European network was particularly affected by the long weekends in France during May. Traffic grew 3.7% for a 9.1% increase in capacity. Load factor reached 68.0% (down 3.5 points).

** Domestic medium-haul services

Traffic on domestic routes grew by 3.8% for a 2.1% increase in capacity. Load factor gained 1.2 points, reaching 71.8%

** Cargo operations
Cargo operations suffered from the economic slowdown in Asia. With a 0.7% reduction in capacity, traffic dropped 2.7% and load factor slipped by 1.3 points. Cargo operations were also impacted by public holidays both in Europe and Asia. (Golden Week in Japan
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