• Passenger: 0.6% rise in traffic and good progress of unit revenues ex-currency
• Cargo: capacity adjustment (-5.2%) limits the decline in load factor (-1.7 point)

In order to facilitate year on year comparison, passenger data has been restated to include the business of Martinair.

Passenger business
In August 2012, traffic rose by 0.6% for capacity up by 0.6%. The load factor therefore remained stable at 85.7% (-0.1 point). The number of passengers amounted to 6.94 million (+1.4%). Unit revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) ex-currency increased relative to August 2011.

• Traffic on the Americas network was stable (-0.0%), with a slight rise in capacity (+0.8%); the load factor declined by 0.7 points to 88.8%.  
• The Asia network recorded a 2.9% rise in traffic for capacity up by 3.5%. The load factor declined by 0.5 points to 88.9%.
• The Africa and Middle East network saw declines in both traffic and capacity of 2.0% and 3.6% respectively.  The load factor of 84.8% represented a rise of 1.4 points.
• On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network traffic declined by 5.1% for capacity down by 5.0%. The load factor remained stable at 84.3%.
• Traffic on the European network rose by 4.2% for capacity up by 3.4% under the effect of the provincial bases. The load factor gained 0.6 points to 78.7%.  

Cargo business
The group has adjusted its full-freighter flight schedule, leading to a 5.2% reduction in capacity. Traffic was down 7.8%, leading to a 1.7 point decline in the load factor to 60.6%. Unit revenue per available ton kilometer (RATK) ex-currency was lower than in August 2011.

Recent developments

• KLM announced the opening of a route to Harare (Zimbabwe) as of 29th October 2012, with three weekly flights operated by Airbus A330. This new route further reinforces the group’s presence in Africa, where three other routes have been opened in 2012: Amsterdam-Luanda (Angola), Paris-Abuja (Nigeria) and Amsterdam-Lusaka (Zambia).
• Aerolineas Argentinas joined the SkyTeam Alliance on 29th August 2012. This first Latin American member of the alliance adds 40 new destinations to the SkyTeam network. Following the entry in 2011 and 2012 of China Eastern, China Airlines, Saudia, Middle-East Airlines and Aerolineas Argentinas, the majority of SkyTeam’s 18 members are now based in high growth markets.