Air France Placed To Europe's Number One Long Haul Carrier

The Air France Chief Executive Officer Jean Cyril Spinetta has something that his larger rivals do not have at the moment - profits.

The carrier today will report that it managed to make fiscal full-year earnings of 102 million euros ($94 million). British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa, the biggest and second biggest long haul carriers in Europe, have reported record losses after the September 11th attacks curbed trans Atlantic traffic by as much as a third.

With a hub at Roissy, Charles de Gaulle Airport and the growing SkyTeam alliance with Delta Air Lines, Spinetta, who is 58, has positioned Europe's third airline to overtake the competition to become the region's largest, analysts have said.

?Spinetta has done a great job,? said Xavier Debeugny at Oddo in Paris, who helps to manage half a billion euros ($460 million). ?He made smart moves after September 11th, but Air France is also benefiting now from the decisions made before that.?

Author: Neftegaz.ru