• Air France is expected to operate at less than 35 percent of its year-earlier capacity in the fourth quarter

Arab News

LONDON: Air France KLM Group has opened its new regional headquarters in Dubai Airport Freezone as the carrier comes under renewed pressure from a resurgent coronavirus pandemic.

The Air France KLM team relocated to the new offices in Dubai Airport Freezone which has been designed to support the group’s sustainability goals.

“This announcement comes as part of the efforts and incentive packages provided by the emirate to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic through a highly flexible approach,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Airport Freezone Authority. “This strategy has helped ensure business continuity and growth and accelerate recovery to the next stage, especially within the aviation sector, which has been affected by the global restrictions and measures that were applied at the beginning of the pandemic.”

Dubai’s huge aviation economy has been devastated by the collapse of international air travel as carriers including Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad have been forced to cut costs, axe jobs and ask some employees to take unpaid leave.

Air France-KLM last week reported a €1.05 billion ($1.24 billion) quarterly operating loss and warned that business conditions could deteriorate further amid new lockdowns across.

The carrier recently resumed services to the emirate with six weekly Air France and daily KLM flights to Dubai.