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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 6-K

Report of Foreign Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

of March 4, 2004

 

KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES
(translation of Registrant’s trade name into English)

Amsterdamseweg 55, 1182 GP Amstelveen, The Netherlands
(Address of principal executive offices)

 

 

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)

Form 20-F   X    Form 40-F       

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)

Yes         No   X  

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TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS — FEBRUARY 2004
SIGNATURES

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04/013

TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS — FEBRUARY 2004

# Passenger load factor increased by 3.2 percentage points to 80.4 percent
# Intercontinental business class traffic increased 7 percent
# Cargo load factor increased by 2 percentage points to 75.5 percent
# Cargo traffic on Asia/Pacific increased 32 percent on introduction of third B747-400ERF

Please note that capacity and traffic figures are positively influenced by approximately 3.5% in comparison with February 2003, because calendar year 2004 is a leap year.

Passenger Traffic

February passenger traffic increased by 5 percent, whereas capacity was at the same level as last year. As a result, passenger load factor improved by 3.2 percentage points to 80.4 percent. Intercontinental business class traffic increased by 7 percent (on 3 percent higher capacity).

European traffic was 6 percent above last year’s level on 3 percent higher capacity, reflecting the initial results of the successful price actions on this route area. Load factor increased by 1.5 percent to 71.6 percent.

Traffic on the African routes increased by 16 percent year-on-year. As capacity was up 13 percent, load factor improved 2.3 percentage points to 84.0 percent. Especially the deployment of the Boeing 777-200ER on Nairobi (Kenya) and Capetown (South Africa) contributed to this strong performance.

Traffic on the Central and South Atlantic route area increased 7 percent on 1 percent lower capacity. Load factor increased 6.9 percentage points to 87.2 percent. The improved performance on this route area is because of network optimization and an increase in demand.

The strong improvement in load factor on the North Atlantic and the Middle East/South Asia route area in part relates to the lower traffic numbers of last year when tension in the Middle East was increasing.

Cargo Traffic

In February, cargo traffic increased by 11 percent compared to last year on 8 percent higher capacity, helped by the introduction of the third B747-400ER Freighter. Cargo load factor improved by 2.0 percentage points to 75.5 percent.

Performance on the Asia Pacific routes continued to show a significant year-on-year improvement with traffic up 32 percent on 24 percent higher capacity mainly because of the third freighter. Load factor on this route area increased by 4.8 percentage points to 85.3 percent.

On the North Atlantic traffic and capacity decreased by 7 percent. This resulted in a load factor of 74.3 percent, which is virtually at the same level as last year.

Cargo traffic outbound Europe continues to be under pressure.

Amstelveen, March 3, 2004

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		Month of February												Year to date
		2004				2003				change (%)				2003/04				2002/03				change (%)
Revenue passenger km (RPK) (in millions)
Europe			724				687				6	%			9,345				9,391				0	%
North Atlantic			1,009				1,085				(7	)%			12,849				13,881				(7	)%
Central and South Atlantic			701				654				7	%			7,877				7,695				2	%
Asia / Pacific			1,084				1,029				5	%			11,226				12,277				(9	)%
Middle East / South Asia			377				334				13	%			4,363				4,414				(1	)%
Africa			692				599				16	%			6,952				6,960				0	%
Total			4,588				4,387				5	%			52,612				54,617				(4	)%
Available seat km (ASK) (in millions)
Europe			1,012				979				3	%			12,462				12,598				(1	)%
North Atlantic			1,271				1,474				(14	)%			14,919				16,759				(11	)%
Central and South Atlantic			804				815				(1	)%			10,070				10,099				0	%
Asia / Pacific			1,306				1,224				7	%			14,029				14,592				(4	)%
Middle East / South Asia			491				461				7	%			5,554				5,943				(7	)%
Africa			824				732				13	%			8,793				8,607				2	%
Total			5,708				5,685				0	%			65,827				68,599				(4	)%
Passenger load factor (%)
Europe			71.6				70.1			1.5 pts					75.0				74.5			0.5 pts
North Atlantic			79.4				73.6			5.8 pts					86.1				82.8			3.3 pts
Central and South Atlantic			87.2				80.3			6.9 pts					78.2				76.2			2.0 pts
Asia / Pacific			83.0				84.1			(1.1)pts					80.0				84.1			(4.1)pts
Middle East / South Asia			76.8				72.4			4.4 pts					78.6				74.3			4.3 pts
Africa			84.0				81.7			2.3 pts					79.1				80.9			(1.8)pts
Total			80.4				77.2			3.2 pts					79.9				79.6			0.3 pts
Revenue freight ton-km (RFTK) (in millions)
Europe			3				4				(29	)%			36				54				(33	)%
North Atlantic			85				91				(7	)%			914				927				(1	)%
Central and South Atlantic			35				38				(8	)%			384				406				(5	)%
Asia / Pacific			207				158				32	%			2,086				1,864				12	%
Middle East / South Asia			15				20				(23	)%			235				254				(8	)%
Africa			33				29				14	%			313				309				1	%
Total			379				340				11	%			3,968				3,815				4	%
Available freight ton-km (AFTK) (in millions)
Europe			21				22				(6	)%			254				272				(7	)%
North Atlantic			114				123				(7	)%			1,291				1,317				(2	)%
Central and South Atlantic			50				53				(5	)%			622				661				(6	)%
Asia / Pacific			243				196				24	%			2,476				2,254				10	%
Middle East / South Asia			25				29				(11	)%			359				367				(2	)%
Africa			49				41				20	%			478				468				2	%
Total			502				463				8	%			5,480				5,340				3	%
Cargo load factor (%)
Europe			14.7				19.4			(4.7)pts					14.4				19.9			(5.5)pts
North Atlantic			74.3				74.0			0.3 pts					70.8				70.4			0.4 pts
Central and South Atlantic			71.0				73.0			(2.0) pts					61.7				61.4			0.3 pts
Asia / Pacific			85.3				80.5			4.8 pts					84.3				82.7			1.6 pts
Middle East / South Asia			60.7				69.9			(9.2)pts					65.3				69.2			(3.9)pts
Africa			66.9				70.3			(3.4)pts					65.5				66.0			(0.5)pts
Total			75.5				73.5			2.0 pts					72.4				71.4			1.0 pts

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.