Airline KLM posted a loss over the summer but its financial fortunes have recovered considerably now air travel is getting back up to speed.

In total, the airline lost €192m in the third quarter of this year, compared with a loss of €1.6bn in 2020. Excluding tax and interest payments, the company made a profit of €796m.

In total, 17 million people flew with the airline in the third quarter, double the 2020 figure.

Chief executive Benjamin Smith said it had been a good summer but that the coronavirus crisis is not over yet. ‘Important continents such as Asia remain mainly closed and business travel is slowly recovering,’ he said. ‘This is why we must remain very agile and continue our transformation with the objective of improving both our economic and environmental performance.’

He also said the airline is committed to setting greenhouse gas emission targets in line with the Paris agreements and based on scientific data, a new commitment in addition to Air France-KLM’s earlier goal of zero net emissions by 2050.

The Dutch part of the alliance, KLM was the biggest beneficiary of the Dutch government’s wage support system which ended in October. Last year, KLM had around €1bn in wage support plus a further €3.4bn in loans and guarantees.