There were never any plans to shift KLM flights from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to Paris, the airline’s departing chief executive says in an interview with the Financieele Dagblad on Monday.

‘There was no such plan and their never will be one,’ Alexandre de Juniac says. It would be ‘totally insane’ to shift KLM flights to Air France to restore the balance between the two airlines, as Air France pilots are demanding, Juniac tells the paper.

‘We have no intention of taking steps [to boost] Air France at the expense of KLM. Never,’ Juniac says. ‘We want both airlines to grow and profit from each other. It is crucial that the Dutch public and KLM workers understand that we are not going to damage KLM.’

Last week the FD reported that the airlines’ parent company wanted to move the flights to offset pilots’ complaints that the company’s growth is focused on the Dutch airline. KLM sources told the FD that management were inclined to give way on this issue in a move to head off the strike planned by Air France pilots.

The claim led finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to say he wanted to hold urgent talks with his French counterpart to discuss the future of Air France-KLM.

The Dutch government has a 5.9% stake in KLM and the French state holds 17.6% of the Air France-KLM group.