Air France-KLM says March traffic falls sharply

“March saw another, sharp deterioration in the (economic) environment," it said in a statement, noting that a near three-percent fall in capacity was not enough to offset the wider downturn, with revenues slipping accordingly.

It said it carried 5.6 million passengers in March, down 9.8% from February, with the load factor -- seats filled -- falling 5.5 percentage points to 75.5%.

Cargo traffic was up 1.3%, it said, but this was because figures for Dutch freight operator Martinair were included.

If Marinair was excluded, cargo traffic in March was down 19.2%.