Air France-KLM eyes Airbus deal

PARIS: Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM expects to sign a definitive order for a long-delayed purchase of Airbus A350 long-range jets "during 2013", chief executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta said on Friday.

Air France chief executive Alexandre de Juniac had said last month that it hoped to complete the purchase by the end of March.

"The contract is still being negotiated with Airbus," Spinetta said.

"It should be signed during 2013," he said.

Meanwhile, the airline said it trimmed its operating loss last year as the carrier filled a record proportion of its plane capacity and raised prices on North Atlantic routes.

The loss of ?300 million (RM1.22 billion) beat the average forecast in a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S analyst poll of ?325 million and compared with a ?353 million loss a year earlier. Reuters