KLM consolidates Schiphol cargo as AI demand lifts yields

Air France-KLM generated €677 million ($760 million) in third-quarter cargo revenue, up 25.2% year on year, as AI-related supply chains and ocean disruption redirected freight toward air.

Cargo traffic revenue rose 24.9% to €566 million. KLM cargo traffic, measured in revenue tonne-km, increased 15.7% against 4.5% capacity growth, while its load factor climbed 5.2 percentage points to 53.9%.

Group tonnage rose 5% to 236,000 tonnes, and revenue per available tonne-km increased 21.9% at constant currency. Lufthansa Cargo also reported a 14% year-on-year increase in base yields in the third quarter. Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance limited freighter availability as demand accelerated.

What changes at Schiphol?

KLM plans to consolidate cargo handling at Schiphol within its own warehouse, covering freight carried on passenger aircraft and on freighters. The airline expects common handling to attract more transfer traffic and prepare Schiphol for a new cargo terminal scheduled for completion in 2035.

“The increased cargo volumes will ultimately be handled without hiring additional employees,” KLM said.

KLM plans to absorb the additional freight through simpler processes, greater automation and employees deployed across different activities. It also intends to expand services for customers requiring additional support, although the airline provided no further details.

How are shippers and forwarders affected?

At last week's TIACA Air Cargo Forum in Miami, participants identified AI infrastructure shipments as a contributor to transit cargo flows through Amsterdam. Air France-KLM also attributed its growth to a sea-to-air modal shift amid disruption around the Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz, alongside AI-related demand.

Tighter global market conditions helped the group win additional volumes and full-freighter charter business. For shippers and forwarders, KLM's 15.7% traffic growth against 4.5% capacity growth is the key constraint, while scheduled and unscheduled maintenance limits freighter availability.

Schiphol handled 127,750 tonnes of cargo in September, 8% more than a year earlier, and its first-nine-month volume grew 10%. Freighters accounted for 54% of September tonnage and belly cargo 46%, making the planned shared warehouse relevant to both traffic streams and transfer shipments.

For carriers, the airport's freighter-heavy mix creates an opportunity to combine freighter and belly volumes without adding warehouse labor. For forwarders, the explicit goal of attracting transfer freight could strengthen Amsterdam's connection proposition; for shippers, faster cargo growth than capacity points to continued competition for airfreight space.

Can the cargo gains fund investment?

Despite cargo's performance, KLM said its overall profitability remained insufficient to support investment. Third-quarter adjusted operating profit rose to €458 million from a restated €352 million a year earlier, but CEO Marjan Rintel said: “Fuel prices continue to put pressure on our results, our cost base remains too high.”

The Dutch carrier now seeks a further €1 billion in annual earnings improvement, taking its target to €1.4 billion. It also wants at least an 8% structural productivity increase by 2028, using a wider programme that reorganizes work associated with around 5,000 positions.

Transfers to external providers and the parent group form part of that work reorganization. Productivity changes should produce approximately 1,000 fewer positions at KLM, and the airline plans to limit disruption through natural attrition, voluntary arrangements and internal transfers.

Under the plan, cargo growth supplies the volume while automation and staffing changes supply the cost savings. If AI-linked freight and sea-to-air diversion persist, KLM's 4.5% capacity growth and constrained freighter availability point to continued pressure on airfreight yields; the 2035 terminal and automation programme will test whether Schiphol can absorb higher volumes without further hiring.