Air France-KLM flew back to its first yearly net profit since 2008, sending its stock price soaring Thursday, after cheaper jet fuel and successive cost-cutting plans finally made its operations more profitable. Air France-KLM's turnaround came despite difficult labour relations and the terrorist attacks in and around Paris last year which deterred visitors to the French capital. But it remains a work in progress. Long-haul rivals like British Airways and Emirates Airline as well as discount carriers are much more profitable. A 20% drop in Q4 fuel costs led to 6.7% or E446m reduction in the annual fuel bill, offsetting a 2.8% rise in staff costs. Jet fuel prices have fallen around 41% in dollar terms in the past year as crude oil prices have tumbled. Even so, the group's 3.1% operating profit margin is meagre by European standards. <br/>
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Air France-KLM Group will finally introduce wireless Internet on international flights later this year, after about half of clients previously suggested they’d prefer to remain unplugged, CE Alexandre de Juniac said Thursday. Only now will it make the leap amid demand from younger people. “Many of our passengers weren’t interested in the service because it’s the only <br/>place left where they can really have peace,” the CE said. He added that there’s still no way the carrier would countenance voice calls on longer flights as they’re “very disruptive, especially at night.” On Air France-KLM flights, Asian customers have led the call for connectivity, as well as some business passengers, De Juniac said. The new system will tap satellite links, helping to resolve the problem of reduced bandwidth. <br/>