KLM boss seeks to ease airline row under mocking gaze of Ryanair

The head of Dutch airline KLM sought on Wednesday to ease a Franco-Dutch row over share purchases in parent group Air France-KLM by the Dutch government - as low-cost airline chief Michael O’Leary gleefully stoked the embers of the dispute. France, which owns 14% of the airline group, clashed with the Netherlands when the Dutch government abruptly bought a matching 14% stake in order to counter French influence over a group disproportionately heavily reliant on KLM profits. “It’s too early to (know) all the exact consequences and the exact impact. What’s important is that we continue to do our work,” KLM chief Pieter Elbers said. Speaking on the sidelines of an Airlines for Europe conference, he said there was a “good atmosphere” with colleagues at Air France and that he had a good relationship with Air France-KLM CE Ben Smith. Tensions between French and Dutch partners came to a head when recently appointed Smith declined to give assurances sought by the Dutch in a meeting in The Hague on Feb. 15, sources have said. “It’s good that some of these discussions have been clarified in the last couple of weeks, we can move forward now,” Elbers said. Maneuvering at state-backed airlines like Air France-KLM and Italy’s struggling Alitalia drew derision from the head of Europe’s largest low-cost airline, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary. O’Leary joked during a panel at the conference that he would like to see more state involvement in airlines and poked fun at Alitalia, the Rome carrier that is looking to be rescued.<br/>