Now that there is an agreement between the pilots' union, KLM and the government, KLM is receiving the second tranche of government support. Research by claims agency Aviclaim shows that no other airline receives relatively so much support from the state. 

KLM costs every Dutch citizen more than two hundred euros, the salary support that KLM receives from the government has not been taken into account. This is almost twice as much as, for example, the Lufthansa group, which received Lufthansa 108 euros in state aid per German citizen. Including the NOW scheme that KLM will receive in addition to the 3,4 billion euros, the amount can rise to 300 euros for every Dutch citizen before the end of the year.

The ratio remains the same when looking at the amount of passengers the airline carries in a normal year. The Air France KLM group received more than 100 euros per passenger they transported in 2019. At Lufthansa and the IAG group (British airways, Iberia and Vueling), this is € 61,98 and € 11,33 respectively. 

It is striking how financially healthy the low-cost airlines Ryanair and Easyjet are. Ryanair received only € 3,95 in aid per passenger transported in 2019. In addition, Ryanair still has 4,5 billion euros in cash, one of the strongest cash positions in the industry. According to Ryanair, unfair competition arises from all the state aid that airlines receive. In fact, Easyjet has had no government support at all.

'It seems that airlines in which the government owns shares significantly more state aid will then receive airlines that are fully privately owned ', says Remco Kuilman, director of Aviclaim. "In addition, it can be concluded that KLM has a relatively unhealthy cost structure compared to other European airlines."

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