=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/05/05/f= inancial1120EDT0075.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, May 5, 2004 (AP) Listing of Air France KLM shares marks end of Dutch aviation era ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer (05-05) 08:20 PDT AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- New shares of Air France KLM, the world's largest airline, made their debut on the Euronext stock exchange Wednesday, marking the end of an era for Dutch aviation that will see shares in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines disappear. KLM's all-stock acquisition by French national carrier Air France, announced in September, was sealed Tuesday after KLM shareholders tendered almost 42 million shares, representing 89.2 percent of the company. Until the stock swap has been completed, KLM shares will continue to be traded and the new joint company will be traded under the name Air France in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, and on the New York Stock Exchange. After initial gains, the newly listed stock fell 2 percent to 14.25 ($17.40) in midday trading on Euronext. Faced with declining profit margins, higher fuel costs and fierce competition in Europe, KLM was forced to find a partner. But the sale of the Netherlands' national airline to Air France was bittersweet for the Dutch, ending years of uncertainty about its survival, but losing its independence and symbol of quality and national pride. The end of trading in KLM's shares, listed in the capital Amsterdam since 1959, "is something you don't look forward to," said Leo van Wijk, KLM's chief executive and the new company's vice president. KLM will continue to fly its own aircraft for at least five years, but t= he long-term survival of its trademark logo -- blue skies and a swan -- is unclear. Van Wijk said the airlines will cut out overlapping services, but gave no details of possible layoffs. KLM and KLM's U.S. partners, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines, will join Air France's Skyteam code-sharing agreement with Delta Airlines and four other carriers in mid-September. KLM and air France's frequent fliers programs will be interchangeable fr= om June, the airlines announced. The Air France KLM merger creates the world's biggest airline, with combined revenues of 19.2 billion ($22.9 billion), based on figures for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, putting it well ahead of American Airlines, which had $17.4 billion in revenue last year. KLM, founded in 1919, flies more than 23 million passengers a year and employs around 37,500 employees. It has a fleet of 220 aircraft and is the world's fifth largest cargo operator. The airlines will keep separate centers of operations at Paris' Charles = de Gaulle and Amsterdam's Schipol airports. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP