Paris, Nov 1 (IANS):  Air France-KLM posted a better-than-expected performance over the third quarter of 2012 due mainly to boosted passenger traffic, the group said here Wednesday.

For the July-September period, the Franco-Dutch firm returned to strong profitability after generating 306 million euros ($398 million) of net income, up from just 11 million euros reported the same period a year earlier, the Franco-Dutch firm announced.

The group attributed the "satisfactory third quarter" results to strong performances in all its businesses with the exception of cargo whose traffic fell by 6.6 percent due to the economic slowdown and the situation of overcapacity in the industry, reported Xinhua.

In passenger activities, "the limited capacity increase in the industry led to an improvement in unit revenues..." and a positive foreign exchange effect due to the depreciation of the euro versus other currencies helped Ait France-KLM to expand revenue by 7.9 percent despite a rise in the fuel bill.

Quarterly revenue jumped by 5.8 percent to 7.18 billion euros with the group's adjusted operating results standing at 592 million euros, up by 124 million euros year on year.

"In a difficult economic environment in Europe, but with a good level of activity in the other markets, the group maintains its objectives of an operating result in the second half of 2012 above the level of the second half of 2011 at 195 million euros and a reduction of its net debt," the group said.