Dutch airline KLM earned €100m from charging customers extra fees to take suitcases or for more leg room, chief executive Camiel Eurlings said on Thursday.

Speaking after the publication of Air France-KLM’s 2013 results, Eurlings said people are getting used to paying more to take a suitcase with them.

‘At some airlines it is standard but with us it only applies to the cheapest tickets,’ Eurlings is quoted as saying by news agency ANP.

Psychology also plays an important role and people are more likely to spend extra cash on more comfort when they are going on holiday, he said.

‘There are all sorts of opportunities to offer passengers extra products,’ he said. ‘We earned €60m on the more spacious economy seats last year. In total, these forms of extra income amounted to well over €100m.’

Results

Air France-KLM posted a loss of €1.8bn last year, an increase of €600m on 2012. But turnover rose very slightly to €25.5bn, the airline said on Thursday.

The loss is largely due to a tax write-off of €937m. The airline has also been hit by the impact of the strong euro and currency effects, which added €100m to the losses.

The Dutch side of the operation, KLM, did make a profit this year, the Financieele Dagblad says.

Market conditions remain difficult and the airline is concentrating on making cost savings this year, chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said.