Air France's revenue fell 70% in August: CEO to paper

MILAN (Reuters) - Air France suffered a 70% fall in revenue in August as its international network operated at around 30% of full capacity, its chief executive told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The carrier, part of Air France-KLM group <AIRF.PA>, is still burning through 10 million euros in cash a day but is working to limit losses, CEO Anne Rigail said in an interview published on Wednesday.

The airline group has formed a new transatlantic joint venture with Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> and Virgin Atlantic, replacing a previous partnership that had included Italy's Alitalia.

Rigail invited Alitalia, which is due to be nationalised, to join the new group, even if as a second level member.

"Alitalia is a long-standing partner and we will propose to them to join the joint venture as an associate member. I want to maintain a strong relationship with them," she said.

Rigail ruled out an investment in Alitalia but expressed interest in its offer of rapid tests for COVID-19 for passengers flying on certain routes.

"Before we have a vaccine we could reopen some routes with rapid tests as (Alitalia) is experiencing in Milan and Rome," she told the newspaper.

(This story corrects to refer to network capacity (not seats), paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Jason Neely)