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AIRLINE RESPONDS TO DAMNING BOOK INVESTIGATING RECENT SAFETY LAPSES - ON THE SAME DAY THAT IT ANNOUNCES A €1.56BN LOSS AIR France has defended its safety record in response to a new book

that describes the company as a "second-division" airline. _La Face Cachée d'Air France_, by investigative journalist Fabrice Amedeo, was published yesterday - the same day

that the airline revealed its biggest annual losses since the merger with KLM six years ago. The book criticises the management culture at Air France and the way it handled two major

incidents in the past decade - the Concorde crash in Paris in 2000 that killed 113 and the disappearance of the Rio-Paris flight above the Atlantic last June, which killed all 228 people

onboard. "Air France has a fleet of ultramodern planes and some of the best pilots in the world, but its safety statistics are those of a second division company," the book says.

The airline responded in a statement that its safety standards met "the most stringent requirements in the international aviation industry". "The company conforms to all the

national and international rules in place," it added. Air France-KLM yesterday announced a net loss of €1.56bn in the year to the end of March. Passenger numbers fell 13.7% to 11.1

million. Chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said it had been an "_annus horribilis_" for the firm. He said there were signs of an improvement in 2010, although much depends on

the Icelandic volcano, which cost the firm €260m in just a few days in April due to airspace closures. RELATED STORIES: War of words over Air France safety Air France plane 300m from crash

Atlantic crash jet fell like a stone Photo:Flying Blue