French airline group Air France has credited strong freight revenues for a rise in sales, which managed to offset the costs of a four-day strike.

The airline held up well against a slowdown in air traffic by concentrating on routes less damaged by the September 11 attacks.

But industry disputes have overshadowed its performance.

The company admitted on Tuesday that the September pilots' strike had cost it 80 million euros (�51m).

Counting the cost

Despite the high price of the protests, Air France reported a 0.9% rise in earnings for the last three months to 3.2bn euros (�2bn).

But the company warned:

"It is still a difficult economic environment and despite the sharp fall in the dollar, Air France posted a slight increase in turnover."

Air France said this was thanks to resilient passenger traffic as well as an 11% rise in cargo business.

The results were in line with analysts' expectations, who had factored in a flat performance because of the pilots' strike.

They said lower fuel costs should have helped the overall performance of the last six months, which the airline is due to report next week.

Weathering the storm

Unlike a number of its peers, Air France's passenger numbers have proved resilient since the September 11 attacks.

Figures for September showed a 5% rise in traffic, despite the airline being forced to cancel a number of flights because of the strikes.

Pilots are opposing plans for the government to reduce its stake in Air France from 54.4% to 20%.

Last month, the French government said it would wait at least six months before proceeding with the sell-off because of the weak stock markets and the possible effects a war on Iraq could have on the airline sector.

Nonetheless, the disputes have overshadowed Air France's share performance in the last 12 months.

They have lost 35% of their value since the start of the year.