KLM Newsroom

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announces new service concept for intercontinental flights: more room for personal contact and an increase in the number of seats

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 08:33:34 +0200

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announces new service concept for intercontinental flights: more room for personal contact and an increase in the number of seats
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announces a new service concept for both World Business Class and Economy Class. By organising the work differently, there will be more room for personal contact with passengers. At the same time, work on the cabin layout of the intercontinental fleet is also underway, which will result in an increase in the number of seats. With these changes, KLM aims to respond to passenger wishes and make optimal use of the available space in the cabin. The modifications will be implemented from 2027.

New World Business Class tableware
KLM is continuing its collaboration with Marcel Wanders. The internationally renowned Dutch designer is creating new tableware especially for KLM’s World Business Class. The new tableware will also comes with a new presentation of the dishes. KLM is also considering new dishes.

Marcel Wanders, designer of the new tableware: ‘As a designer of Dutch origin, I am proud to once again have the honour of designing tableware for KLM. It is a contemporary design, made of beautiful crystal, bone china, stainless steel and other noble materials. Of course I am eager to know how the meals will look on the plates and what World Business Class passengers will think of it.’

New approach Economy Class
KLM is introducing a new service formula in Economy Class. This is aimed at serving hot meals faster and creating more space for personal contact with passengers. For example, the welcome drink is returning, which allows for an additional moment of interaction.

More passengers welcome on board
KLM is adjusting the layout of its intercontinental Boeing fleet. Thanks to the new way of working and more efficient loading, fewer trolleys are needed on board. This allows KLM to expand the highly valued Premium Comfort Class without compromising on the legroom for passengers. The number of seats will be expanded to a maximum of 40 seats, depending on aircraft type. The new layout also allows KLM to add more seats in Economy Class. In addition, two additional seats will be placed in World Business Class on the Boeing 787-9.

The modifications will be further developed and tested on board in the coming period.

KLM Begins Unique Deployment of Air France Pilots

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:30:23 +0200

This is the first time that Air France pilots and KLM crew will jointly operate a KLM flight. Over the past few months, teams at Air France and KLM have worked hard to carefully work out all the details, coordinate many internal and external stakeholders, including unions and aviation authorities, and ensure a smooth operation.

“This collaboration will help KLM to operate its scheduled flights this summer. It supplements our capacity this summer, which is good for KLM as a whole,” said Maarten Stienen, COO of KLM. “I am proud that we have made this possible within the Air France-KLM Group. I wish all my colleagues on the route a safe flight and a pleasant collaboration.”

The joint flights include one aircraft on the route between John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and Schiphol, which will be crewed by Air France pilots starting today. In total, this will last until the end of the summer schedule on October 25.

Reaction on media attention pianist in KLM Inflight Entertainment System

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 10:51:58 +0200

KLM wants all passengers to feel welcome on board and to experience a pleasant flight. In some instances, KLM gets requests from passengers to alter aspects of its product that they consider to be sensitive, unclear or incorrect. KLM has therefore decided to remove the recordings of the pianist in question from its Inflight Entertainment System.

KLM wins Best Airline for Inflight Retail Award

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 14:55:22 +0200

This prize for inflight sales is awarded by a panel of experts, who assess criteria such as the selection and presentation of products, inflight customer service and investment in crew training.

The latter has been a point of focus for KLM Inflight Retail & Media in the recent past. This is exemplified by the fourth edition of Boutique Magnifique, which was held last week. This event gives cabin crew an interactive opportunity to familiarise themselves with the products they serve and sell on board.

The Inflight E-reader is the Best Idea for Air Transport!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The Inflight E-Reader allows passengers to read newspapers, magazines and books in their own language. According to the panel of judges this innovative concept reflects the ambition to make air transport more sustainable. The Inflight E-Reader not only ensures that fewer paper media are required on board, but also gives passengers access to the latest news. The logistical and technical feasibility of the Inflight E-Reader will be assessed in the coming period.

Erik Varwijk, Executive Vice President of KLM’s Commercial division: “KLM wants to keep putting passengers first, also in future. It is very important to get talented young people involved in this effort. That is why we called on young, creative members of Hyves to help us come up with ways of achieving this. The winning idea also had to be sustainable and innovative. The Inflight E-reader definitely meets these requirements and will be taken into account to further develop KLM’s products and services.”

Maarten de Groof, Commercial Director of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: “Schiphol is a frontrunner when it comes to innovation, which we believe is a continuous process to ensure we remain attractive to our customers. The Creative Challenge has enabled us to get young people to think along with us and come up with creative ideas. It was a great pleasure to evaluate the submissions and we may take great pride in the winning ideas.”

Second prize went to Unal Sezisli, who came up with the idea for Online Tax-Free Shopping, and third prize went to Patrick van den Born, who suggested placing wind turbines under the runways. They have won two tickets for, respectively, a round-the-world trip and a trip to an intercontinental destination of their choice. Both will travel in KLM’s new Economy Comfort zone.

Erik Varwijk and Maarten de Groof judged all ideas together with Marc de Vries (CEO of Hyves), Marcel Wanders (designer), Axel Enthoven (designer) and Arnold Burlage (aviation consultant). The panel was hosted by presenter Sebastiaan Labrie.