Health and fighting COVID-19 are paramount but the measures taken must be effective and proportionate. It looks like other EU member states, such as Italy, France and Belgium are not putting a triple lock on the door for travelers from the US.  

The decision by the Dutch government is a big step backwards for KLM. As a result, KLM is forced to remove the proposed new flights from Amsterdam to Orlando, Miami and Las Vegas this winter (October 31, 2021 through March 26, 2022) from its winter schedule until further notice. Travelers will be informed starting next week. 

Throughout the winter season, KLM will operate thrice-weekly service to Miami, departing from Schiphol on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and returning from Miami on the same days. Flights will be operated with and Airbus A330-200, with 30 seats in World Business Class seats and 213 seats in Economy Class.

KLM previously served Miami in 2011/2012, but suspended the service after a year. KLM feels the current market circumstances are sufficiently favourable to resume service to Miami.

The first flight to Miami will depart on Sunday, 30 October, marking KLM’s return to this city after an absence of more than 4.5 years.

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Colombo is the economic heart of Sri Lanka and the country’s largest city, with around 750.000 inhabitants. The country itself has a population of 21 million.

The Netherlands has historical ties with Sri Lanka, which was known as Dutch Ceylon from 1640-1796 and was a governorate of the Netherlands. The remnants of this period are still clearly visible on the island, especially in Galle, Unawatuna, Kalutara and Negombo, where there are (ruins of) forts and colonial buildings. In Colombo, there is Dutch fort, a governor’s house and a cemetery. And just off the coast is the island of Delft, which was named after the Dutch town renowned for its porcelain.

Sri Lanka has been a safe and stable country since the civil war came to an end in 2009. Since then, the economy – tourism in particular – has grown exponentially. Sri Lanka’s per capita income doubled in the past ten years and the island is a popular tropical leisure destination for Europeans.

Throughout the winter season, KLM will operate twice-weekly service to Colombo, departing from Schiphol on Mondays and Fridays, and returning from Colombo on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flights will be operated with the latest addition to KLM’s intercontinental fleet: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has 30 seats in World Business Class, 48 seats in Economy Comfort and 216 seats in Economy Class.

The first flight to Colombo is scheduled to depart on Monday, 31 October 2016. This marks KLM’s return to Colombo after an absence of almost 20 years. KLM suspended service to the Sri Lankan capital (then served via Abu Dhabi) in 1997.

More flights to Havana
Owing to strong demand, KLM will also increase flight frequency to Cuba and Malaysia at the end of October, operating daily service to Havana.

More flights to Kuala Lumpur by intensified cooperation with Malaysia Airlines
Owing to it stable market position and strong demand, KLM this summer increased flight frequency to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from seven to ten weekly flights, in line with the summer schedule. From 20 June 2016, KLM will operate three extra weekly flights between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur. These extra flights will also be operated during the winter season. KLM and Malaysia Airlines have cooperated closely over the past twenty years and have a code-sharing agreement between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur. The partners will now intensify cooperation, giving KLM customers access to the cities of Singapore, Jakarta, Medan, Denpasar and Darwin, via Kuala Lumpur in cooperation with Malaysia Airlines. KLM already offered code-sharing on Malaysia Airlines flights between Kuala Lumpur and various destinations in Australia, New Zealand and the Malaysian islands. With the new additions, customers will have access to a total of fifteen destinations beyond Kuala Lumpur.

Introducing Astana and Salt Lake City
The new Amsterdam-Almaty-Astana route will be operated from Tuesday, 3 May. Four weekly circular flights will be operated to Almaty and Astana (on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays). Two of these will be operated from Amsterdam via Astana to Almaty and back to Amsterdam (Tuesdays and Fridays), and two will be operated from Amsterdam via Almaty to Astana and back to Amsterdam (on Wednesdays and Sundays).

From 5 May 2016, KLM will operate twice-weekly service to Salt Lake City, departing on Thursdays and Saturdays. From 4 July, flight frequency will be increased to thrice-weekly, with an additional flight departing on Mondays. The new KLM flights to Salt Lake City supplement the existing flights between Salt Lake City and Amsterdam operated by Delta Air Lines, which has a transatlantic joint-venture with AIR FRANCE KLM. Salt Lake City is one of Delta’s five hubs. Thanks to its code-sharing agreement with Delta, KLM offers its passengers flights to more than 50 North American destinations out of Salt Lake City.

“It became clear to KLM very quickly that the idea of a direct flight to Miami is a popular one among the Dutch Dance Scene. “It’s why we took on the bet!” said Martijn van der Zee, VP E-Commerce at KLM. “We can rightly call it a first — the first time KLM will deploy an aircraft following a request on Twitter. Social media are becoming more and more important to KLM to offer information and service to our customers.”

The Amsterdam-Miami service will depart from Amsterdam every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 15:10 hours, arriving in Miami at 19:10 hours local time. The return flight will depart from Miami the same day at 21:15 local time and arrive the next day at 12.05 in Amsterdam local time.

Miami is a very interesting destination for both Dutch business travellers and tourists. The business market is marked by the highest concentration of financial institutions in the USA and provides locations for many multinationals. For tourists the city is renowned for beach holidays, cruises, art, and cultural events and festivals. Bookings will be taken from Thursday, 28 October, 2010, through the normal booking channels and www.klm.com.

Bram Gräber, Director KLM Nederland: “This is good news for the Dutch market. Besides being popular with business travellers, Florida is a top destination for holiday travellers. Adding Miami to the KLM network makes this popular destination once again accessible, non-stop, from Amsterdam.”

With Miami, KLM is adding another destination to the joint venture between AIR FRANCE KLM, Delta Air Lines and Alitalia. Miami is the twentieth destination in North-America which is served by KL/DL directly from Amsterdam.With more than 250 daily transatlantic flights and a fleet of 135 aircraft, this joint venture offers its passengers a generous network with higher frequencies, attractive prices and comprehensively tailored schedules for transatlantic travel.