KLM is increasing its capacity by 2.9%* compared to the 2014-2015 winter season. The growth is being implemented on the long-haul network, largely by introducing larger aircraft—including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777-300—and by reducing production using the Airbus A330-200 and the Boeing 747 Combis.

(*measured in ASKs)

Europe, fortifying its portfolio with the continuation of the three start-ups in summer season 2015.
In Summer 2015, three new destinations (Krakow, Montpellier and Belfast) have been started successfully and will be continued in the Winter season 2015. These services will continue being operated with five weekly frequencies to Belfast and Krakow and four weekly frequencies to Montpellier. To further improve the hub function of Amsterdam, KLM will increase its weekly flights to Florence from 14 to 16 and to Bristol from 21 to 26.

North America, continuation of new destination and capacity increase in response to market demand
KLM is continuing its services to Edmonton in Canada started in Summer 2015. These services will be operated three times a week. Via Edmonton, passengers could benefit from the beyond network of our Canadian partner WestJet. Furthermore, KLM keeps on extending its capacity on existing destinations in response to market demand: San Francisco is served now seven times a week instead of six. KLM is further expanding its services to Atlanta by increasing weekly frequencies from twelve to 13-14 frequencies. In the Winter season 2015, in conjunction with Delta Air Lines operations, Atlanta is served 27-28 times a week from Amsterdam.

Central and South America, strengthening position
KLM will continue flying to the Colombian cities of Bogota and Cali on a three-weekly rotation in Winter 2015. KLM will also continue the fourth frequency to Buenos Aires-Santiago de Chile in the Winter season. The new generation aircraft Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be introduced to Rio de Janeiro in the course of this Winter. Furthermore, KLM will continue to make use of its key partnerships in the region, including Copa Airlines from Panama and GOL in Brazil. Regarding the Caribbean network, a schedule change will be implemented to Aruba and Bonaire, resulting in direct flight to and from both islands on some days of the week. From January 2016 onwards, KLM will increase capacity to Havana in order to accommodate the increasing number of tourists to Cuba.

Africa, optimizing the network
Within East Africa, KLM has redesigned the network to better meet the demand from specific markets. KLM will increase the number of circle flights to Kilimanjaro/Dar es Salaam and Kigali/Entebbe from four weekly frequencies to a daily frequency, and reduce the number of direct flights in the region. KLM will continue to build on the strength of the Kenya Airways network in East Africa and further develop its connecting opportunities beyond Nairobi. In West Africa, KLM will add a third weekly frequency to Luanda per December 2015. Together with Air France, KLM offers six weekly flights from both hubs to the Angolan capital.

Asia and Middle-East, reinforcing partnerships
In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi – Bahrein will be the first route for deployment of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Dubai will be the second route to receive the Dreamliner in the course of Winter 2015. Furthermore, KLM continues to reinforce cooperation with Etihad Airways to offer customers a wider choice of connecting flights. In China, KLM is intensifying its cooperation with its Chinese partners by implementing a new Joint Venture between KLM, China Southern and Xiamen Airlines. Due to strong pressure on traffic from Japan to Europe and on results, KLM has decided to reduce frequencies to Osaka and suspend the Fukuoka service as of January 5, 2016.

Apart from these new destinations, KLM will focus on adjusting capacity to seasonal fluctuations in demand and on strengthening and, where possible, expanding its cooperation with partners.

Europe – Expansion in North-Western Europe
KLM will continue to focus on North-Western Europe, as it did this summer, increasing the number of daily flights to Luxembourg, to Kristiansand and Stavanger in Norway, and Nuremberg in Germany. Furthermore, KLM took over the Lyon-Amsterdam route from Air France in September 2012, while Air France took over the Marseille-Amsterdam route from KLM.

In Eastern Europe, KLM will pursue its successful Joint Venture with Ukraine International, initiated this summer, raising frequency to Kiev from one to two daily flights this winter.

KLM will increase frequency between Amsterdam and Prague from three to four daily flights.

North America – Consolidation With Partners
Together with Delta Air Lines, partner in the Transatlantic Joint Venture, KLM will consolidate its position in the transatlantic market. Owing to fluctuating seasonal demand and soaring fuel prices, KLM will not serve Miami this winter. In addition, service to Dallas-Fort Worth will be suspended until the summer, as was the case last winter.

Capacity between Amsterdam and Atlanta, Delta Air Lines’ largest hub, will increase substantially this winter, with frequency rising from 14 to 19 weekly flights, operated by KLM and Delta. Service to Delta’s other hubs will also be maintained to ensure maximum connectivity with the US market. Minneapolis will be served twice daily, and Detroit thrice daily. Together, KLM and Delta will offer customers a total of 26 flights per week between Amsterdam and New York, with three daily flights to John F. Kennedy Airport and five weekly flights to Newark.

In Western Canada/Alberta, capacity to Calgary will be increased from four to five flights a week. Together with partner WestJet, KLM will gain further access to the entire Canadian market, adding its code to 10 new destinations here, bringing the total from 15 to 25 cities.

Central and South America – Deploying a More Efficient Fleet
On various routes to Central and South America, the MD-11 will be replaced with more fuel-efficient aircraft. The daily service between Amsterdam and Panama will, from the start of the winter schedule, be operated with a Boeing 777 instead of an MD-11.

On flights to and from the Dutch Caribbean, the Airbus A330 will for the first time replace the MD-11, operating alongside the Boeing 747. KLM will operate 13 roundtrips a week to this region, with extra flights before and after the Christmas holidays.

KLM will operate direct, service to Havana this winter three times a week, as was the case this summer.
In South America, KLM will replace its MD-11 with a Boeing 747 on flights between Amsterdam and Paramaribo. In addition to the usual three weekly frequencies, KLM will operate a fourth weekly flight in December and January to meet higher seasonal demand.

The flight frequency to Ecuador will be further increased to five a week, up from three last winter.
The number of weekly frequencies to Rio de Janeiro will be increased to four. In cooperation with Brazilian partner Gol, KLM will offer service to numerous Brazilian and South American destinations via Rio de Janeiro.
Capacity to Lima will be increased by deploying a Boeing 777-300 three times per week – KLM’s largest aircraft type, with 425 seats – on the daily service to the Peruvian capital.

Africa – Balanced Growth With More Destinations
KLM’s African network has grown substantially in the past year. In addition to the new destinations Luanda and Lusaka, KLM will launch service to Harare this winter, serving the Zimbabwean capital thrice weekly, in combination with the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Frequency to other destinations will be adjusted in accordance with fluctuating seasonal demand. One less flight will be operated on the Entebbe-Kigali route this winter, while two extra weekly flights, departing in the afternoon, will be operated to Kilimanjaro, in addition to the daily flights to this destination, which is served in combination with Dar es Salaam.

Depending on market demand, frequency to Cairo will be increased gradually. This winter, KLM will operate four weekly B777-200 flights to the Egyptian capital.

Cooperation with Kenya Airways remains of great importance to KLM’s position in Africa. The twice-daily Kenya Airways/KLM service to Nairobi is an important feeder maintaining the network of secondary destinations in Kenya and East Africa.

KLM will operate daily service to Cape Town as it did last winter.

Middle East – Pursue Existing Strategy
Last summer, KLM made extensive network changes in the Middle East. Frequency to Dammam and Doha was increased from five to six flights a week, while frequency to Dubai was reduced to daily service. KLM will pursue its existing strategy in the region this winter. To meet the relatively high demand in winter, however, frequency to Dubai will be increased from seven to ten weekly flights from December through March.

The structure of the circle service to Abu Dhabi and Bahrein will be altered. As of this winter, KLM will operate direct service between Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi five times a week, with a tail-end leg between Abu Dhabi and Bahrein.

Asia – Capacity Adjusted to Seasonal Demand
This winter, KLM will adjust its Asian network in accordance with seasonal and regional fluctuations in demand.
Frequency to Shanghai will be reduced from 12 to 10 weekly flights. Frequency to Tokyo will also be gradually reduced to seven weekly frequencies in mid-winter, returning to nine in March.

KLM’s partner China Southern Airlines will, in close cooperation with KLM, increase frequency between Amsterdam and Guangzhou to a daily service this winter.

In Southeast Asia, KLM will increase capacity by operating thrice weekly direct service to Kuala Lumpur in the early afternoon, supplementing the daily flights to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta that depart in the evening. That means the Malaysian capital will be served 10 times a week this winter.

The new service schedule for Bangkok and Taipei/Manila, introduced this summer, will be continued this winter. That means both Bangkok and Taipei will be served directly every day, while Manila will be served daily via Taipei.
KLM will increase its flight frequency to Denpasar (Bali) to daily, with an intermediate stop in Singapore.

Fleet
KLM will continue to invest in cleaner, more efficient aircraft to assure customers of optimum service. The medium-range fleet will be adjusted by phasing out the last three Fokker 100s at the start of the winter season. The long-range fleet will welcome a new Boeing 777-300 and the phase-out of the MD-11 will continue.
For further information, please contact KLM Media Relations at +31 (0)20 649 4545.

*expressed in ASK

KLM is continuing the flight schedule structure that was introduced with the last summer season. The connections between European and intercontinental flights have been improved so passengers have more choice. Thanks to this flight schedule structure, called Seven Wave New Balance, KLM is able to expand its South American and Asian destinations. It also provides the flexibility to be able to respond adequately to political and economic developments in North Africa, among others.

Europe: KLM continues to expand flight frequencies
KLM continues to raise its frequencies in Europe which started in the summer. Compared to the previous winter season KLM has added 15 regular flights a day. Eight of these are in Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in order to enhance the traditionally strong position of KLM in these areas. The Amsterdam-Aalborg route, which was successfully started in the summer, is being continued.

 
KLM is expanding strongly in Switzerland with an extra service to Zürich and Geneva, and by taking over two daily flights to Basel/Mulhouse from CityJet, a subsidiary of Air France. In Germany, KLM is expanding the number of flights to Frankfurt and Berlin. In Eastern Europe KLM is expanding with an extra flight to Prague, by intensifying collaborations with partner companies (Aeroflot, Bulgaria Air, Belavia, Georgian Airways and Olympic Air) and by using bigger aircraft for flights to Budapest, Bucharest, Warsaw and Moscow.

 
North America: optimisation of Joint Venture
Together with Delta Air Lines, partner in the transatlantic joint venture, KLM will adapt the capacity to meet the seasonal demand and deal with the industry-wide overcapacity in the transatlantic market. In this context the service to Dallas-Fort Worth will be suspended until the summer.

 
This coming winter season a non-stop flight to Miami, which is an important Florida destination for the Dutch market, will be offered four times a week. For Houston the second daily flight in the full Business Class configuration will be replaced by a KLM Airbus 330-200 service, which means KLM is increasing the connectivity for the Houston market in the Economy Class segment. For Vancouver an Airbus 330-200 is used. In codeshare with its partner WestJet, KLM is offering 12 new destinations in Canada.

 
The major hubs of Delta Air Lines in the United States continue to be served as usual in order to guarantee maximum connectivity with the American market: there are two daily flights to Atlanta, two to Minneapolis and three to Detroit. Together with Delta Air Lines, KLM is offering 26 flights a week to New York, including three a day to John F. Kennedy and five a week to Newark.

 
South America: important growth market
South America is an important growth market for KLM. KLM is strongly increasing its range of flights for both tourists and business travellers, as well as improving its flight schedules.

 
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina) have been added to the network as new destinations. There are three direct flights to these metropolises each week, using a Boeing 777-200. This is KLM's return to these destinations after a temporary absence. The capacity to São Paulo is further increased by the use of a Boeing 777-300 on a number of days. In codeshare with partners Gol and Aerolineas Argentinas, a large number of secondary destinations in South America are being offered via São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. In order to reduce the flight time for travellers and increase the efficiency of the operations, flights to and from Quito/Guayaquil will be direct this winter season, without stopovers in Bonaire.

 
Central America: significant increase in capacity
KLM is expanding its capacity in the Caribbean. Havana (Cuba) and Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) have been added as new destinations, which increases the number of destinations in the Caribbean to six. There are a total of three flights a week to Havana, of which two are combined with Punta Cana.

 
Flights to the Dutch Antilles remain as popular as ever. The number of frequencies is therefore being increased: Curacao is changing from seven to nine, Aruba from three to five and Bonaire from six to seven times a week.

KLM is changing to a daily service for Panama. In addition, the onward connections to destinations in Central America in conjunction with partner company Copa Airlines have been further improved by reducing the connection times. This confirms the successful collaboration with Copa Airlines once again.

 
Africa: reinforcing the position
The oil destination in Angola, Luanda, is being added to the KLM network. Luanda will be serviced twice a week with a Boeing 777-200. In addition, KLM is increasing the number of regular flights to Cape Town from five to seven times a week in order to satisfy the seasonal demand.

 
This winter season KLM is maintaining the frequency level in Africa for destinations like Kigali, Entebbe, Lagos, Accra and Johannesburg and, with joint-venture partner Kenya Airways, is offering a large number of secondary destinations via Nairobi.

Because of the unstable political situation in North Africa the capacity to Tripoli and Cairo has been adjusted. KLM will continue to service Cairo on a daily basis with a 737-700. Operations to Tripoli will be resumed as soon as circumstances permit.

 
Middle East: selective expansion
KLM aims to stabilise and selectively expand its network in the Middle East. For example, the number of regular flights to Damman and Doha are being increased from five to six a week and the capacity to Teheran is expanded with the use of a 777-200. For both the tourist and the business market the service to Dubai remains attractive by maintaining a morning and afternoon schedule.

Asia: increasing the market position
This winter KLM is consolidating its strong position in China. In addition to daily flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai (12 times a week), KLM will also fly to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen three times a week this winter. For Chengdu this means a frequency increase from twice to three times a week compared to the last winter season. A service to Xiamen was started the past summer season and will be continued. KLM partner China Southern Airlines is continuing flights between Amsterdam and Guangzhou (three times a week) this winter in close cooperation with KLM.

For Japan KLM is adapting its capacity to the seasonal demand. KLM has reduced the number of flights to Tokyo from 10 to 7 a week, while an extra service has been added to Osaka. As a result KLM can offer a daily flight to both destinations.

In Southeast Asia KLM is increasing services to its successful destination Denpasar (Bali, Indonesia) from four to five times a week, with a stopover in Singapore. 

In conjunction with Delta Air Lines the capacity to Mumbai (India) will be increased this winter season with the use of an Airbus 330-300.

 
Fleet
KLM continues to invest in clean and efficient aircraft in order to guarantee its customers optimal service. After this winter the complete medium-distance fleet will consist of a new generation of Boeing 737 aircraft. Two new Airbus 330-300s will be added to the long-haul fleet.