KLM Increasing Summer Capacity on European Routes

KLM is increasing summer capacity on European routes by 10% over last year, bringing it close to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

As a result of the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, 16 million seats will be available across 96 European locations, with the Dutch carrier expecting business travel to resume.

As part of the carrier’s summer schedule, which begins on 27th March, the frequency on routes from the United Kingdom to the carrier’s Amsterdam hub will be increased.

On lines to Germany, Poland, and Portugal, more capacity is being added as well.

However, because of the conflict in Ukraine, services to Kyiv, St. Petersburg, and Moscow remain stopped.

KLM stated that it was closely monitoring events in the region.

The summer itinerary includes Belgrade, Dubrovnik, and Palma, which were added to the KLM route network last year.

Long-haul capacity will be boosted by 17% over last year, with a focus on the Caribbean with daily flights to Aruba and Bonaire, as well as twice-daily service to Curacao during the summer peak.

With three flights per week from Amsterdam, the new destination of Port of Spain has been added to the summer program.

With the restart of flights to Salt Lake City and the addition of three weekly flights to Austin, capacity to the United States has returned to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, bringing the total number of destinations to 12.

As more Asian countries reopen, demand for locations such as the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Bali is booming.

According to the airline, “Although Covid-19 travel restrictions vary from country to country, summer India too has indicated that it will be easing travel restrictions. KLM will respond by increasing frequencies to Delhi and Mumbai.

“Travel restrictions continue to apply in China, which means we cannot yet resume our usual network services to China.

“Due to EU sanctions against Russia, KLM is not operating in Russian airspace.

“Flight times to and from South Korea, Japan and China are consequently on average two hours longer than usual. Flights to Japan and China are currently making a stopover in Seoul.”

Most routes to South America have returned to “more or less” pre-pandemic levels of capacity.

“We are currently operating daily services to Sao Paulo, Panama City and Lima, with a minimum of six flights a week to Quito/Guayaquil, Bogota/Cartagena, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires/Santiago de Chile,” KLM added.

Additionally, ten African destinations will be served, with enhanced capacity on many routes. Johannesburg, Cape Town, Accra, Lagos, Kigali, Entebbe, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar are all part of the African network.