Air France and KLM to offer 4.6% Increase in Capacity for Summer 2008

The summer schedule of Air France and KLM posts a 4.6% increase in capacity for summer 2008 in terms of available seat-kms compared with summer 2007. This breaks down into 5.1% for the long-haul network and 3.2% for short and medium-haul routes.

On long-haul routes, KLM will be offering Panama in Latin America as a new destination and, in cooperation with Northwest Airlines, expands its network of transatlantic routes from both Amsterdam as well as London Heathrow. As of summer 2008, Air France will be implementing its Joint Venture agreement with its U.S. partner Delta, including a strengthened position of the partnership in London, Europe’s biggest market for traffic across the North Atlantic.

In the medium-haul sector, Air France is offering 3 new destinations out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle and boosting capacity out of its Lyon hub, while KLM adds Linköping in Sweden as a new route in Europe and expands capacity on various other medium haul routes.

From Schiphol, KLM and its partners offer 5 new destinations as of this summer of which Linköping and Nantes strengthen the  medium-haul network while Dallas Fort-Worth, Portland and Panama are added to the long-haul network. These new destinations add to the accessibility of the Amsterdam region for international companies. In Summer 2008 KLM’s overall capacity increases with 5.4% which breaks down in 5.9% for the long-haul network and 3.4% for the medium-haul network.

KLM will increase capacity on the Asian continent by 7% with additional frequencies and larger aircraft. The intention is to further increase operations to China with additional frequencies to Chengdu (from 3 to 4 times per week) and Shanghai (from 10 to 14 times per week) which increases KLM’s operation into China to 32 weekly frequencies.

Also in India, KLM will add capacity with an additional frequency to Hyderabad, serving this destination with 5 flights per week.

In the central Asian region, the service to Almaty (Kazakhstan) is increased from 5 to 6 times per week, using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.  

Finally, KLM will increase capacity on Manila through deployment of its brand new Boeing 777-300 ER on 3 out of the 7 weekly non stop flights.

In Summer 2008, KLM will continue to grow in the Latin American network increasing capacity with 20%. As of March 30, KLM will start a new 3-weekly service to Panama City using MD-11 aircraft. Through the codeshare agreement with COPA Airlines, customers can benefit from the wide range of destinations in Central and South America beyond Panama. 

The service to Lima is increased from 6 to 7 flights per week compared to last summer, while more capacity is added to São Paulo route through up gauging 4 out of 7 flights to the Boeing 777-300 ER.

Through its successful transatlantic joint venture with Northwest Airlines, KLM will demonstrate a balanced growth for its capacity and frequencies on the transatlantic routes. KLM will increase capacity on these routes with a total of 5%. KLM will start its new daily service to Dallas-Fort Worth, operated by an Airbus A330-200.

In comparison with the previous summer, KLM will increase frequencies on flights from Amsterdam to Toronto (from 12 to 13 flights per week). On the route Amsterdam-Detroit, KLM will operate a daily service this summer. Together with Northwest Airlines, this route will be served 5 times per day.

Northwest Airlines will start its new daily service from Amsterdam to Portland, operated by an Airbus A330-200. Compared to last summer, Northwest Airlines will add a 2nd daily service from Amsterdam to New York (Newark). Both frequencies are operated by a Boeing 757 (transatlantic configuration). The route Amsterdam-Memphis will be served during the whole summer season by an Airbus A330-300.  Out of London Heathrow, Northwest Airlines will gradually start 3 new daily services to Minneapolis, Detroit and Seattle.

In Europe, KLM will increase capacity in summer by 3% through additional frequencies and a new destination: Linköping. On March 30, 2008, KLM will begin operating twice-daily Fokker 70 jet service between Amsterdam and Linköping, Sweden. This makes KLM the first major international airline to serve a Swedish destination outside the major metropolitan areas.

From Amsterdam, a new service is introduced to Nantes, operated by Air France using Embraer regional aircraft.

KLM increases its frequency to St. Petersburg from 3 to 4 times per week as per start of the summer, with the intention to grow to a daily operation during the summer.

Compared to last summer, KLM increases frequencies to Bergen in Norway and to Istanbul with one additional daily flight each. Frequency to Kristiansand in southern Norway is increased with two additional weekly flights.

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