KLM OFFERS DISCOUNT FARES ONLINE VIA KPN MOBILE NETWORK

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has started offering interactive services through the network operated by Dutch telecommunications company KPN Mobile. Subscribers with a mobile telephone equipped with Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) interactive capability can currently visit KLM’s Click & Go page and book travel through KPN’s WAP menu (M-Info).

The M-Info menu includes a separate “Onderweg” (On your way) section with the latest KLM Click & Go offers. This can be accessed every day from 13:00 hours local time, by selecting “vliegtuig” (aircraft). The facility provides direct voice contact with KLM’s reservations center for booking travel at no extra charge. Travelers pay the normal rate for their call to KLM reservations.

In principle the contract between KLM and KPN Mobile is valid for one year. KLM is currently working towards the introduction of other KLM mobile phone services, including flight delay reports through SMS (Short Message Service) and WAP, e-check-in through WAP, and Click & Go offers via SMS.

With these steps KLM is entering a swiftly growing market. The number of subscribers in the Netherlands with a WAP-equipped mobile telephone has already risen to 20,000. By 2004 current forecasts expect the number of mobile internet subscribers in Europe to have risen to approximately 220 million.