Airlines KLM restructures European network to meet demand

As Europe is gradually re-opening its borders for travel between countries again, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is preparing its Summer flight network. The Dutch carrier will not operate specific routes but will also add four new connections.

Compared to Summer 2019, where KLM served flights to 92 destinations, the airline will now fly to 96 locations. Växjo in Sweden however will be temporarily suspended. The flights to French cities Marseille and Nantes will once again be operated by partner airline Air France.

At the beginning of this year, KLM added Southampton in England, Poznan in Poland and Cork in Ireland to its route network. Now, the airline decided to add a total of four new routes within Europe to meet the rising travel demand.

Starting in May, the flag-carrier will serve flights to Belgrade on a daily basis. Verona and Palma de Mallorca, as well as Dubrovnik will be served from the end of June, seven times a week as well. Furthermore, KLM will increase the capacity for popular destinations like Ibiza or Porto for the months of July and August.

“Compared to previous years, KLM will deploy relatively more capacity to southern European destinations in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece. The expected capacity on the European flights will be 50% to 75%. However, this could still change. Color codes that apply to the destinations could change, as could the frequency of flights,“ the airline stated.

Travel restrictions for certain countries are expected to be lowered over the course of the Summer, the pandemic however is not yet over. Therefore, KLM has developed a concept that allows passengers to fly as safe and hygienically as possible.

KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers, commented: “We are extremely pleased that there are more possibilities to travel again. In this respect, we respond as flexibly as possible to market conditions. At KLM, we are prepared to carry our passengers to their destinations in a completely responsible manner. We offer our customers a flexible travel policy and the highest standard of hygiene.“

KLM is one of the largest airlines in Europe and has its operational hub at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport. The flag-carrier is flying to destinations within Europe, but also serves cities around the world.