KLM will increase flight frequency to various destinations in the summer of 2002…
KLM will again be issuing a printed timetable this summer, because alterations are less likely to occur than in the months following the September 11 terrorists attacks in the U.S. last year. KLM will also be introducing various service innovations and altering aircraft configurations in the summer of 2002.
North America
KLM and Northwest Airlines will be increasing the number of joint-venture services to Newark, San Francisco and Vancouver. Daily roundtrip flights will be operated to all these cities as of March 9. KLM will again take over all Vancouver services currently operated by Martinair.
Capacity to Detroit, Los Angeles and Montreal will also be increased during the course of the summer.
Europe
KLM will raise frequency on the Amsterdam-Athens route from three to four daily roundtrips as of June 3, 2002.
KLM cityhopper will take over the last Eurowings and Braathens services to Germany and Norway this summer.
During the course of the summer, Thalys high-speed rail services will gradually replace KLM flights on the Amsterdam-Antwerp route. KLM will continue to operate a single daily roundtrip in April, May and June, but as of July all services will be operated by Thalys trains, a total of six daily roundtrips. KLM and Thalys recently began offering passengers the option of using their KLM ticket to travel by train on the Amsterdam-Antwerp route.
The Middle East
Frequencies to Teheran, Almaty, Doha, Beirut, Damascus and Amman will be increased as of March 9. KLM will begin operating daily roundtrips to Damascus and Amman with Boeing 737-800 aircraft. KLM will also operate daily roundtrips to Dubai this summer. Muscat will temporarily be suspended as a direct destination in the KLM network.
Asia/Pacific
KLM will raise flight frequency to Beijing from three to four roundtrips a week as of April 1.
Africa
As usual, the flight frequency to Dar es Salaam will again be reduced this summer. In March, KLM will operate five weekly flights, and in subsequent months this will be reduced to four. KLM will resume daily service to Dar es Salaam as of June 17.
The number of weekly flights to Cairo will be raised to six as of March 9, and to seven as of May 26.
Central & South America
KLM will keep pace with the traditional summer peak by raising the number of weekly flights to Paramaribo to five, and to the Netherlands Antilles to seven. Passengers will welcome the fact that one of the weekly flights on the Amsterdam-Curacao route will fly nonstop both ways. Frequency to Caracas will be raised from six to seven flights a week as of June 19.
Service innovations
KLM will be improving the catering product in World Business Class this summer. Instead of serving the starter and main course on a single tray, WBC passengers will be served a three-course meal as of this summer. Because the starter, main course and dessert will be served separately, cabin attendants will be able to give far more personal attention to passengers.
KLM will also be changing the crockery and altering the tea assortment. The special supper arrangement, frequently requested by passengers who wish to get to sleep early on night flights, will be available from 21:30 hours instead of 22:00 hours.
Configuration changes
The highly-rated improvement of World Business Class aboard KLM`s Boeing 747 and MD-11 fleet, offering passengers a lot more legroom, will also be introduced on KLM`s Boeing 767s. Owing to shifts in travel demand, KLM will alter the configuration aboard its Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 737-300s and 400s. World Business Class will become slightly smaller aboard all these aircraft types, resulting in a concomitant increase in Economy Class. This will amount to eight extra seats on average aboard KLM`s Boeing 737s this summer. This configuration adjustment will be rounded off aboard the Boeing 747 fleet during the course of the summer.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
