KLM has announced that it is gradually rebuilding its European and international route network. On June 20th, the Dutch airline shared that it hoped to build its capacity back up to over 75% in July with more services coming in August.
It seems that for many airlines, the worst is over. After a few months of debilitated schedules and parked fleets, many of the world’s air carriers are seeing their programs pick up. Many are still limited in exactly where they can fly. However, for Dutch airline KLM, there is a suitable workaround.
Yesterday on June 20th, KLM announced that it would be adding additional services to its July offering. Earlier in the month, the airline shared that flights in July would rise by 60% on June figures. That sum has now been quantified. KLM says that it will offer 5,000 European flights in July, which will service around 73 destinations. In addition to its European network, KLM will also increase intercontinental flights in July to 1,900.
Though these figures are a far cry from the 22,000 flights that took place in July and August 2019, next month’s services do show signs of a healthy improvement.
KLM has taken a different approach to some other carriers. Rather than operating heavily to destinations, it’s already allowed to fly to, KLM has opened up its options by allowing customers as much choice as possible. Though services to these destinations may be limited, KLM’s planned schedule means that it will service 80% of its usual European destinations in July.
In addition, it will serve 75% of its intercontinental routes, although half of these will be for cargo only. In a statement about the planned schedule, KLM said,
“The number of destinations shows a slightly different picture [to the reduced volume of flights]. KLM has opted to restart as many destinations as possible first in order to offer customers a wide choice and then to increase frequencies and capacity.”
By carrying out its operations this way, KLM can feel out demand on specific routes before it increases frequencies. It’s a smart approach in an uncertain time.
Already, KLM is planning significant growth in the coming months. It has said that in August it will operate some 11,000 flights. That’s over double what it intends to offer in July! The majority of these additional flights will fly within Europe. KLM only plans to add an extra 200 intercontinental flights in August since many will still be cargo-only.
Through this method, KLM will be able to offer 95% of its regular European schedule and 80% of its intercontinental routes.
These figures are a vast improvement on April’s dismal network where only 1,728 flights took place. And for KLM, it couldn’t have come a moment too soon. With its Voluntary Resignation Scheme in place, KLM is already looking to streamline its operation. The sooner it can generate revenue and respond to customer demand, the better its future outlook will be.
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