KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has restored its North American network of destinations to practically back to its 2019 level, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet whilst the destinations may be back on the schedule, seating capacity and flight frequencies are still far below that of 2019 and it might be some time before pre-pandemic levels are achieved. However, the Dutch airline says it is prepared for an increase in demand and will amend its schedules accordingly.
Changes compared to 2019
There will be a total of 16 North American destinations in the summer of 2021. That is one destination less compared to the summer of 2019, namely Salt Lake City. However, KLM will continue to offer a direct flight from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City in cooperation with its partner Delta Air Lines.
KLM intends to add Las Vegas and Minneapolis over the summer, but this will depend on the end of travel restrictions between the United States and Europe.
In its winter schedule, which runs from 31 October 2021 through 26 March 2022, KLM will add two new destinations to its North American network: the Mexican resort of Cancun and Orlando in the American state of Florida.
The frequency of flights to the destinations this summer will be lower than in the summer of 2019. Both the frequency and seating capacity vary per destination. Thanks to the increasing rate of vaccination and the gradual reopening of Europe and also the United States, we expect that these numbers will gradually increase. We are very agile when it comes to planning our network and of course we consider market demand.
Book and travel comfortably with KLM
KLM offers its customers maximum flexibility when booking, changing or cancelling a trip. KLM has also implemented the highest level of hygiene standards this year, before, during and after the flight. KLM was recently awarded the Diamond APEX certification for its efforts, which means that KLM is now one of the leading airlines in the field of hygiene and health safety. KLM of course complies with all government travel restrictions and regulations.
KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers, said: "It's very positive that our North American destination network has practically returned to its original level, in terms of the number of destinations. North America is an important market for KLM. This relationship goes far back, illustrated by the fact that this year we commemorate 75 years of flights to New York. Hopefully the travel restrictions for the United States, Canada and Mexico will be reduced soon, offering our passengers more opportunities to travel once again to North America. An internationally valid vaccination passport would be very helpful for this."
 |
| Photo patrick kop |
More top stories you might be interested in.....
Follow this site here.
