KLM will expand its transatlantic capacity this winter, with
nearly all destinations restored and intercontinental flights at about 75 per cent
of their 2019 capacity, the carrier announced.
As the United States has confirmed 8 November as its
reopening date to vaccinated travellers from Europe, KLM will increase capacity
to several US cities, including nearly doubling its service to Atlanta to 12
flights per week and increasing service to New York's John F Kennedy
International airport to 11 flights a week. KLM will also fly three weekly
flights to each Las Vegas, Miami and Minneapolis for its winter schedule.
KLM reports "a sharp rise in demand" for travel to
the Caribbean from the Netherlands, and it is expanding capacity on routes
including Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire. Three of KLM's four new destinations are
in the region: Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Bridgetown, Barbados,
both of which started on 16 October, and Cancún, Mexico, which will start on 2 November.
KLM's fourth new destination for the winter will be Mombasa,
Kenya, which is scheduled to start in early December pending approval from
Kenyan authorities, according to the airline.
Service to San José and Liberia in Costa Rica has doubled
compared with last winter to four flights per week, according to KLM. The
carrier has also increased capacity to Paramaribo, Suriname to four flights per
week, compared with one flight last winter.
For its European network, KLM said it has seen "a sharp
rise in demand for both holiday and business travel”. The carrier plans to
operate about 84 per cent of its pre-pandemic European capacity over the
winter, including at least five daily flights to each Berlin, London, Paris and
Munich.