KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will resume own services to Budapest Airport Ferihegy on 29 October 2010.

Budapest was previously served in codeshare with and operated by Malév Hungarian Airlines and from 29 October, KLM will be discontinuing its cooperation with Malév.

KLM will operate itself the new scheduled service using Boeing 737 equipment. With three daily services, the market will be well served for both local and connecting traffic. With the reintroduction of Budapest, KLM now operates flights to 63 medium-haul destinations.

KLM press release, Amstelveen – 2010-06-24

With effect from the start of the new winter schedule on 31 October 2010, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will launch scheduled service between Amsterdam and Kigali International Airport in Rwanda. Kigali will then become KLM’s 64th intercontinental destination.

Five flights a week will be offered to Kigali with an intermediate stopover in Entebbe. The flights will be operated using Airbus A330-200 equipment. This aircraft type offers seats for 243 passengers; 30 in World Business Class and 213 in Economy Class.

KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman: “Adding Kigali as a new destination strengthens KLM’s position in East Africa. This region is of key importance to the extensive Air France-KLM network.”

Together with partner airline Kenya Airways, KLM will offer Kigali as the 5th destination served directly in East Africa, along with Nairobi, Entebbe, Kilimanjaro and Dar Es Salaam. KLM-Kenya Airways operates a total of 41 weekly flights between East Africa and Europe.

With effect from 31 October 2010, flight KL563 will depart from Schiphol on Tuesdays,Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 10:15 hours, arriving the same day in Kigali at 21:25 hours. The return flights (KL564) will depart from Kigali on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 22:30 hours, arriving a day later in Amsterdam at 08:15 hours. Flights to this new destination can be booked from Thursday, 24 June using the reservations systems or online via www.klm.com.

KLM press release, Amstelveen, 23 June 2010

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will deploy more than its usual maximum capacity to bring stranded passengers home. Effective Thursday, 22 April, KLM will operate its entire intercontinental schedule and almost all of its European services. In addition, KLM will operate extra flights to ensure that passengers and cargo are transported more quickly.

This is possible through cooperation with SkyTeam partners. KLM will also adjust its network in such a way that aircraft types offering maximum capacity are deployed on routes that have the most stranded passengers.

Almost all over Europe, air traffic has been suspended for five days. All airlines are therefore faced with a backlog, while new passengers are reporting for flights that are currently being operated to schedule.

KLM has swiftly restored its network. As promised, this was achieved within 48 hours, says KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman. “We are doing whatever we can. Together with our partners Delta Airlines and Kenya Airways we are working flat-out to get our passengers and cargo to their destinations as quickly as possible. I am proud of the KLM family, because we have pulled together and achieved this in a very short space of time,” said Mr. Hartman.

Delta Airlines will take on three KLM flights for the coming period (New York JFK and Atlanta ATL), freeing up capacity for KLM. Our partner Kenya Airways will deploy a larger aircraft type on the Nairobi-Amsterdam route. Extra capacity will also be deployed on the routes to Curacao, Paramaribo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai, Osaka, Lima, Sao Paulo, San Francisco and Cairo.

KLM press release, Amstelveen – 2010-04-22

Tuesday 20 April, 2010, from 08:00 hours CEST more than 30 intercontinental flights arrived at Schiphol. KLM is also operating all intercontinental flights from Schiphol to all but six destinations. Services to Mexico City, Lima, Osaka, Manilla, Montreal and Entebbe have been cancelled.

On Tuesday more than half of all European KLM flights will be operated and KLM is expecting this to increase in the days ahead. The aim is to operate according to the flight schedule as soon as possible. KLM is also making use of the networks of its SkyTeam partners.

KLM advises passengers to check the KLM website to see whether their flight is due to depart before travelling to Schiphol.

KLM press release, Amstelveen – 2010-04-20

The new hold baggage rules on Air France and KLM flights: 1, 2, 3 or 4 bags carried free of charge on the entire network

Starting on 28 March 2010, Air France and KLM will be extending their hold baggage transport rules that already apply for passengers travelling between Europe and the United States and Canada to the rest of the network. The policy is in line with industry standards.

Before, two different rules existed depending on the destination (piece concept or weight concept). From now on, only the piece concept will be used for all tickets issued as from 28 March 2010.

These new measures, more beneficial for customers than before, will enable Air France and KLM passengers to check in up to 3 bags free of charge weighing up to 23kg each depending on the cabin class.

Flying Blue members as from Silver status will be able to check in an additional bag of up to 23kg, whatever their travel class. Up to now, they benefited from an additional baggage allowance only on routes on which the weight concept applied (Silver 5kg, Gold 10kg and Platinum 20kg).

Air France and KLM are thus confirming their intent to maintain the essential free services and to simplify travel procedures with services which are easier to use and understand for everyone.

• One basic rule which is easier to understand and more beneficial to the customers

Weight of each bag maximum 23kg – size: 158 cm (sum of the three 3 dimensions)

Click to view details

Air France press release, Wednesday 10 March 2010