Air France - KLM to Increase Capacity 5.5% This Winter

For the 2017-2018 winter season (from October 29, 2017 to March 24, 2018), Air France-KLM is continuing its growth strategy by offering 52 new services.

The group is increasing capacity by 5.5 percent compared to the previous winter season. Growth will be driven by the long-haul passenger network (+ 4.7 percent), the medium- and short-haul passenger network (+ 5.5 percent) and Transavia’s low-cost operations (+14.6 percent).

On its long-haul network, Air France-KLM will operate 10 new services this winter:

  • Two destinations from Paris-Charles de Gaulle operated by Air France: Chicago (United States) and Malé (Maldives);
  • One destination from Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) operated by Air France: Atlanta (United States).
  • Seven destinations from Amsterdam-Schiphol operated by KLM: Cartagena (Colombia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Mauritius (Republic of Mauritius), Minneapolis (United States), Monrovia (Liberia), Mumbai (India) and San José (Costa Rica)

North America

In the United States, Air France will take over Delta's flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Chicago-O'Hare by Airbus A330 up to five times a week. On the Paris-Charles de Gaulle - San Francisco route, a Boeing 777, equipped with the La Première cabins, will operate daily, all year round. In Boston, the Boeing 787 will operate daily. Finally, on departure from Point-à-Pitre, Air France will offer two weekly frequencies by Airbus A320 to Atlanta, Delta's hub. KLM will continue to serve Minneapolis from Amsterdam-Schiphol, which started on March 27, 2017, with three weekly frequencies. The route will be operated by Boeing 787 from October 29. This offer will be in addition to the two weekly frequencies operated by Delta , the Air France-KLM group’s transatlantic partner. KLM will operate flights to Miami until the end of the 2017-2018 winter season.

In Canada, customers will benefit from the Boeing 787 on the Paris-Charles de Gaulle-Toronto route by Air France and Amsterdam-Schiphol – Calgary by KLM. 

In Mexico, Air France will continue to expand on departures from its hub. To Mexico City, seat capacity will be significantly increased with a daily flight by Airbus A380, in continuation of the summer season. To Cancun, a frequency will be added by Boeing 777, bringing the route to five weekly flights.

Central and South America

In Costa Rica, Air France will increase capacity to San José with an additional flight, i.e. three weekly services for the winter season. KLM will launch flights to the new destination of San José from its Amsterdam-Schiphol hub with two weekly frequencies, operated by Boeing 787. Customers will also be able to fly to Costa Rica thanks to the Amsterdam-Schiphol – Panama route which offers an onward flight to San José operated on a code-share basis by Copa Airlines or thanks to the direct flight operated by Air France from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. 

In Brazil, Air France and KLM will increase capacity to Sao Paulo, respectively offering up to 14 and seven weekly frequencies. Air France will operate the route by Boeing 787 as of February 2018. KLM will also increase its flight frequencies to Rio de Janeiro thanks to a daily flight by Boeing 787. 

In Panama, both airlines will operate flights to Panama City with seven weekly frequencies, notably by Boeing 787 operated by Air France as of December 2017.

In Argentina, KLM will increase capacity to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile (Chile) with an additional frequency. Air France will suspend services to Montevideo as a continuation of Buenos Aires to increase daily capacity to the Argentine capital.

To the Caribbean, KLM will respond to strong demand by offering additional flights to Curaçao from December 2017 to February 2018. Finally, KLM will continue to serve Cartagena, started during the 2017 summer season, as a continuation of Bogota, with three frequencies weekly operated by Boeing 787.

Asia and the Middle East

In Greater China, passengers to and from Hong Kong will benefit from the latest Air France travel cabins daily on board its Boeing 777, in continuation of the 2017 summer season. KLM will increase seat capacity by nine percent to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China as well as Seoul, South Korea.

In Japan, Air France will increase capacity with an additional flight to Tokyo-Haneda and a 29 percent increase in seat capacity to Tokyo-Narita. KLM will offer an additional frequency to Osaka with six weekly frequencies.

To Thailand, customers will benefit from more seats in the Business cabin daily on flights operated by Air France.

In India, the Air France-KLM group will benefit from the commercial cooperation with its partner Jet Airways, thanks to better connections to Chennai from Paris and Bangalore from Amsterdam. These two new code-share routes will enable Delta and Air France-KLM to benefit from a stronger network over the North Atlantic and to offer customers continuous and improved service. Air France will operate a daily flight to Bangalore by Boeing 777 equipped with the latest travel cabins. Finally, KLM will strengthen its position in the region by launching its new Amsterdam-Schiphol – Mumbai route operated three times a week from October 29, 2017 and by adding an additional flight to Colombo by Boeing 787, operated three times a week.

Africa and Indian Ocean

In West Africa, Air France will operate three weekly flights to Accra (Ghana), a daily flight between Bamako and Abidjan by Boeing 787 and a direct service to Ouagadougou with five weekly frequencies.

In Angola and Congo, Air France’s multi-stop flight Paris-Charles de Gaulle - Luanda - Kinshasa will be replaced by direct flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle with three weekly flights respectively in continuation of the 2017 summer season.

In Nigeria, Air France will adapt its flight schedule for the winter season with a daily flight to Lagos and four weekly frequencies to Abuja-Port Harcourt.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone, KLM will continue to service Monrovia and Freetown with three weekly frequencies.

In South Africa, Air France will increase the number of frequencies to Cape Town from three to five weekly flights. Johannesburg will be served by the Airbus A380.

To the Indian Ocean, the Group will respond to the strong demand of tourist travelers by launching flights to two new destinations. Air France will serve Malé (Maldives) with two weekly flights as from November 1. KLM will launch the Amsterdam-Schiphol – Mauritius route operated by Boeing 787 on the basis of three flights a week as from October 30. Air France will also operate 11 weekly frequencies to Mauritius during the high season, in addition to those operated by Air Mauritius as part of the joint venture.

Medium- and Short-haul Network

On its medium- and short-haul network, the group will offer 16 new services this winter:

  • From Paris-Charles de Gaulle operated by Air France: Marrakech (Morocco), Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Porto (Portugal);
  • From Amsterdam-Schiphol operated by KLM: Catania (Italy), Gdansk (Poland) Graz (Austria), London-City Airport (United Kingdom), Malaga (Spain), Porto (Portugal);

From the French regions operated by HOP! Air France:

  • From Montpellier: Algiers (Algeria);
  • From Nantes: Hamburg (Germany);
  • From Lyon: Nuremberg (Germany) and Rouen (France)
  • From Bordeaux: Düsseldorf (Germany);
  • From Strasbourg: Rennes (France)
  • From Caen: Toulouse (France).

On departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air France will operate two new services this winter: Marrakech (Morocco), Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Porto (Portugal) in continuation of the summer season.

Joon will launch its medium-haul flights from December 1 to:

  • Barcelona (Spain): 51 weekly flights
  • Berlin (Germany): 37 weekly flights
  • Porto (Portugal): three weekly flights
  • Lisbon (Portugal): 28 weekly flights

In continuation of the summer season, KLM will continue to serve Catania (Italy), Gdansk (Poland), Graz (Austria), London-City (UK), Malaga (Spain) and Porto (Portugal). For the 2017-2018 winter season, the company will reinforce its medium-haul network by increasing flight frequencies to Athens (Greece), Aalborg (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Helsinki (Finland), Gothenburg (Sweden), Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Nuremberg (Germany), Rome (Italy) and Stuttgart (Germany).

On departure from the French regions, HOP! Air France will increase its network capacity with seven new routes:

  • To Germany: Nantes – Hamburg and Bordeaux – Düsseldorf with three weekly flights;
  • To Algeria: Montpellier - Algiers with two weekly flights;
  • To the French regions: Strasbourg - Rennes and Caen – Toulouse with four weekly flights, as well as Lyon – Rouen and Lyon – Nuremberg in continuation of the summer season. 

New Partnerships

For the 2017-2018 winter season, the group will offer a wider choice of destinations and connections for passengers traveling between India and Europe via Paris and Amsterdam thanks to the extension of existing code-share agreements with Jet Airways.

The joint venture between Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta will provide customers with access to more than 270 destinations beyond 27 North American cities and offers more than 215 destinations beyond the 30 European gateways.

To maintain its position as European leader in terms of capacity from Europe to China, Air France-KLM will continue its strategic joint venture with China Eastern from the main hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol to Shanghai, while maintaining its agreements with China Southern and Xiamen Airlines.

The signing of a new joint venture between Air France and Vietnam Airlines, partners since 2010, will soon enable customers to benefit from a combined offer as well as improved and enhanced connections thanks to adapted flight schedules to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Hanoi-Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City-Tan Son Nhat.

With its partner GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, customers of the Air France-KLM group will benefit from 50 Brazilian destinations.

The partnership between KLM and Kenya Airways will provide customers with access to a vast network to East Africa and several connecting opportunities from Nairobi. The two partners will continue to develop their code-share network, among others with the addition of KLM’s code-share to the new destination Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), operated by Kenya Airways.

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