Air France-KLM 2019-2020 winter schedule: +2.5% increase in capacity

Editor -

For the 2019-2020 winter season (27 October 2019 to 28 March 2020), Air France-KLM is increasing capacity by +2.5% year over year (1), and is offering 32 new routes (3). This increase is distributed as follows:

  • +4% on the long-haul network,
  • -2% on the medium-haul and short-haul networks,
  • -1.9% for Transavia.

Long-haul: +4%

On its long-haul network, the Air France-KLM Group is increasing capacity by 4%, particularly to the Americas and Asia with Air France and to India with KLM.

The Group is offering five new routes (3) and several additional frequencies compared to the previous winter season:

  • 1 new flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle with Air France to Quito (Ecuador)
  • 4 new flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol with KLM: Boston (USA), Las Vegas (USA), Liberia (Costa Rica) and Bangalore (India).

· North America

In the United States, KLM is operating flights during the winter season for the first time to two new destinations: three weekly flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol to Boston with an Airbus A330-300 (292 seats) and three weekly flights to Las Vegas with a Boeing 787-9 (294 seats), continuing services from the summer season. Air France is also operating four additional weekly flights to Washington D.C. from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (for a total of 11 weekly flights).

In Canada, Air France's Airbus A350-900, which joined the fleet this September, is flying to Toronto throughout the winter season. The company is also increasing the number of services to Montreal with one additional weekly flight (for a total of 14 weekly flights).

· Central and South America and the Caribbean:

In Mexico, Air France is increasing the number of services to Cancun with two additional flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (up to seven weekly frequencies), operated by Boeing 777-300ER (468 seats).

In Costa Rica, KLM is starting service to Guanacaste, Liberia, with four weekly flights operated by a Boeing 787-9 (294 seats). This destination is offered as a continuation of service to San Jose.

In Ecuador, Air France is operating flights for the first time during the winter season to Quito with three weekly flights, in continuation of the 2019 summer season. This route is operated by a Boeing 787-9 (276 seats).

In Colombia, KLM is increasing the number of flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol to Bogota and Cartagena with an additional flight, i.e. six weekly frequencies.

In Brazil, KLM is operating an additional flight to Fortaleza, i.e. four weekly flights.

In Peru, Air France is increasing seat capacity to Lima by +55% with two additional flights (for a total of five weekly flights).

In Chile, Air France is operating three additional flights to Santiago de Chile, i.e. 10x weekly

In Suriname, KLM is operating an additional flight to offer its customers a total of five weekly frequencies to Paramaribo.

In the Caribbean, Air France is increasing service to Saint Martin with one additional flight (now six weekly). In addition, KLM is resuming operations of direct flights to this destination with three weekly non-stop flights. The number of seats available to Curacao is also increasing by 15% thanks to four additional flights operated by KLM (now 11x weekly).

In Guadeloupe, from 16 to 29 December, Air France is operating four additional flights to Pointe-à-Pitre, for a total of 5,616 seats.

In Martinique, from 16 to 29 December, Air France is continuing to increase capacity to the French West Indies, offering six additional flights to Fort-de-France, i.e. 17 weekly flights.

· Asia and the Middle East

In South Korea, Air France customers will be able to fly to Seoul from December 9 with its new Airbus A350-900, the latest addition to the airline’s fleet.

In Japan, Air France is increasing the number of services to Osaka and Tokyo-Haneda, with one additional flight, i.e. six and 14 weekly flights, respectively.

In China, KLM is operating 11 weekly flights to Shanghai thanks to one additional flight.

In India, KLM is flying to Bangalore for the first time during the winter season, operating three times a week with a Boeing 787-9. KLM is also offering two additional flights to Mumbai (now 5x weekly).

In the United Arab Emirates, Air France is increasing the number of flights to Dubai, offering two additional flights, for a total of 12 weekly frequencies with a Boeing 777-300ER (296 seats).

· Africa and Indian Ocean

In Kenya, Air France is increasing service to Nairobi with two additional flights (now five weekly flights). KLM customers can now fly to this destination with a Boeing 787-10, which replaces the Boeing 747-400.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Air France is increasing seat capacity by +9% to Abidjan with five additional flights (now 12 weekly flights). The destination is served by the latest-generation Airbus A350-900 aircraft until 8 December 2019 and subsequently from 10 February 2020, as a continuation of flights to Bamako.

In Chad, Air France is increasing service to N’Djamena with an additional flight, i.e. 4 weekly flights.

In Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Air France is increasing the frequency of its flights and is offering a daily flight each to Brazzaville and Kinshasa with three and four additional flights respectively.

In Reunion, from 28 October to 12 January, Air France is increasing seat capacity by +13% to Saint-Denis with two additional flights, i.e., 13 weekly flights for the peak winter season.

Medium and short-haul: -2%

In the highly competitive market environment, capacity in the medium- and short-haul sector fell by 2%. In this context, the Air France-KLM Group has chosen to launch numerous initiatives to improve its value proposition, adapt to customer demand, and enhance its service to new destinations and facilitate connections with the launch of 10 new routes (3), compared to the previous winter season.

Throughout the 2019-2020 winter season, Air France-KLM is offering five new routes –

- From Paris-Charles de Gaulle with Air France: Belgrade (Serbia), continuing from the 2019 summer season

- From Paris-Orly with Air France: Geneva (Switzerland)

- From Amsterdam-Schiphol with KLM: Naples (Italy) and Wroclaw (Poland), continuing from the 2019 summer season.

- From the French regions with Air France HOP:

  • From Brest: Amsterdam-Schiphol (Netherlands) in continuation of the 2019 summer season

During the peak winter season, Air France-KLM is offering five new routes:

- From the French regions with Air France HOP:

  • From Nice: Biarritz, Brest and Caen (France)
  • From Strasbourg: Biarritz (France)
  • From Metz: Pau (France)

Transavia: -1.9%

Transavia, the Group’s low-cost airline, is adapting to customer demand during the winter season and is consolidating its network from all its bases in France (Orly, Lyon and Nantes) and in the Netherlands (Amsterdam-Schiphol, Rotterdam and Eindhoven) with 17 new routes (3) compared to the previous winter season.

- From Paris-Orly: Lanzarote (Spain), Fuerteventura (Spain) and Ouarzazate (Morocco) for the first time, as well as Catania (Sicily, Italy), Reykjavik (Iceland), Nador (Morocco), Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Tirana (Albania) in continuation of the 2019 summer season.

- From Lyon: Beirut (Lebanon).

- From Nantes: Geneva (Switzerland) and Istanbul (Turkey) for the first time, as well as Oran (Algeria) and Tunis (Tunisia) in continuation of the 2019 summer season.

- From Amsterdam-Schiphol: Amman (Jordan), Reykjavik (Iceland).

- From Rotterdam: Tangier (Morocco).

(1)Capacity measured in available seat-kilometres compared to the 2018-2019 winter schedule.

(2)Compared to the 2018-2019 winter season.

(3)Air traffic route: service connecting an airport to another.