KLM this winter will expand its transatlantic capacity, with nearly all destinations restored and intercontinental flights at about 75 percent of their 2019 capacity, the carrier announced.
As the United States has confirmed Nov. 8 as its reopening date to vaccinated travelers from Europe, KLM on that date will increase capacity to several U.S. 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 also will 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 Oct. 16, and Cancún, Mexico, which will start Nov. 2.
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 KLM.
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 also has 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 percent of its pre-pandemic European capacity over the winter, including at least five daily flights to each Berlin, London, Paris and Munich.