KLM to adjust capacity to market circumstances in summer schedule 2003

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will adjust capacity to many destinations during the summer of 2003 due to market circumstances. Capacity on some routes will be trimmed by deploying smaller aircraft or reducing flight frequencies.

Elsewhere, on routes that traditionally attract more passengers in summer than in winter, KLM will increase frequency and/or capacity. On balance, KLM will withdraw a Boeing 747-300 and some regional turboprop aircraft from operations at the start of the summer schedule. A second Boeing 747-300 and a third Fokker 50 may be withdrawn from operations during the second half of the summer schedule.

The 2003 summer schedule begins on Sunday, March 30, and ends on Saturday, October 25.

Europe

Two new European destinations will be added to the KLM network: Trondheim (Norway) and Bern (Switzerland). The twice-daily roundtrip service to Trondheim will be operated by KLM cityhopper with Fokker 70 equipment. The thrice-daily roundtrips between Amsterdam and the Swiss capital of Bern will be operated by Air Alps.

The summer schedule will see increased daily frequencies to the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Munich, Istanbul, Athens, Lisbon, Nice, Rome, Venice and Bologna. Frequencies to the following destinations will be trimmed: London City, Cardiff, Humberside, Leeds/Bradford, Stuttgart and Hannover.

Intercontinental

· In Asia, KLM will intensify codesharing with China Southern Airlines, raising the number of roundtrips between Amsterdam and Shanghai from three to five.

· In Africa, KLM will add the cities of Durban and Port Elizabeth to its network through codesharing with the South African regional carrier Comair. KLM will take over daily roundtrip between Amsterdam and Casablanca, currently operated by Transavia. Owing to ongoing political unrest in the Ivory Coast, KLM flights to Abidjan remain suspended until further notice.

· In Central and South America, KLM will reduce frequency to São Paulo by one weekly flight. Frequencies to the Dutch Antilles and Bonaire will be increased.

· In the Middle East, KLM will reduce weekly flight frequencies to Amman and Damascus, and operate an additional flight to Almaty. Flights to Tel Aviv will be operated with a Boeing 737-800 during the summer of 2003.

Cargo

With the delivery of two new Boeing 747-400 Extended Range Freighters, KLM Cargo will be able to better serve is customers in specific markets.

Freighter capacity to Singapore, Osaka/Tokyo will be supplemented with freighter capacity to Hong Kong, in addition to the daily combi flights.

Since January 9, 2003, freighter flights to Osaka have made an intermediate landing in Almaty instead of Anchorage. The Almaty cargo market is commercially  attractive and KLM Cargo is currently the only provider of freighter capacity in the Kazakhstan capital. The alternative route also reduces flying time to Osaka.