KLM announces 2004 Summer Schedule

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will this summer restore capacity to the level it originally projected last year. KLM cut back capacity substantially during the 2003/04 summer and winter schedules, in response to declining demand as a result of the SARS crisis.

The upcoming summer schedule commences on Sunday, March 28, 2004, and ends on Saturday, October 30, 2004.

KLM will launch scheduled services to the new destinations Riga in Latvia and Kristiansand in Norway at the start of the 2004 summer schedule. In addition, KLM will adjust flight frequency and switch aircraft types on many routes, in response to traffic developments.

Europe

The new roundtrip services to Riga and Kristiansand will be operated by KLM cityhopper with Fokker 70 aircraft. Riga will be served twice daily and Kristiansand once daily.

Services to Bristol, Budapest, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hanover will be reduced by one flight a day, but larger aircraft types will be deployed on most of these routes.

North America

KLM and Northwest Airlines will further extend their successful joint venture this summer, with additional KLM-operated services to Minneapolis and Houston. Flight frequency between Amsterdam and Minneapolis will be raised from two to three daily roundtrips, while frequency between Amsterdam and Houston will increase from seven to nine weekly roundtrips.

The number of weekly roundtrips between Amsterdam and Miami will be reduced from seven to five.

KLM will deploy its new Boeing 777-200 ERs on routes to New York JFK and San Francisco in the summer of 2004.

Capacity will be increased on daily services to Toronto by deploying Boeing 747-400s instead of Boeing 777s.

Central & South America

Flight frequency to Caracas will be raised from four to five weekly roundtrips as of May 1, 2004.

Services to São Paulo will be operated by Boeing 777s in the summer of 2004.

Asia / Pacific

This summer, KLM will begin exercising its extended landing rights for China and Japan, operating daily roundtrips to Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. Several weekly flights to Shanghai and Tokyo will be operated with Boeing 777 equipment.

Frequency to Almaty will be raised from three to four weekly roundtrips.

Africa

Frequency to Cape Town will be reduced from seven to five weekly roundtrips in response to seasonal traffic fluctuations. In the summer, these daytime flights will be operated with Boeing 777 equipment.

Frequency on the Kilimanjaro and Dar-es-Salaam routes will be reduced from seven to five weekly roundtrips in April and May, which mark the rain season in these popular tourist destinations, traditionally resulting in a decline in traffic on these routes.

KLM's flights to Cairo will be switched to different days, but frequency will be maintained at five weekly roundtrips.

Middle East

KLM is still unable to commence services to Baghdad, owing to the continuing instability. Passengers bound for Baghdad are currently being flown to nearby Kuwait.

The daily services to Dubai will be operated with Boeing 777 equipment during the summer.