Amstelveen – 2005-25-07

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will be launching flights between Amsterdam and Hyderabad in India on commencement of the forthcoming winter schedule. This represents KLM's first initiative in response to the recently expanded airline rights obtained for operations to and from India and a further expansion of KLM's global network from its Amsterdam Schiphol hub. KLM's partners Northwest Airlines and Air France will simultaneously initiate services to Bangalore in South India from Amsterdam and Paris respectively. Launching the new flights will serve to strengthen SkyTeam's position as the No. 1 alliance in the rapidly expanding Indian airline market. 

Effective October 30, KLM will initiate thrice-weekly service between Amsterdam and Hyderabad on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, operating MD-11 equipment. These flights will connect well with the transatlantic services operated by KLM and Northwest at Schiphol. Additionally, KLM will be increasing capacity on its daily service to Delhi by deploying Boeing 777 equipment instead of the MD-11.

On commencement of the new winter schedule Northwest will initiate daily roundtrip flights between Amsterdam and Bangalore using Airbus A330 equipment. At the same time, Air France will start operating five roundtrip flights a week between Paris and Bangalore using A330 equipment too. 

Launching these new SkyTeam alliance flights means that the 2005/06 winter schedule will offer a total of 77 weekly roundtrip flights to India, operated by KLM, Air France, Northwest, Alitalia, Continental and Delta. The SkyTeam destinations in India include Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

All 24 of the weekly roundtrip flights operated by KLM and Northwest from Amsterdam to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore will be carried out as part of the joint venture between the two partners. This means that all revenues and costs generated within the scope of operating these services are shared by both airlines. 

Additional Air France operates 19 weekly return flights from Paris to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

KLM and Air France offer their passengers the opportunity to fly their return services to and from India in combination via Amsterdam and Paris, where also a combination of two one-way fares applies. 

"We are very pleased with the way in which we have been able to expand in line with the strategically important Indian market," said KLM's deputy president and managing director Peter Hartman. "At KLM, we have been able to achieve this based on the recently expanded airline rights. We have of course also benefited from the growth achieved by our partners Air France and Northwest, and the prominent position of the SkyTeam alliance in India. Hyderabad is not only a new destination for KLM, but also for SkyTeam. This further strengthens the position of our Schiphol hub within the SkyTeam alliance."

In fiscal 2004/05, the number of international and domestic passengers in India grew by 22% to 42 million. The volume of goods exported over the last three years has also grown at an annual rate of more than 20%, while in the past financial year alone the figure for imports grew by 36%.

For more information:
KLM Media Relations, Bart Koster, + 31-20 649 45 45.
KLM photo material: http://www.pressllink.nl/klm/