KLM to return to London City Airport

KLM is returning to London City Airport in 2017, with up to four services a day between London City and Amsterdam in the offing.

KLM CityHopper Embraer E-Jet – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.

The airline returns to the heart of London after an absence of 8 years.

In the first instance, the airline will operate a daily service between Amsterdam Schiphol and London City, ramping up to four services during the week and two services during the weekend.

KLM is planning the following complex timetable. Pay attention down the back. It’s… complex.

KL981 DEPART AMS 07:25 ARRIVE LCY 07:30
KL982 DEPART LCY 08:00 ARRIVE AMS 10:10

Commences 6th February 2017, Operates Monday to Friday

KL993 DEPART AMS 17:10 ARRIVE LCY 17:15
KL994 DEPART LCY 17:45 ARRIVE AMS 19:55

Commences 19th February 2017 Operates Monday to Friday and Sunday

KL985 DEPART AMS 09:25 ARRIVE LCY 09:30
KL986 DEPART LCY 10:00 ARRIVE AMS 12:10

Commences 26th March 2017 Operates Monday to Friday and Saturday

KL997 DEPART AMS 19:25 ARRIVE LCY 19:30
KL998 DEPART LCY 20:00 ARRIVE AMS 22:10

Commences 26th March 2017 Operates Monday to Friday and Sunday
Booked Equipment: Embraer E190

KLM will be using their Embraer E190 E-jets for this route. In the configuration KLM has their E190s, they seat up to 100 passengers aboard.

For KLM, it marks another point of being the UK’s regional airline as it becomes City becomes the 17th destination served in the UK by the airline.

Once the route comes up to strength, it should provide useful connectivity for passengers from the city – and should connect to KLM’s long haul network with ease.

A lot of you will know that I have a lot of time for London City Airport – mainly how you can check in with less that 30 minutes on the clock normally, and be out of the airport in under 15 minutes (if you’re doing it wrong) or 5 minutes (if you’re doing it right). Thus, seeing more connectivity to this airport is a good thing.

However, KLM may run into a bit of completion out of London City. Currently, the route is contested by:

• British Airways CityFlyer
• CityJet (who KLM codeshare with)
• FlyBe

That’s a fair bit of competition on a short route. It will be interesting to watch how this shakes out… and who’s going home for an early bath…

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