Now that the entire world from the Netherlands is on code orange, KLM is taking into account that the number of flights will be further reduced. A spokesperson said this to NU.nl on Wednesday when asked.
Now that the entire world from the Netherlands is on code orange, KLM is taking into account that the number of flights will be further reduced. A spokesperson said this to NU.nl on Wednesday when asked.
“The exact impact is not yet clear at the moment, but the fact is that less demand for airline tickets from the Dutch market may have consequences for the number of flights operated by KLM,” said the spokesman. KLM flies less than half of the number of flights this month compared to December last year.
From Wednesday, all countries and areas in the world have at least the travel advice orange, which means that travel is not recommended unless absolutely necessary. “Do not book a holiday”, is also the advice of the national government.
KLM states that the new travel advice is “a hard measure” “that will further deteriorate the economic recovery of aviation.” It is not the case that airlines no longer fly at all when countries are on orange.
According to KLM, there are several reasons why people still fly to those countries. “Such as transporting aid workers or diplomats, and non-Dutch nationals who fly via Schiphol and have no or different travel advice from their national government.”
KLM and other airlines also transport a lot of cargo and, since the start of the corona crisis, increasingly also medical supplies. “That is independent of the coding of the country in question.”
Transavia does not just stop flying
Transavia currently flies to the Canary Islands about eight times a week. That area was still code yellow, but is now also orange. “We will never just stop the flights,” said a spokesman for the airline.
Transavia also flies to other countries that have been orange for some time. “We are looking at whether we can make further adjustments to our network.”
Compared to the same time last year, Transavia still flies about 20 percent of the network, with 15 percent of the passengers.
