KLM NEWS
Seasonal changes
KLM will launch a new service between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Kigali International Airport from October 31, when the airline’s winter schedule begins. The five flights a week to the Rwandan capital will be operated using Airbus A330- 200 aircraft, and will make an intermediate stopover in Entebbe.
Kigali will be KLM’s fifth destination served directly in East Africa together with its partner airline Kenya Airways. Other destinations include Nairobi, Entebbe, Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam.
Another change in KLM’s winter timetable is the resumption of KLM’s own services to Budapest Airport Ferihegy. Budapest was previously served in a code- share operation with Malév Hungarian Airlines.
From October 29, KLM will be discontinuing its co-operation with Malév. KLM will operate the new thrice-daily scheduled service to Budapest using Boeing 737 aircraft.
Tee time
The KLM Open tees off at the Hilversumsche Golf Club in The Netherlands this month. The prestigious golf tournament, which takes place from September 9-12, annually attracts a healthy number of Dutch golfing stars as well as international names. KLM has always had a firm affinity with golf as a sport, and has committed itself as sponsor of the Open until 2012, at least. Meanwhile, if you’re a Flying Blue member (or aspiring member), visit the Flying Blue Golf Club at www.fbgolfclub.com for great tips, advice and ‘links’ to further your game. See also People & Planet, page 89.
JV for Alitalia
Italy’s leading airline, Alitalia, has joined the AIR FRANCE KLM Group and Delta Air Lines as a member of the airline industry’s foremost transatlantic joint venture. Launched in April 2009, the multi-party agreement created a single, coordinated network for customers flying across the Atlantic, allowing member airlines to share revenues and costs on their transatlantic routes.
The four-way joint venture offers almost 250 flights and approximately 55,000 seats each day, now including 20 daily transatlantic flights to five US destinations from Rome, and Milan Malpensa airports. Rome joins Amsterdam, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York JFK and Paris Charles De Gaulle as the core hubs of the joint venture.
Interline agreement with Jetstar
AIR FRANCE, KLM and the Jetstar Group of Airlines have formed an interline partnership, which will enable customers to travel more easily to nearly 60 ‘ports’ throughout the Asia Pacific region via the three main hubs of Amsterdam, Paris Charles De Gaulle, and Singapore. Passengers can enjoy new opportunities and more choice with the combined services and fares, and can benefit from facilities such as through- baggage check-in.
Chocó preservation
Destination Nature is a KLM programme that contributes to the sustainable development and biodiversity at the places the airline flies to. Besides offering financial support for specific projects, KLM actively promotes the nature conservation objectives of the organisations it works with. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) projects are included in the Destination Nature programme, and focus on various regions around the world where the balance of nature is under threat.
One of these is the Chocó ‘eco-region’, which stretches from Panama, through Colombia, to Ecuador. Industrial agriculture and other economic activities have destroyed parts of Chocó, with 154,000 hectares of forest disappearing every year. WWF is striving to preserve Chocó by implementing various field activities. These include setting up biological investigations to determine which areas should be preserved, and promoting sustainable production methods.
Further details about KLM’s Destination Nature programme can be found on klm. com/csr – scroll down under ‘The Community’.
On the green
KLM has been recognised as a pioneer in initiating sustainability policies. But while the airline has taken the lead within its own organisation, it also looks for sustainability solutions in the events it supports.
Take the KLM Open for instance (see KLM News, page 87). Its organisers, sponsors and partners – including KLM – are endeavouring to make it the ‘greenest’ golf tournament in The Netherlands.
The tournament organisers are making use of a generator sub-station in the vicinity of the Hilversumsche Golf Club, where the KLM Open is being held, enabling the event to be powered 95% of the time by wind energy.
Other ‘green-conscious’ measures to be taken include using courtesy cars with an A-label energy classification, only using paper that has FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification, and agreements with third parties to supply only sustainable produce. Any C02 generated that is not covered by the measures taken, will be compensated with verified Gold Standard C02 credits from wind energy farms.
Better safe than sorry…
All Flying Blue members receive their own private username and PIN code. If you receive a call or e-mail request to ask for this information, please treat it with suspicion – even if you are directed to a site that appears familiar. It is completely safe to check your account whenever you visit www.airfrance.com, www.klm.com, www.kenya-airways.com, www.aireuropa.com or www.tarom.ro. Once you have logged in, you will see a padlock icon in your browser window. Click on this icon to verify that a safety certificate is granted. If you are directed to a partner airline’s site via a link, be sure to check the correct site address appears in the browser’s navigation bar.
Award yourself
Available exclusively online, Promo Awards@ save you 50% on the Award Miles usually required for award tickets with KLM and AIR FRANCE.
Promo Awards@ are updated every month – you can see the destinations currently available via the handy at-a- glance pages on KLM’s and AIR FRANCE’s websites – and travel is from European airports.
Promo Awards@ are subject to availability so don’t delay! Log on now at www.klm.com or www.airfrance.com
More Award Miles
Flying Blue members can receive up to 30% extra Award Miles from September 1 to October 31 when they purchase Miles. \
Purchasing Award Miles is the perfect way to top up your own account balance to spend on any award you like – or surprising someone with a gift of Award Miles!
For terms and conditions, please visit the Flying Blue pages at www.klm.com or www.airfrance.com
