KLM names first five routes for its new Airbus A350s from Schiphol
The SkyTeam carrier is starting the jet on transatlantic routes before deploying it to Tanzania, and the aircraft's own business class begins sealed off.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has revealed the first five routes it will fly with its new Airbus A350-900, the widebody twinjet joining its fleet from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The Dutch flag carrier, a SkyTeam member, plans to put the type into scheduled service on 30 October, a week later than originally planned.
The A350 will make its debut on the KL691/692 rotation between Amsterdam and Toronto Pearson International Airport, initially flying five times a week. KLM will increase that Toronto service to daily from 3 March next year, as further aircraft join the fleet from the manufacturer's Toulouse line.
A month after the Toronto launch, on 30 November, KLM will extend the A350 to a second Canadian destination, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, operating three times a week. The two North American routes give the aircraft its first transatlantic assignments before any African deployment begins.
Where the A350 flies next, in Africa
KLM's remaining three routes serve Tanzania, using two triangular itineraries out of Schiphol. From 1 December, the A350 will fly twice weekly from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, on to Dar Es Salaam, then nonstop back to Schiphol, its first African rotation.
Five days later, on 6 December, a second route begins linking Amsterdam to Zanzibar via Dar Es Salaam. That service will run weekly at first, then twice a week between 8 January and 19 February, giving KLM two distinct Tanzanian gateways served by the new jet within a single winter season.
KLM said the arrival of its first A350 at Schiphol marks an important step in the continued renewal of its fleet, describing the aircraft as cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient than many current-generation types it will eventually replace on long-haul routes.
Dutch government regulations on hub operations are understood to make the A350 essential for KLM to keep flying certain routes out of Schiphol at all, adding a regulatory dimension to what the carrier has otherwise presented purely as a fleet-renewal milestone.
What the cabin looks like
KLM plans a three-class layout across the A350-900, seating 331 passengers in total. Business class holds 34 flatbed seats arranged in an angled 1-2-1 configuration through the front of the cabin, the aircraft's most expensive product on these new routes.
Premium economy adds 26 recliners in a 2-4-2 layout, with extra seat pitch, width and recline plus 16-inch screens. The remaining 271 seats are economy class, fitted with 13.3-inch screens, and 33 of them are branded Economy Comfort with additional legroom.
The launch has not been entirely smooth. KLM's first A350 entered final assembly in Toulouse in April, was unveiled two months later and made its first flight earlier this month, a steady build-up that still ran into a regulatory complication late in the process.
By the time that first flight took place, it had emerged the type would enter service with its business class cabin sealed off, a consequence of regulatory hiccups still being worked through. The specific approval delaying full business class use has not been detailed.
That means passengers booking the earliest Toronto and Montreal departures should expect a business cabin that is present in the layout but not yet fully open for use, an awkward footnote to what KLM has otherwise framed as a milestone.
Travellers who connect through Schiphol on other carriers already have one Amsterdam-specific perk to weigh against KLM's own new aircraft: Amex opened its first Continental European Centurion Lounge at the same airport, giving eligible cardholders a ground-side option before any A350 departure.
Where the type flies from here
KLM has not announced further A350 routes beyond these five, and the daily upgrade on the Toronto service depends on additional aircraft arriving from Airbus. Travellers weighing the new jet against KLM's existing Boeing 777 widebodies on Asian routes will, for now, find the A350 confined to North America and Africa.
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Images: simpleflying.com; Credit: KLM
