KLM’s Edmonton-Amsterdam non-stop service launches, opening new western Canadian gateway to Europe
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ first non-stop flight between Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Edmonton landed today at Edmonton International Airport (EIA). The new year-round service gives EIA passengers from across Western Canada convenient access to Amsterdam and KLM’s vast global network.
The Edmonton-Amsterdam service is now offered Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and a fourth Friday flight will start on June 22 for the summer. The new route operates with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft – 30 World Business Class seats, 35 Economy Comfort Zone Seats, and 178 Economy seats, as well as shipping space for wide-body cargo under flight numbers KL 675 and KL 676.
“Today, we are proud to add Edmonton as our 5th Canadian gateway bringing our offer this Summer to 39 weekly flights between Canada and The Netherlands,” says Erik Swelheim, KLM CFO. “This opening further reinforces the importance of the country in KLM’s worldwide network, Canada being one of the top 3 long haul markets.”
“Edmontonians, northern Albertans and western Canadians now have access to another outstanding European gateway with connections to over 120 destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East,” says Tom Ruth, President and CEO of Edmonton International Airport. “We are pleased to join KLM’s expansive network and that our customers will enjoy a highly regarded international airline with excellent customer service.”
Fort McMurray, Yellowknife, Regina and Saskatoon, and many other communities across Western Canada, now have a convenient access to Europe via EIA. Within a few weeks, Grande Prairie passengers will also have increased access to the Amsterdam service.
As well, the addition of wide-body service to Europe and beyond is an important new cargo opportunity, benefiting the resource sector and others that need to ship important cargo globally.
About KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded on October 7, 1919 and is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, a group of twenty airlines including Air France, Delta Air Lines, and Alitalia who are also its transatlantic joint venture partners. KLM has been part of the AIR FRANCE KLM Group since the 2004 merger.
Air France and KLM serve 5 destinations in Canada for a total of 72 flights per week. They have dual operations in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and KLM flies to Calgary and now to Edmonton. Both airlines provide a bus service from Ottawa to Montreal-Trudeau.
With the addition of this new route, AIR FRANCE KLM offers the largest range of flights – 23 – between Western Canada and Europe for the 2015 summer season. The codeshare agreement with WestJet enables the Group to offer their customers an additional 28 Canadian cities served by the Albertan airline including Fort McMurray, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon.
About Edmonton International Airport
Edmonton International Airport is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation whose mandate is to drive economic prosperity for the Edmonton Region. EIA is Canada’s fastest-growing major airport over the last 10 years, serving over eight million passengers in 2014. It is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. International travel is currently EIA’s fastest-growing passenger segment, increasing by 13 percent in 2014. EIA offers non-stop connections to 60 destinations across Canada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. For more information, visit www.flyeia.com.