KLM Airlines, the national airline of the Netherlands, was founded back in 1919 and today accommodates over 25 million passengers annually. In 2004, KLM, joined forces with Air France to become Air France-KLM, making them the third largest airline company in the world in terms of passengers flown. There are over 30,000 people employed by KLM around the world.
KLM offers cheap flights to destinations worldwide and although their hub is at Amsterdam Schiphol, they depart from 18 airports in the UK and Ireland including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Cork, Dublin, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton.
KLM’s contemporary fleet of 112 aircraft are made up of Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, 747s, 767s and 777s. The joint operation of Air France-KLM operates flights to an incredible 236 destinations in 110 countries on four continents.
Check-In
KLM check-in desks open two hours before departure and close 40 minutes before departure for European flights. Desks close one hour before departure for international flights. Boarding gates close 30 minutes prior to departure.
Baggage
Each passenger is permitted one item of hand luggage no larger than 55 x 35 x 25cm and no heavier than 10kg plus a handbag or laptop. Passengers can check in one bag up to 20 kg in weight. Excess baggage can be booked in advance online, for a 30 per cent cost saving.
Seating
Cheap flights from KLM provide passengers with comfortable seating positions and a seat pitch of 31 inches as standard.
Frequent Flyer Programme
KLM passengers may claim air miles when they join KLM’s Flying Blue programme. Special benefits include a minimum of 500 awards on domestic flights and 750 awards on international flights, regardless of the distance covered.
Additional Information
KLM has made a bid to clean up their environmental policies and compensate all increases in CO2 emissions caused by their growth – this effectively means carbon neutral growth. KLM’s ‘clean’ objective is to reduce their fleet’s total emissions by 3% by 2012 and by 17% by 2020.