The six month arrangement will help the two carriers maximise their services to the Middle East, following the significant downturn in passenger demand since the terrorist attacks on September 11th last year in the USA. The move will also allow both airlines to reduce costs.
As part of the arrangement, the airlines will establish a new `frequent flyer` agreement which will enable members of both the British Airways and KLM programmes to earn and redeem their frequent flyer miles/points on the Dammam/Amsterdam and Muscat/Heathrow routes.
The changes to the networks will begin on March 31, 2002 and are as follows:
KLM will temporarily suspend flights from Amsterdam to Muscat. British Airways will add an additional frequency between London and Muscat which will upgrade its schedule from six times a week to a daily operation.
British Airways will temporarily suspend its four times a week schedule between Heathrow and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. KLM will continue with four weekly flights to this destination from Amsterdam.
KLM and British Airways will offer three daily services to and from Dubai, UAE – two services will be operated by British Airways from London Heathrow and one service will be operated by KLM from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Both airlines intend to reintroduce their suspended services when market conditions sufficiently improve.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
