KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will begin operating Boeing 737-700 business jet services on the Amsterdam-Houston route on October 30, 2005…
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will begin operating Boeing 737-700 business jet services on the Amsterdam-Houston route on October 30, 2005. The new service will meet the great demand for World Business Class (WBC) seats on this route. The business jet services will operate six times a week in codesharing with Northwest Airlines, supplementing KLM`s daily Boeing 747-400 flights, and will replace its existing thrice-weekly Boeing 767 services. The ground and inflight product for the new services will match standard WBC service.
Increase business class capacity
KLM aims to enter the market segment for intercontinental flights providing only business class seats. By doing this, it can offer greater customized service and more capacity directly to large businesses and organizations.
The 737 business jet will fly six times a week thereby increasing the number of round-trip flights to Houston from ten to thirteen each week. This will increase business class seat capacity by 45%. KLM`s new all business class flights to Houston will operate as part of the joint venture with Northwest Airlines and in code-sharing with them.
Operation
KLM will be leasing a Boeing 737-700 with crew from PrivatAir. The leased 737-700 has been equipped with winglets and larger fuel tanks to extend its operational range.
The aircraft will retain the PrivatAir livery, but will bear the text Operated on behalf of KLM on its fuselage and in the cabin.
Geneva-based company PrivatAir has more than 27 years experience in business jet operations for scheduled airline travel for companies, organizations, and personal travel.
KLM Product
The schedule for these business flights is as follows:
KL 663/NW 8663 dpt. AMS 2:25 p.m. arr. HOU 6:45 p.m.
KL 664/NW 8664 dpt. HOU 8:15 p.m. arr. AMS 12:35 p.m.
Flights are daily except Wednesdays. All times are local.
The aircraft will carry 44 lie-flat business class seats, equipped with plug-in points for laptop computers. The level of comfort will be comparable to that of KLM`s World Business Class in Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s.
The PrivatAir cabin crew will undergo KLM training to ensure that inflight service matches existing standards. There will be at least one Dutch-speaking cabin attendant aboard each KLM business jet flight.
Other KLM product features – including catering, a copy of the Holland Herald, Delftware miniature houses, comfort bags, headrest covers, and a variety of newspapers and magazines – will also match existing WBC standards.
Similar to Business Class on existing Boeing 737 flights to such destinations as Beirut, Tel Aviv, and Tbilisi, KLM`s business jet passengers will be provided with a portable, interactive audio-visual system.
Oil Industry
The great demand for World Business Class capacity on the Amsterdam-Houston route may be primarily attributed to Houston`s central role in the oil industry and related sectors. KLM`s Amsterdam-Houston services connect with a wide range of services to and from oil-producing regions in the Middle East, Africa, Russia, countries around the Black Sea, Norway and Great Britain.
Our partner Air France, which also attracts a great deal of oil-related business traffic, last year launched its Dedicate service specifically for this sector. The Dedicate service is an intercontinental, two-class product operated with Airbus A319 Extended Range aircraft, with an enlarged Business Class. This service is for instance available on routes between Paris and Kuwait, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Pointe-Noire (Congo-Brazzaville) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
For further schedule details and conditions regarding KLM-Northwest`s business jet and regular services between Amsterdam and Houston, please consult www.klm.com and reservation systems.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
