Jet Airways collapse created a void in both domestic as well as the international market. Not only are domestic carriers expanding, but international airlines are expanding as well. British Airways, in just a few days, will launch a new flight to catch more of the traffic between Mumbai and London left behind by Jet Airways. Qatar Airways had requested to operate additional flights using Jet Airways bilateral rights, but the government has declined the request.
Jet Airways was a key partner for the Air France/KLM/Delta/Virgin Atlantic joint venture, bringing traffic from India to their hubs in Paris/Amsterdam/London, from where the other carriers would pick up the transatlantic leg for North America, largely the USA.
KLM 787-9
Given Jet Airways is not operating anymore, KLM has already announced capacity addition on both Mumbai and Delhi routes. Adding to this, Virgin Atlantic is now returning to Mumbai from October 27, 2019, with a daily flight on Mumbai-London Heathrow route. Apart from Mumbai and Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai were two other vital cities under Jet Airways and Air France-KLM codeshare.
Jet Airways used to operate a daily flight on Bangalore-Amsterdam route with an A330-300 and a 5x weekly flight on Chennai-Paris route with an A330-200 aircraft. Both these routes were doing pretty well in terms of PLF, and around 50% of the passengers were transit passengers continuing onto Air France-KLM network.
Business Class onboard KLM 787-9
We shared earlier, that KLM was planning to add a 3x weekly service to Bangalore in the winter 2019 season. KLM has now confirmed the launch of this route from October 28, 2019. The schedule for the flight is,
KL879 AMS1105 – 0050(+1 day)BLR 789 135
KL880 BLR0245 – 0820AMS 789 246
The timings are ideal for connections to the USA on both KLM and its partner Delta, a market which KLM is specifically targetting for this route. KLM will deploy a 787-9 on this route. KLM’s 787-9 feature 30 business class seats, 48 economy comfort seats and 216 economy class seats.
According to KLM,
The new KLM flights are an extension of KLM’s India network, which is currently being flown to Delhi and Mumbai. The three-weekly connection with Bangalore provides even more travel options between Amsterdam and India. KLM also offers even more connections between the United States and India via Amsterdam.
Business Class onboard KLM 787-9
We also shared that KLM is planning to drop 2-3x weekly seasonal Amsterdam-Colombo route in favour of Amsterdam-Bangalore. KLM has now confirmed that they will be suspending Amsterdam-Colombo route. According to KLM,
In order to be able to open Bangalore as a new destination, changes must be made to the KLM network. Partly due to Schiphol’s final restrictions, KLM is being forced to revise its portfolio of destinations earlier than usual. For this reason, the direct connection to Colombo, Sri Lanka, will be temporarily suspended at the end of October. Recent developments and economic prospects in Sri Lanka have led to commercial pressure on flights to Colombo. Passengers with a ticket for a flight from Amsterdam to Colombo and vice versa with a departure on or after 28 October 2019 will be rebooked or financially compensated.
Bangalore will be KLM’s third destination in India after Delhi and Mumbai and also receive both Air France and KLM service. KLM’s new 3x weekly flight on Amsterdam-Bangalore route will be boon for passengers transiting onto KLM’s network to the USA apart from the vast European network.
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