KLM warns routes at risk in escalating row over slots

Dutch flag carrier KLM NV will have to thin out its European route network as a result of slot constraints being implemented at the main Amsterdam airport, a measure that will complicate operations because the airline relies on feeder flights for its lucrative long-haul business.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, KLM Chief Executive Officer Marjan Rintel said her airline will most likely be left with 17 fewer daily flights for the summer 2024 season starting in March next year. The carrier is waiting for a decision from the slot coordinator at Schiphol airport this week, and KLM remains in talks with local partners about which routes it will have to cull.

The Dutch government plans to cut annual flights at Schiphol by about 10% to 452,500 to reduce noise pollution, a measure that airlines and aviation lobby groups have said undercuts the hub’s position as one of Europe’s premier transfer airports. KLM has gone to court over the first stage of capacity cuts to 460,000 movements, a reduction that Rintel said will hurt KLM’s ability to keep up with “fierce” competition.

“It’s not about today and tomorrow, it is about the future of KLM,” Rintel said in an interview at the airline’s headquarters in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. “It’s about the future of the economic position of the Netherlands in the world, and it’s about where we want to be.”

The capacity restrictions at Schiphol are set to affect other airlines flying into the Netherlands, too, because they will likely lose some slots as well. As a consequence, some carriers are pushing for retaliatory measures to bar KLM from other overseas hubs.

JetBlue Airways Corp., which started serving Amsterdam from John F. Kennedy International Airport in August, has asked US authorities to bar the Dutch carrier from the New York airport should it lose access to Schiphol because of the impending restrictions.

Rintel, who became KLM’s first female CEO when she returned to the firm last year, said such demands by other airlines are a “big threat” for KLM and a risk to their joint venture and international destinations. 

“JetBlue will not be the only one,” said Rintel. “There will be more to follow. If you reduce slots like this, without any comprehension of international agreements, then JetBlue is very offended with it and rightfully so.”

Last week, the Dutch government’s infrastructure ministry said the US had raised concerns on several occasions about Schiphol’s cuts on American airlines. 

KLM is waiting for the European Commission to weigh in on whether the Dutch government has adequately followed the balanced approach procedure, a process that outlines best practices for implementing airport capacity restrictions for purposes of noise control. 

“We think they will be quite critical because in the balanced approach, it’s clear which process you need to follow,’ said Rintel.

The Dutch state’s position is that the restrictions have no impact on the number of airline traffic rights available, as exchanged between the EU-US Open Skies aviation treaty, but they will impact the maximum number of slots available, the ministry said in an emailed comment.

KLM relies on its global network more than most other European airlines because the Netherlands doesn’t offer a comprehensive local market. Rintel said access to destinations like New York and Asia are essential for KLM to be able to pay their investments, and short-haul feeder flights of the kind the airline may need to cull help fill up the long-haul voyages.

“For the business model of KLM, we are feeding our international network with all the small destinations in Europe,” she said.