Dutch national carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that it will suspend its flights between Amsterdam and Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the UK. The airline had only resumed flights on the route two years ago, but will drop the service from March 25, 2012 following a review of its route network in the current difficult economic climate.
"We launched Liverpool in 2009, at a time of economic uncertainty, when many airlines were reducing their networks - especially out of the regions- and cutting capacity,” said Henri Hourcade, UK General Manager, KLM. "We went against the grain and had encouraging results for the first two years, connecting Liverpool with over 150 destinations around the world. However, the continued economic downturn has meant that as a company we have had to make some tough decisions across our global network and unfortunately Liverpool is a casualty of that process."
Peel Airports, the operator of Liverpool John Lennon, has said it will “be making every effort to replace this service,” believing that in light of the strong passenger numbers and improving route performance there remains “a strong case” for a service from Liverpool feeding into a hub airport to offer onward global connections.
KLM currently offers an up to three times daily service on the route, a frequency that is matched by low-cost carrier easyJet which has served the route since 1996. In the past year an estimated 337,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route. KLM accounted for just a fifth of these point-to-point passengers, but with UK CAA data showing almost 350,000 passengers flew between Liverpool and Amsterdam in 2010, the additional value of the connecting traffic is clearly evident.
It is estimated that around 52 per cent of KLM’s passengers on the route are beginning or ending their journeys at Amsterdam, meaning that 48 per cent more are connecting onto other destinations in the KLM network. According to traffic data the largest traffic flows are believed to be to the Norwegian cities of Bergen, Oslo and Stavanger, the China’s two largest gateways of Beijing and Shanghai and the Filipino capital Manila.
"We are naturally very disappointed that KLM have taken this decision, however we understand the challenging economic conditions that they and many others in the aviation industry currently operate in,” said Craig Richmond, Chief Executive Officer, Peel Airports. “This service has also been important for the Liverpool City Region, opening up global connectivity for travel to and from the region and it is for this reason that we will pursue all alternatives as we look for a replacement service to a hub airport.”
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