A KLM Airbus 330-200 parked at the Princess Juliana International Airport. (Suzanne Koelega photo)
AMSTERDAM–Royal Dutch Airlines KLM is increasing the frequency of flights on the route Amsterdam St. Maarten in the coming winter season. From the end of October until late March, KLM will execute three flights per week to the island.
With the three flights this winter season, to be carried out on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, the frequency will have been re-established to the situation before Hurricane Irma caused major destruction on St. Maarten, including to the airport, early September last year.
However, as long as the Princess Juliana International Airport is not fully operational and the terminal is under reconstruction, KLM’s return flight from St. Maarten to Amsterdam will be carried out with a stop-over in Curaçao.
This means that for the time being there will be no direct KLM flights from St. Maarten to Amsterdam as was the case until the hurricane. Amsterdam to St. Maarten remains a direct, nine-hour flight.
The direct flights presented an excellent opportunity to promote St. Maarten as a destination for Dutch tourists, while St. Maarten residents and St. Maarteners living in the Netherlands also enjoyed the shorter flying times.
When KLM resumed its flights to St. Maarten after Hurricane Irma early November last year, the number was reduced to two times per week, on Fridays and Sundays. Per late October 2018, this will become three flights again.
In April and May 2019, the frequency will be further increased to four flights per week on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. According to the KLM, the increase in flights is the result of a higher demand for the destination St. Maarten, but also Curaçao. “We follow the market demand,” said a spokesperson.
The summer itinerary will bring a reduction to two flights per week to St. Maarten: in June 2019, flights are only scheduled on Wednesday and Sunday. In July 2019, the frequency will again go up to three times a week. All these flights for now are scheduled to return to Amsterdam via Curaçao. The exact flight days are not known as yet.
KLM makes use of an Airbus 330-200 on the Amsterdam-St. Maarten route with a capacity of 268 passengers. KLM is refurbishing this type of aircraft in 2018. The refurbishing of the interior will include new business class with seats that recline to a full flat bed.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79815-klm-adds-flight-to-st-maarten
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