KLM celebrates its 90th anniversary

Founded on 7 October 1919 for the Netherlands and its colonies, KLM is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. The events on 7 October mark the end of the 90 Years of KLM celebrations. Air France, which KLM merged in 2004, is celebrating its 76th anniversary this year which today accounts for a turnover of 24 billion euros.

With 540 aircraft in operation (at 31 March 2009) and 2,500 daily flights, Air France-KLM is Europe's leading airline group for passenger transport. The two airlines' networks are structured around the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs which connect Europe to the rest of the world.

15 daily flights connect these two hubs, offering customers easy access to both airline's global networks. Thanks to combinable fares between the two airlines, customers have access to the networks of both Air France and KLM.

Overall, Air France, KLM and their subsidiaries operate 30 daily flights between France and Amsterdam.

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, KLM is running a promotion on direct flights departing Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Tolouse to Amsterdam, priced at 90 euros inc. tax.

This promotion is valid on 7, 8 and 9 October for flights departing between 7 November 2009 and 31 January 2010.

Read more: 90 Years of inspiration

Inaugural flights on the A380: start of the auction at AF380.com

--> go to af380.com

At 10am this morning, Air France started to auction 380 seats on each of its two inaugural flights by Airbus A380 between Paris and New York. 100 seats will go up for sale today for a period of 7 to 10 days.

See the video "Contest Air France YouTube video"

This auction is open to all markets worldwide up to 21 October 2009 and offers seats in the Voyageur-Economy and Affaires-Business cabins.

The auction is taking place on the website eBay on a staggered basis, with each auction period lasting for 3, 5, 7 or 10 days. The auction also includes the return ticket on a scheduled Air France flight.

Read the presse release

The A380 is coming ...

A few days ago, on Friday 25 September at 1pm, Air France's first A380 took off from Hamburg-Finkenwerder for a 5 hr 10 min test flight with 2 Airbus pilots on board and 3 engineers.

Air France will take delivery of this A380 on 30 October 2009 and it will make its first commercial flight on 23 November 2009 between Paris-CDG and New York JFK.
See the new photos of the A380

KLM launching New Economy Class Product

An image released by KLM to accompany the announcement.

From December 2009, passengers travelling in Economy Class on all intercontinental flights operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines can choose seats offering greater comfort. The new Economy Comfort zone offers up to ten centimetres more legroom and back supports that can recline twice as far. It’s not yet clear how many Economy Comfort seats will be available on each plane, but the seats will be positioned at the front of the standard economy class, allowing Economy Comfort customers to disembark first.

KLM will be offering the new Economy Comfort zone in response to customer demands for greatercomfort and more choice in Economy Class on intercontinental flights. The Economy Comfort zone supplements the preferred seats already available at an additional charge. This development forms part of KLM’s long-term programme entitled ‘The Customer Journey’, which focuses on renewing its brand position and awarding top priority to customer demands.

KLM’s entire intercontinental fleet will be equipped with the new zone. The first aircraft have already been converted. The remaining aircraft will follow in the months ahead, enabling all passengers to choose for the Economy Comfort zone on intercontinental flights from December.

KLM has gone for a different approach to sister airline Air France, which is officially launching its new premium economy product next week. While Air France has gone for a completely new seat, with a separate cabin, priority check-in and upgraded amenities, and with ticket prices to reflect this, KLM is effectively adapting its economy seat to offer passengers the choice of more legroom and a greater recline.

Depending on the distances involved, the price of the new zone will amount to between €80 and €150 for a single leg of the journey. Flying Blue Platinum members and passengers travelling on a full-flex Economy Class ticket can book Economy Comfort seats without a surcharge. Flying Blue Gold members will be offered a 50% discount and Flying Blue Silver members 25%. The service in Economy Comfort will be the same as that in Economy Class.

Economy Comfort seats can be booked from the end of November at http://www.klm.com/

D E L T A 100% no quesito inclusão social

A Delta Air Lines anunciou que recebeu a nota máxima de 100% no Índice de Igualdade Corporativa de 2010, uma pesquisa anual realizada pela Human Rights Campaign (HRC). A nota alcançada destaca a Delta como uma das melhores empresas dos Estados Unidos para empregados gays, lésbicas, bissexuais e transgêneros (LGBT) e reconhece os esforços da empresa no tratamento da comunidade LGBT.

O Índice de 2010 da HRC classificou 590 empresas, avaliando políticas e práticas relacionadas à comunidade LGBT, incluindo políticas não-discriminatórias, benefícios de saúde para transgêneros, benefícios para parceiros domésticos, marketing que respeita a comunidade, e suporte à comunidade LGBT.