• 

  KLM

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  KL/KLM

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

  Year Founded:

  1919

  Alliance:

  SkyTeam

  Airline Group:

  Air France-KLM

  CEO:

  Marjan Rintel

  Country:

  Netherlands

• 

  Boeing

  Stock Code:

  BA

  Date Founded:

  1916-07-15

  CEO:

  Dave Calhoun

  Headquarters Location:

  Chicago, USA

  Key Product Lines:

  Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787

  Business Type:

  Planemaker

Dutch flag carrier KLM's stretched-fuselage Boeing 787-10 'Dreamliner' aircraft are its youngest planes, with an average age of just 3.6 years old at the time of writing, according to fleet data from ch-aviation. The Amsterdam-headquartered SkyTeam member operates the type on an interesting variety of long-haul routes out of its main base at Schiphol Airport (AMS), but where is it seen the most often?

A brief guide to KLM's Boeing 787-10 fleet

Let's start by getting to grips with the nature of KLM's sub-fleet of Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners. The blue-liveried national airline presently has 10 examples of the type at its disposal, with their delivery dates ranging from June 2019 (PH-BKA, 4.8 years old) to June 2023 (PH-BKM, 0.9 years old). Going forward, ch-aviation notes that KLM is expecting to take delivery of another five examples of the 787-10.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here!

In terms of the way in which KLM configures its stretched-fuselage Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, current fleet data made available by aeroLOPA shows that the type sports a three-class, 318-seat layout. This setup comprises 252 seats in economy class (of which 39 are designated as Economy Comfort), 28 in premium economy, and 38 in business class. KLM's three most-used Boeing 787-10s are:

• PH-BKA: 22,055 hours and 2,880 cycles.
• PH-BKD: 21,019 hours and 2,653 cycles.
• PH-BKC: 20,608 hours and 2,647 cycles (all data as of December 31st, 2023).

The top route for the type

According to present scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, KLM plans to operate 6,968 flights with the Boeing 787-10 in 2024. Collectively, these services will offer totals of 2,215,824 seats and 10,074,855,330 available seat miles (ASMs). Looking at data for the current month, we can see that the Dutch flag carrier has scheduled 526 flights with the 787-10 in April 2024.

Of these, almost a quarter can be found on the route from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to New York JFK, with KLM having scheduled 120 Boeing 787-10 flights on this transatlantic corridor (60 in each direction) in April 2024. This works out at two round trips a day with the type, with monthly totals of 19,080 seats and 69,527,520 ASMs in each direction. But when do these flights take off and come in to land?

According to data from Flightradar24, the first of these rotations is a leisurely lunchtime departure from Amsterdam (KL641), which leaves the Dutch capital at 13:25 local time, reaching the Big Apple at 15:25. This then returns as KL642 at 17:35, landing at 06:50 the next day. Meanwhile, KL643 leaves Schiphol at 17:05 and lands at 19:10, before returning as KL 644 at 21:15 and landing at 10:30 the next day.

Other big hitters

Another key market for the 787-10 at KLM is the US West Coast, with the type averaging more than one rotation a day from Schiphol to Los Angeles International (LAX) in April 2024. The Dutch flag carrier has scheduled 38 flights with the type in each direction on the route this month, and, while these offer fewer seats than New York, the longer distance means that ASMs are almost the same (67,416,636).

Meanwhile, KLM's third-busiest Boeing 787-10 route in April 2024 by the number of flights operated serves not the US, but neighboring Canada, with Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) seeing 28 rotations. Collectively, these flights offer 8,904 seats and 33,229,728 ASMs in each direction on the 3,732-mile transatlantic corridor, on which KLM competes with Air Canada and (on a seasonal basis) Air Transat.

Rounding out the top five are two more US-bound routes, with fourth place being occupied by the corridor from Amsterdam Schiphol to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). This route will see 23 Boeing 787-10 flights in each direction this month, putting it just ahead of Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Indeed, this facility has 21 KLM rotations scheduled with the 787-10.

The other end of the usage spectrum

As a point of interest, it can also be useful to see which of KLM's Boeing 787-10 routes sees the least service from the stretched-fuselage variant of Boeing's popular Dreamliner family. As it happens, there are two routes in April 2024 whose numbers of Boeing 787-10 rotations are low enough to be in single figures.

The lowest of these is the transatlantic route to Calgary International Airport (YYC) in Alberta, Canada. While KLM serves this corridor on a daily basis with flights KL677 (westbound) and KL678 (eastbound), only one day in April 2024 will see the Boeing 787-10 deployed on this route, namely Tuesday, April 30th.

Away from the North American market, the Dutch flag carrier has a mere seven round trips scheduled with the Boeing 787-10 between Amsterdam Schiphol and Kenya's Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) this month. These will offer 2,226 seats and 9,213,414 ASMs in each direction.

What do you make of KLM's Boeing 787-10 usage? Have you ever flown on one of the Dutch flag carrier's stretched-fuselage Dreamliners? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!