KLM has put Amsterdam to Las Vegas and Miami back on sale, with both resuming on December 7th – nearly two years after last being served. In mid-December, KLM will again have 11 US routes – as it did in 2019 – with precisely the same number of flights as it had pre-pandemic. Of course, passenger demand and fares may lag.

KLM B787
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

KLM back to Las Vegas and Miami

The relaunch of both US routes comes as the country will open to most fully vaccinated European citizens from November, which should somewhat help Europe's stalled recovery, and it follows the Netherlands abolishing the need for US citizens to quarantine. Despite this, Orlando – one of six new winter routes – is no longer bookable.

Both Las Vegas and Miami will be served three-weekly, with Sin City on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays and the Florida airport on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. They'll use 294-seat B787-9s, with 30 business seats (fully lie-flat), 48 in premium economy (35" pitch), and 216 in economy (31"). They have the following schedule (all times are local).

  • KL627: Amsterdam to Miami, 10:20-14:20
  • KL628: Miami to Amsterdam, 16:30-06:50+1 (the next day)
  • KL635: Amsterdam to Las Vegas, 12:35-14:10
  • KL636: Las Vegas to Amsterdam, 15:59-10:50+1 (the next day)
KLM to Miami and Las Vegas
In December, Miami and Las Vegas will have three-weekly flights each. In 2019, they were nicely balanced between point-to-point passengers and those connecting over Amsterdam. Image: GCMap.

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A look at these two routes

Las Vegas began in January 2019. In that whole year, the 4,654 nautical milk link to Amsterdam had 47,347 round-trip passengers and a seat load factor (SLF) of 89.9%, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT). That's a strong performance for a brand-new route, but remember that it is just one measurement.

Miami, meanwhile, has had a more checkered history. It operated from 2002 until 2004 mainly by the MD-11 and the B767-300ER, OAG data indicates. It was relaunched in 2011 by the trijet, but it lasted only one year. It restarted again in November 2016 by the A330.

KLM ended both routes due to the pandemic, just like Royal Air Maroc to Miami, which will resume from May and thereby reconnect Florida to Africa.

KLM_Airbus_A330-300_PH-AKF_(31076099517)
In 2019, KLM used the A330-300 to Miami. It carried 34,772 passengers and had an SLF of 91.6%, according to the DOT. Photo: Jeroen Stroes Aviation Photography via Flickr.

11 US destinations for KLM in December

In mid-December, KLM will once again serve 11 US destinations non-stop, the same as it had before coronavirus hit, subject to any further changes. Significantly, all 11 routes will have precisely the same number of flights as they did in the same week in 2019. This means that KLM's US network will have returned to 'normal' by this one measure.

  • Atlanta: 14 weekly departures by the B787-10 (7), B777-300ER (5), B787-9 (2)
  • New York JFK: 14 by the B787-10 (6), B787-9 (5), and B777-200ER (3)
  • Washington: 7; A330-300
  • Houston: 7; B787-9
  • Los Angeles: 7; B787-9 (4) and B777-300ER (3)
  • San Francisco: 7; B787-10 (4) and B787-9 (3)
  • Chicago: 5; B787-9
  • Minneapolis: 4; B787-9
  • Boston: 3; A330-300
  • Miami: 3; B787-9
  • Las Vegas: 3; B787-9

The author has flown KLM across the North Atlantic a few times, including on the B747-400 Combi. What are your best memories of flying the carrier? Let us know in the comments.