This morning, Southampton Airport welcomed KLM’s inaugural flight from Amsterdam. To celebrate the new route, the first flight from Schiphol, Amsterdam was greeted by a water cannon salute upon arrival. On board were Boet Krieken, Managing Director of KLM Cityhopper and KLM VIPs. Dave Lees, Managing Director of Southampton greeted the delegation, officially welcoming the group to Hampshire. To celebrate the new route in the best tradition, a Town Crier announced the arrival of the first flight to the sound of ringing bells to astonished passengers in the departures hall.
The twice daily flight connects Southampton to KLM’s award-winning hub Schiphol, in Amsterdam, with fares starting from £79 return in economy including all taxes. The airline offers convenient connections to its worldwide network of over 150 destinations from Southampton including New York, Washington, Orlando, Toronto, Taipei, Manilla, Shanghai, Beijing, Delhi or Nairobi.
All flights will be operated by KLM Cityhopper, using a Fokker 70 jet aircraft, carrying up to 80 passengers. The schedule has been devised to fit together with KLM’s long-haul network, offering passengers easy connections to destinations such as New York, Beijing and Accra.
Origin Destination Departure (local time) Arrival
(local time)
Amsterdam Southampton 08:35 08:45
Southampton Amsterdam 09:20 11:30
Amsterdam Southampton 16:40 16:50
Southampton Amsterdam 17:25 19:35
The launch of the Southampton service further cements KLM’s position as the UK’s regional airline of choice and brings the total of British airports served by the airline to 17 making it the UK’s largest regional full service intercontinental carrier. Departure airports include London (Heathrow and City), Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness, Newcastle, Leeds, Cardiff, Bristol, Durham Tees Valley, Humberside, Norwich, Belfast and now Southampton. As such, KLM is proud to provide connections from the UK regions to the world.
Southampton is one of Southern England’s largest cities and is an attractive tourism destination thanks to its rich history, heritage and art attractions. The city has an array of theatres, museums and prides itself on holding the title of “Greenest city” in Southern England. Findings from the “2015 Good Growth for Cities” revealed that Southampton is one of the best places in the country to deliver financial growth in comings years, thanks to the overall health of the economy.
KLM’s hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is consistently voted one of Europe’s best business airports and was voted Best Airport in Europe at the 2015 Business Traveller Awards for the 15th consecutive year. Connections to European cities can be made in as little as 40 minutes; to long haul destinations 50 minutes is enough to efficiently transfer at the airport.
Warner Rootliep, General Manager of Air France-KLM UK & Ireland said:
“Today we celebrate the introduction of the Southampton to Amsterdam route and looking at the results of the route so far, I am sure that we will make it a success story. Demand for efficient, seamless and convenient schedules to long-haul destinations from the UK continues to grow, particularly to emerging markets such as Africa and China – areas where KLM has convenient network connections. Our experience of being the UK’s largest regional long-haul carrier means we are best placed to understand the needs of local communities and regional businesses and we are confident that the services we provide out of Southampton will contribute to economic growth in the city and fit the plans of local Southampton businesses.”
Dave Lees, Managing Director of Southampton Airport added: “We welcome the arrival of KLM today, and the worldwide opportunities that this has created. Southampton is now linked to destinations in all five continents via easy connections at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. This is especially important for businesses, universities and the cruise industry in this region”
