The following is an excerpt from an official press release on Oct. 18
PRESS RELEASE: KLM TO LAUNCH SCHEDULED SERVICE TO FUKUOKA
AMSTELVEEN, 18 October 2012 – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will begin operating a scheduled service to Fukuoka, Japan on 3rd April 2013.
KLM is the first airline to offer direct flights between Fukuoka and Europe.
Fukuoka is the third destination of KLM in Japan, after Tokyo and Osaka. With this new route KLM offers a total of 21 weekly frequencies to Japan. This additional destination in Japan will further strengthen the traditional solid trade relationship between Japan and The Netherlands.
“With this new destination Japanese passengers have more access to Amsterdam and other European destinations beyond this hub. This addition means a further strengthening of KLM’s network,” says Pieter Elbers, KLM’s Chief Operating Officer.
As an example of these strong ties KLM chose the SieboldHuis in Leiden as its yearly Delftware miniature house to commemorate KLM’s 93rd birthday. The SieboldHuis has a special collection of Japanese objects and is also a more general museum for Japanese culture.
Fukuoka is the economic centre of the Kyushu region, located in the south-west of Japan. The region has a total population of around 15 million inhabitants. It is the fourth largest Japanese passenger market to Europe. Every year, 16 million passengers use Fukuoka Airport for domestic and international flights.
Fukuoka is also a tourist destination with interesting cultural and historical highlights. The new service between Fukuoka and Amsterdam will also enable the people from Kyushu region to conveniently visit Amsterdam, the Netherlands and over 70 destinations in Europe. The new service will be operated three times a week. Flight KL869 will depart from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving in Fukuoka the following day. The return flight, KL870, will depart from Fukuoka Airport on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving in Amsterdam on the same day. Flights will be operated with a Boeing 777-200ER, which can seat up to 318 passengers: 35 in World Business Class and 283 in Economy Class.
KLM will operate 21 flights per week between Amsterdam to Japan from 2013 summer schedule by 11 flights to Narita, 7 flights to Osaka and 3 flights to Fukuoka. Currently, Air France and KLM as a group operate 53 weekly flights between Paris, Amsterdam, and Japan.
