KLM Royal Dutch Airlines added the Yucatan vacation city to its network of destinations, offering a huge range of connecting flights through its hub in Amsterdam/Schiphol.
On Tuesday, November 2, the first flight took place and reached 100% occupation, demonstrating the great interest in Cancun on the part of European tourists. Initially, KLM will operate four flights per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). Then, between December 19, 2021, and January 16, 2022, a fifth frequency will be added on Sundays. They will be operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
The flight was welcomed by the Mayor of Benito Juarez, Mara Lezama, and Wilfrid Mohr, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at Terminal 4 of the Cancun International Airport.
«The new route between Amsterdam and Cancun, will strengthen the growth and our economic reactivation, generating more exports, mobility, tourism, and thus more economic revenue and welfare for all Benito Juarez families», said Mara Lezama.
In addition, this flight was operated with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced from the reuse of cooking oil, reducing carbon emissions by 75%.
For the Dutch airline, Cancun is the second destination in Mexico, since it has a daily flight to Mexico City (MEX) with Boeing 787-9. Its partner, Air France, also has flights to both destinations from Paris/Charles de Gaulle, with 10 weekly operations to the Mexican capital and daily to Cancun, operated by Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Ayer despegó el primer vuelo de la nueva ruta de @KLM_MX Cancún- Ámsterdam. En la ceremonia estuvieron presentes el embajador @WilfredMohr, el gobernador @CarlosJoaquin y el CEO del @cancuniairport Carlos Trueba Coll. ¡Felicidades, @KLM_MX ! ???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/QgnWhw4MHB
— EmbajadaPaísesBajosMx (@NLinMexico) November 3, 2021
Cancun is recovering rapidly
It is no news that Mexico is the market with the highest recovery rate. For November, according to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, the domestic sector recovered 83.4% of its flight offer and 98% in the international sector, compared to the same period in 2019.
This year, Cancun added new airlines with the landing of TAP Air Portugal, World2Fly, Azur Air, Nordwind, Austrian Airlines, LEVEL and Volaris El Salvador. In addition Iberojet from Barcelona, Ukraine International Airlines, Eurowings Discover, Aeroflot, and Aeromexico to Brasil will be added in the following months.
This destination has been a decisive factor for the airlines, given that Mexico has not taken drastic measures to curb the entry of tourists to its territory in view of the health crisis, being a market highly demanded by passengers.
This situation is complemented by the fact that the Asia-Pacific vacation markets are still under severe restrictions and with a delicate epidemiological situation.
