As third new freighter enters fleet ALAN PEAT WITH THE new schedule for the northern hemisphere winter season, KLM Cargo has increased its available global capacity by 11% over last year. This, the airline told FTW, largely due to its ability to utilise the now fully-operational Boeing 747-400ER freighter - the third in its fleet. Using these three aircraft, KLM Cargo will increase the number of weekly roundtrip flights operated from thirteen to fourteen - with an additional flight to Singapore coming into the schedule. For this expansion to be achieved, there was also the need to further optimise the freighter fleet utilisation. An example of this, KLM told FTW, was that from October 31, all freighter flights to Singapore and from Osaka will be operated non-stop. There is also an adjustment programme underway for the cargo flight schedule to be more closely aligned to market demand. An example of this is the flight frequency of the thrice-weekly service between Amsterdam and Osaka being spread more efficiently over the week. At the same time, the cargo operation’s freighter and combi operations to-and-from other destinations - including SA - will remain unchanged.
