Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Flight Deck Forums > Rumours & News
Reload this Page >

Scottish Routes to be Axed by KLM?

Rumours & News Reporting Points that may affect our jobs or lives as professional pilots. Also, items that may be of interest to professional pilots.

Scottish Routes to be Axed by KLM?

Old 5th Oct 2001, 11:45
  #1 (permalink)  
The Guvnor
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Exclamation Scottish Routes to be Axed by KLM?

From today's Scotsman:

Scottish routes under threat as KLM wields axe

Andrew Murray-Watson Senior Business Reporter
SCOTTISH routes operated by Dutch national airline KLM are under threat following an announcement by the carrier that it was to make further cutbacks in its services, in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US.

The airline’s routes from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen are in
jeopardy after KLM said it was to slash passenger capacity by an additional 10 per cent and axe up to 2,500 jobs. The cutbacks come on top of a 5 per cent reduction in services previously announced.

The news coincided with a warning from airport operator BAA that the terrorist attacks on the US might lead to a 20 per cent dip in its profits in the current financial year.

But the company, whose seven UK airports includes Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, backtracked on comments made by its chief executive Mike Hodkinson on Wednesday that such a fall was inevitable.

A spokesman rebutted suggestions that Hodkinson’s remarks were inadvisable given the perilous state of the aviation industry. He said: "It is far too soon to know how things will work out. We have been careful not to make any forecast."

A spokesman for KLM UK, which employs 160 staff in Scotland, said no decision had been taken regarding the future of its Scottish operations.

The carrier estimated the attacks resulted in a loss in September of £31 million.

It is also seeking to put 12,000 employees, almost half its workforce, on short time and ask others to take a "substantial" pay cut.

The airline added that its management and supervisory board members would take pay cuts of 15 per cent.

KLM’s continued presence in Scotland has come under threat from the challenge posed by low-cost airline easyJet. The no-frills carrier flies to Amsterdam from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and is understood to be keen to increase the frequency of its service on those routes.

Despite a 6 per cent dip in passenger numbers in September, Scottish airports have held up well, thanks to the success of low-cost carriers.

Traffic at Edinburgh rose 13.4 per cent, with international travel up 32 per cent. Traffic at Glasgow was up 6.9 per cent, while numbers in Aberdeen edged up by 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile Ireland’s national carrier Aer Lingus joined the ranks of airlines who have admitted to facing an uncertain future following the attacks.

Aer Lingus said transatlantic traffic had slumped by 80 per cent, with activity on UK and European routes down 30 per cent.

Public enterprise minister Mary O’Rourke told the Irish Parliament the airline faced a "very grave financial situation".
 
Old 5th Oct 2001, 13:30
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Wiltshire
Age: 57
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

So, another well researched journalistic piece then

Since when have Easyjet flown ABZ - AMS?? wish they would!
shuttlefivealpha is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 15:49
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Wiltshire
Age: 57
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

Bono,

"KLM’s continued presence in Scotland has come under threat from the challenge posed by low-cost airline easyJet. The no-frills carrier flies to Amsterdam from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and is understood to be keen to increase the frequency of its service on those routes."
shuttlefivealpha is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 16:10
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Too Far North
Posts: 1,105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Unhappy

The airline’s routes from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen are in
jeopardy after KLM said it was to slash passenger capacity by an additional 10 per cent and axe up to 2,500 jobs. The cutbacks come on top of a 5 per cent reduction in services previously announced.


KLM does not operate any Scottish routes. They are all operated by KLMuk. The job losses are at KLM, not KLMuk

The carrier estimated the attacks resulted in a loss in September of £31 million.

This relates to KLM, not KLMuk.

KLM’s continued presence in Scotland has come under threat from the challenge posed by low-cost airline easyJet. The no-frills carrier flies to Amsterdam from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and is understood to be keen to increase the frequency of its service on those routes.

EasyJet’s arrival on the routes has had virtually no affect on KLMuk’s traffic. EasyJet is point to point, KLMuk is mostly interlining traffic. In fact, with the reduction in trans Atlantic services from Scotland, KLMuk is expecting to see a rise in pax to AMS.
Flap40 is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 17:28
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: At the foot of the Lammermuirs
Posts: 344
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

KLMuk are cutting EDI-AMS from 6 to 5 rotations per day. Dropping the last flight of the day - UK2082 @ 18:30
Gaza is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 19:29
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: London
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

I do hope KLM/KLMuk don't pull out of EDI.
flypastpastfast is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 22:17
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 789
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

If KLM mainline are going to cut capacity by 15%, it figures that they will need to reduce the feeders to AMS by a similar amount. As KLMuk is essentially a feeder to AMS, they could be looking at a similar reduction in numbers.

They should have jumped in to pick up all the Gill routes as soon as they went under, to spread the reliance on AMS
A Very Civil Pilot is offline  
Old 5th Oct 2001, 22:54
  #8 (permalink)  
Nightflyer
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Unhappy

A quote from todays Economist:
"In Europe other once-proud flag-carriers, such as KLM of the Nethrlands, may be weeks away from oblivion."
 
Old 5th Oct 2001, 23:31
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Fratton End
Posts: 438
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

I doubt that Nightflyer, more likely weeks away from yet another round of cash handouts from the tax payers of euroland
freightdoggy dog is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.