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KLM Cityhopper

KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
WA KLC CITY
Founded April 1991
Hubs Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Frequent-flyer program Flying Blue
Alliance SkyTeam (affiliate)
Fleet size 48
Destinations 44
Parent company KLM
Headquarters Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
Website klmcityhopper.com

KLM Cityhopper is the regional airline subsidiary of KLM headquartered in Haarlemmermeer and based at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is an affiliate of SkyTeam and also a subsidary of Air France-KLM and operates scheduled European feeder services on behalf of KLM.

The airline was established on 1 April 1991, and started operations the same year. It was formed from the merger of NLM CityHopper and Netherlines. Following the 1991 merge in of KLM UK, NLM cityhopper and NetherLines, KLM Cityhopper had Europe's largest fleet composition of all Fokker-built aircraft: the Fokker 50, 70 and 100.

As part of KLM restructuring plans, its regional subsidiaries (including KLM UK) merged in November 2002 under the KLM Cityhopper name. It had 910 employees as of March 2007.

In 2008 the airline announced its fleet renewal programme, starting with an order of up to 17 Embraer 190-100 aircraft to replace its ageing and inefficient Fokker 50 aircraft and older Fokker 100 jets. Five Fokker 70 jets would also transfer over from Air France subsidiary Regional. Deliveries of the Embraer began in 2009 and by March 2010 KLM Cityhopper had operated its last Fokker 50 flight. The carrier began to phase out its older Fokker 100 jets. Further Embraer jet orders came in 2012 and allowed KLM Cityhopper to remove the last five remaining Fokker 100 aircraft from its operation.

In October 2012, KLM reportedly presented a plan to its unions that foresees splitting the airline into two separate units. According to a report by Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, KLM is considering splitting off its European operations that would operate with a lower cost base than today and include its subsidiary KLM Cityhopper. This would effectively mean an intercontinental operation to include only the wide body fleet of KLM and a European fleet operating the short to medium haul routes as a separate entity, including the current KLM Boeing 737 fleet and the entire KLM Cityhopper fleet. The plan proved unpopular with Unions and the CEO at the time and was parked. KLM is now in the process of streamlining its operation and reducing costs as well as negotiating increased productivity from staff.


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