Cardiff: KLM News & Hub Discussions

[fly4gigs]

The timings for todays outbound flight is not good if you wanted a weekend break.

 

[Jerry]

The timings for todays outbound flight is not good if you wanted a weekend break.

Most people on a weekend break would look to have flown yesterday. The flights today are more timed for the rugby.

There was a post online stating that the Air France CWL-CDG departure had around 125 passengers onboard.

 

[Jerry]

Highlights from my flight with Air France to Paris on Friday

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[Jerry]

E195 is scheduled for tomorrows 17.20 departure. I do wonder if having the bigger E195 means KLM Cityhopper can be more flexible for events like Wales v France. Hopefully we'll see more of the E195.

 

[fly4gigs]

They have acknowledged Air France quite a bit on social media.

 

[Jerry]

Yeah they've posted this on Instagram and Facebook.

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[Jerry]

Looking at the Stats for Amsterdam for the year 2024 is in brackets for comparison
January 6747 (8587)
February 7232 (9638)
March 8054 (10,913)
April 8693 (7791)
May 8577 (7966)
June 8276 (8302)
July 10028 (8873)
August 9722 (9419)
September 8294 (7858)
October 8694 (8328)
November 8536 (8293)
December 8175 (8202)
Total 100,848 passengers (104,170) down by 3.1% on 2024

 

[CAN&I]

Looking at the Stats for Amsterdam for the year 2024 is in brackets for comparison
January 6747 (8587)
February 7232 (9638)
March 8054 (10,913)
April 8693 (7791)
May 8577 (7966)
June 8276 (8302)
July 10028 (8873)
August 9722 (9419)
September 8294 (7858)
October 8694 (8328)
November 8536 (8293)
December 8175 (8202)
Total 92,734 passengers (104,170) down by 10.9% on 2024

According to the official CAA stats the total for 2025 is 101,028, down 3,142 / 3.0% on 2024.

January 6747 (8587)
February 7232 (9638)
March 8054 (10913)
April 8693 (7791)
May 8577 (7966)
June 8276 (8302)
July 10028 (8873)
August 9722 (9419)
September 8294 (7858)
October 8694 (8328)
November 8536 (8293)
December 8175 (8202)

Looks like you missed out September in your 2025 total.

 

[Jerry]

Fingers crossed with the flight cap limited maybe just maybe we might see the overnight aircraft return and Cardiff go back to 3 daily.
Also with the problems in the Middle East maybe KLM will see more demand.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2032386254944325938

 

[CAN&I]

Would be great if the overnight based ERJ returned but sadly its probably best to temper the optimism somewhat.

With a 25% reduction in capacity between 2023 and 2024, CWL/AMS passenger numbers only fell by 8.3%,. Similarly a further 11.1% capacity reduction between 2024 and 2025 only saw a passenger loss of 3.0%.

Thats quite a telling set of statistics and implies (very roughly) that the passenger numbers were not sufficient enough to fill more than approximately 1/3 of the third daily aircraft. We also know the remaining two aircraft are seldom 100% full most days.

There is of course the counter argument where MME, HUY and NWI attracted 6,287, 20,852 and 26,969 more passengers than CWL during 2025 despite having an additional rotation on a daily basis which begs the question that if they can justify 3 aircraft, why couldn't CWL (notwithstanding the Bristol factor of course)?

While KLM Cityhopper operates on an entirely different model to most regional airlines, we'll no doubt see any additional capacity directed towards larger markets. Can't help but think CWL will be low down the priority list unfortunately.

 

[Nigel B]

Well nobody really knows what KLM plans are so i try to think positive,hopefully some good news in the future?

 

[Jerry]

Can't help but think CWL will be low down the priority list unfortunately.

Well lets try to be positive shall we as we don't know what sort of talks are in place between the airport and airline and the 3 daily especially the arriving late night flight gives people more options.

 

[CAN&I]

Well lets try to be positive shall we.

Of course...

Well nobody really knows what KLM plans are so i try to think positive,hopefully some good news in the future?

Yep, just exercising a little self preservation this end as we've often seen hopes raised and dashed in the recent past. Would be more than happy to be proved wrong for sure.

 

[Jerry]

Stumbled on this trip report of the Air France flight from last month

 

[gulftraveller]

Well lets try to be positive shall we as we don't know what sort of talks are in place between the airport and airline and the 3 daily especially the arriving late night flight gives people more options.

With airlines such as Lufthansa reducing capacity with the hike in oil prices, chances of service upgrades anywhere in the UK are very slim.

 

[Jerry]

With airlines such as Lufthansa reducing capacity with the hike in oil prices, chances of service upgrades anywhere in the UK are very slim.

We can always hope!

 

[Jerry]

Total 100,848 passengers (104,170) down by 3.1% on 2024

Its interesting that the annual total is a bit different in 101,028 but only by 180 though. Still down 3% but its noticeable that Bristol is down as well by -4% 480 288 in 2025 compared to 502,440 in 2024.
In comparison to other KLM only routes
Aberdeen 308,920 +3%
Belfast City 99,586 +73%
Exeter 37,816 (New)
Humberside 121,880 +16%
Inverness 97,102 -3%
Leeds Bradford 173,301 +3%
Norwich 127,833 +5%
Teesside 107,315 +8%

 

[CAN&I]

January 6747 (8587)
February 7232 (9638)
March 8054 (10,913)
April 8693 (7791)
May 8577 (7966)
June 8276 (8302)
July 10028 (8873)
August 9722 (9419)
September 8294 (7858)
October 8694 (8328)
November 8536 (8293)
December 8175 (8202)
Total 100,848 passengers (104,170) down by 3.1% on 2024

Its interesting that the annual total is a bit different in 101,028 but only by 180 though.

This was the point we tried to raise earlier in the forum.

Adding together the monthly figures for 2025 as accurately presented in your list, the total comes to 101,028 not 100,848.

The end of year figure for AMS is 101,028 according to report 12.1 both through the year and at year's end. This seems to be the most consistent component of a generally inconsistent suite of data by the CAA's own admission and is the only way we can compare routes on a m-o-m and y-o-y basis given the data available.

Honestly not trying to be difficult here. Just trying to be helpful. 👍

 

[Jerry]

Great to see a group like this using KLM from Cardiff Airport to travel to Argentina from Wales.

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KLM will introduce the A350 900 in Q4 2026. It'll replace the A330s and 777 200er. First routes will be Toronto, 🇨🇦 and Dars el Salam 🇹🇿

KLM Announces A350 LOPA, First Destinations, Strategy

Over the upcoming years, the Airbus A350-900 will replace KLM’s A330-200, A330-300, and Boeing 777-200ER fleets.

www.airwaysmag.com

 

[Qing4theloo]

Looks like the sub-contract to German Airways for the evening flight is here to stay.

GA have 8 E190s (handy!!) which KLM seem to be using for a large number of their regional flights from Schiphol.

Visiting CWL in the last 7 days we have had:
D-AZFA
D-AKJC
D-AMWO
D-AWSI
D-AGMP

More about German Regional Airlines, who are currently using the German Airways Brand:

German Regional Airlines - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org