KLM is the third-largest foreign carrier to serve the UK. With up to 71 daily flights involving 18 UK airports, it plays a critical role in linking the nation to the ever-popular Amsterdam—a hugely popular business and tourist city—and the wider world. This analysis comes soon after KLM’s big sibling, Air France, added London Gatwick to its network.

KLM is a much more significant regional force than British Airways is. Indeed, the frames of BA’s various units fly to 13 airports, which will include the British Crown Dependency of Guernsey next year. But while Cirium Diio data shows that virtually all of BA’s UK flights involve London airports, for self-explanatory reasons, it’s just 22% for KLM.

The Dutch Carrier’s UK Operation In December Summarized

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Let’s narrow the analysis to December. Doing so necessarily means it’s just a snapshot of activity, and it’ll be different at other times. Schedule analysis shows that KLM has more UK flights in the festive month than in any other December on record. It has 61% of the whole UK-Amsterdam market, and nearly 5% of the UK’s short-haul international market.

KLM’s UK departures have risen by nearly 1% compared to the prior record, which was last December. That’s despite the average number of seats per flight rising from 125 to 130, which Cirium shows is the second-highest result for any December in the past two decades.

The increase is influenced by the 227-seat Airbus A321neo, of which it now has 11 frames. This is the airline’s highest-capacity narrowbody equipment, and it is used to Edinburgh, London Heathrow, and Manchester.

Despite more flights on the A321neo, KLM relies on its Cityhopper regional unit, which operates nearly seven in ten UK flights. The share of regional jets has reduced by four points year-over-year due to the large Airbus narrowbody, but also more activity by the airline’s 737-700s and 737-900s.

A Breakdown Of KLM’s UK Routes

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Let’s narrow the focus further to December 14 to 20. In these seven days, KLM plans 466 departures from the UK, which have risen by 2% year-over-year—more than double the overall December rate. It plans more flights and capacity in the run-up to the festive period. Daily departures vary from a low of 56 on Sundays to a high of 71 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Compared to the equivalent week last year, Exeter is now served. KLM began flying to Devon airport in March 2025. It meant the Dutch carrier’s UK network rose to 18 airports for the first time.

Exeter previously had Amsterdam flights until 2020, when the first iteration of Flybe cut the route. Running daily, Cityhopper’s 88-seat E175 is exclusively deployed in the examined winter week. However, the 100-seat E190 was also flown in the past few months, particularly, of course, during the peak season with higher demand.

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The winter-only service has just 14 flights.

Manchester Has The Most Seats Per Flight

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As mentioned earlier, KLM’s average UK seats per flight is 131. With 186, Manchester has more than anywhere else, including the heavily slot-constrained Heathrow (170). Some 85% of Manchester’s weekly services are not on regional jets, against 80% for Edinburgh (179 seats per flight) and just 58% for Heathrow.

To maintain KLM’s high Heathrow frequencies, providing strong feed at Schiphol and helping with higher fares, yields, and loads, it relies more on regional jets than at Manchester and Edinburgh. However, 21 of its 53 weekly departures are on the A321neo. It’s particularly deployed at peak times, including on its 6:30 am departure to the Netherlands.