KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will suspend operations to Fukuoka, Japan effective January 5, 2016. The last flights will be the KL869 departing Amsterdam on January 3, 2016 and the KL870 on January 4, 2016 departing Fukuoka.
KLM began operating services to Fukuoka on April 3, 2013 with three weekly flights using Boeing 777-200 equipment. Despite a promising start-up, KLM is forced to suspend services due to deteriorated performance of the route and the negative influence of the current exchange rate of the Japanese Yen.
The Japanese market has always been important for AIRFRANCE-KLM. This is expressed in KLM’s and Air France’s very long and continuous presence in Japan since 1951 and 1952 respectively.
After suspension of the route, KLM and Air France will remain present in the Kyushu region and will remain as dedicated to the Japanese market as they have been before. Connections from Fukuoka to Europe will be offered in cooperation with KLM’s partners via its 26 weekly services to Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, Seoul in South Korea and Taipei in Taiwan. On top of that, Kyushu will continue to be served by Air France’s network of 23 weekly services to Japan.
Passengers with a booking on Amsterdam-Fukuoka vv later than January 4, 2016, will be rebooked to the best available alternative. The aircraft that flew previously to Fukuoka will be deployed elsewhere in the KLM network. In this manner, KLM continues to optimise its network.
