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KLM pulls out of two West African routes

Monday September 24 2018

A KLM plane at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Dutch carrier KLM has announced plans to pull out of two West African routes, Sierra Leone and Liberia, from March next year.

“In order to open Las Vegas as a new destination, changes had to be made to KLM’s network. Partly due to Schiphol’s slot restrictions, KLM was forced to revise its portfolio of destinations sooner than expected,” said KLM in a statement on Monday.

“With effect from 29 March 2019, KLM will therefore stop flying to Freetown in Sierra Leone and Monrovia in Liberia.”

The carrier’s departure from the routes reduces travellers’ travel options, leaving other airlines including Kenya Airways as the remaining alternatives.

KLM said that passengers with a reservation for a flight after 29 March 2019 from Amsterdam to the destinations and vice versa will either be rebooked or reimbursed.

“While the Freetown/Monrovia route launched in 2017 would have previously been given more time to grow in terms of performance, KLM is now compelled to deploy its fleet and slots differently,” it said.

Kenya Airways #ticker:KQ and Dutch carrier KLM early this year expanded their deal to allow the airlines sell more flights to and from Europe and East Africa.