New Route of the Day – Americas (28 March 2022): KLM between Amsterdam and Austin
KLM has finally added
Austin in Texas to its US network from its base at
Amsterdam. This route was originally announced in 2019 with flights set to start in 2020. However, due to the pandemic the introduction of the service was delayed until Monday 28 March. The inaugural flight (KL 667) departed the Dutch hub 23 minutes late at 13:13 local time but arrived in Austin 24 minutes early at 15:41 local time according to flightradar24.com. The flight had taken nine hours and 28 minutes. The SkyTeam carrier will operate the 8,190-kilometre route on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays using its 787-9s.
One of two F1 races set to be held in the US in 2022 will be at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) just outside Austin on 23 October (the other is in Miami on 8 May). This new, non-stop service will make it even easier for Dutch supporters of current world champion Max Verstappen to visit the event.
KLM now serves 12 US destinations non-stop
This new service to Austin joins 11 other US airports that KLM is serving from Amsterdam this summer:
- New York JFK (19-weekly in April)
- Los Angeles (10-weekly)
- Atlanta, Chicago ORD, Houston IAH and San Francisco (daily)
- Washington IAD (6-weekly)
- Boston, Las Vegas and Minneapolis/St. Paul (4-weekly)
- Salt Lake City (3-weekly)
In April, fellow SkyTeam member Delta is offering daily service to Amsterdam from Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York JFK, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Service from Portland is set to resume on 3 May.
Virgin set to join BA, KLM and Lufthansa this summer
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) welcomed its first scheduled services from Europe on 3 March 2014, when British Airways began daily service from London LHR. Condor briefly offered service from Frankfurt in July and August 2016, before operating for much of the S17 season with 2-weekly flights. Norwegian began flights from London LGW in S18 with Lufthansa joining the market in May 2019 with its own Frankfurt service. Condor and Norwegian no longer serve Austin, but Virgin Atlantic is set to add its own 4-weekly service from Heathrow starting on 25 May using 787-9s.
