KLM Cityhopper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
KLM Cityhopper

An Embraer E195-E2 of KLM Cityhopper
Founded	1 April 1991; 34 years ago (1991-04-01)
Hubs	Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Frequent-flyer program	Flying Blue
Alliance	SkyTeam (affiliate)
Fleet size	67
Destinations	69
Parent company	KLM
Headquarters	Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands

KLM Cityhopper is an airline that flies shorter routes for its parent company, KLM. It's like a smaller helper airline. Its main office is in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands.

The airline's main base is at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. KLM Cityhopper is part of the Air France–KLM group. It is also connected to the SkyTeam airline alliance. This airline flies many scheduled flights across Europe for KLM.

A Look at KLM Cityhopper's History

How the Airline Started

KLM Cityhopper began on April 1, 1991. It started flying planes in the same year. The airline was created when two older airlines, NLM CityHopper and Netherlines, joined together.

After this merger in 1991, KLM Cityhopper had the largest collection of Fokker planes in Europe. These planes included the Fokker 50, 70, and 100.

In 1998, KLM bought another airline called AirUK. They later changed its name to KLM UK.

Growing and Changing Planes

KLM Cityhopper Fokker 50 in an older paint design at Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik.

A KLM Cityhopper Fokker 100 with an older paint design.

In November 2002, KLM combined all its smaller airlines under the KLM Cityhopper name. By March 2007, the airline had 910 employees.

In 2008, KLM Cityhopper announced a plan to update its fleet of planes. They ordered up to 17 Embraer 190 aircraft. These new planes would replace their older Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 jets. Five Fokker 70 jets also moved to KLM Cityhopper from another airline.

The new Embraer planes started arriving in 2009. By March 2010, KLM Cityhopper had flown its last Fokker 50 flight. The airline then started to remove its older Fokker 100 jets from service. More Embraer jets were ordered in 2012. This allowed KLM Cityhopper to stop using the last five Fokker 100 aircraft.

A KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 with a paint design used before 2014.

A KLM Cityhopper Embraer 190 with the newer paint design from 2014.

In 2013, KLM Cityhopper put new, slim leather seats on its Fokker 70 planes. They also changed the seating on all Fokker and Embraer aircraft. This created three different seating areas: Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy.

Also in 2013, the airline announced a deal to get six more Embraer 190 jets. These planes arrived between late 2013 and April 2014. This also meant that seven Fokker 70 aircraft would be retired earlier than planned.

On April 30, 2014, KLM Cityhopper received its 28th Embraer 190. This made it the largest operator of this type of plane in Europe. On the same day, a brand new paint design for the planes was launched. This new look was designed by KLM and would be painted on all KLM Cityhopper and KLM aircraft over time.

Expanding Destinations

Since 2014, KLM has added new shorter flight destinations to its network. Most of these new routes are flown by KLM Cityhopper. New places included Bilbao, Turin, Zagreb, Montpellier, Kraków, and Belfast.

KLM Cityhopper also increased flights from Bristol and Leeds-Bradford. They started using the larger Embraer 190 planes instead of the Fokker 70s for these routes. On December 9, 2015, KLM announced new KLM Cityhopper flights to Southampton, Inverness, Dresden, and Genoa. These new flights started in spring 2016.

Modernizing the Fleet

In 2015, KLM Cityhopper decided that the Embraer 175 would replace its Fokker 70 fleet. The last Fokker 70 left the fleet on October 29, 2017. This deal with Embraer sped up the removal of the Fokker 70s. It also brought two more Embraer 190 aircraft, making that fleet 30 planes in total.

On March 20, 2016, the first Embraer 175 was delivered. It started flying on routes previously used by Fokker 70s and also on the Embraer 190 network when needed. Because pilots and cabin crew trained on the Embraer 190 could easily switch to the Embraer 175, the new plane was quickly put into service.

On January 13, 2016, KLM Cityhopper confirmed orders for two more Embraer 175 aircraft. This brought the total order for the Embraer 175 to 17 planes. By March 2016, KLM Cityhopper became the largest European operator of the Embraer E-Jet family. It had 30 Embraer 190s and 17 Embraer 175 jets on order. After the Fokker 70s were retired, KLM Cityhopper now operates one of the newest regional jet fleets in the world.

On February 23, 2021, KLM Cityhopper received its first Embraer 195-E2.

About the Company

Who Owns KLM Cityhopper?

The Convair Building, where KLM Cityhopper's main office is located.

KLM Cityhopper is fully owned by KLM. KLM itself is part of the larger Air France–KLM Group.

Where is the Main Office?

KLM Cityhopper's main office is in the Convair Building. This building is located at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Schiphol-Oost, Haarlemmermeer. The Convair Building also has offices for KLM Recruitment Services.

Plane Design

The look of KLM Cityhopper planes is very similar to its parent company, KLM. The planes have "Cityhopper" written after the KLM crown logo. They do not have "The Flying Dutchman" or "Royal Dutch Airlines" written on them. A new style of writing was introduced in 2010. In May 2014, KLM Cityhopper also introduced a new paint design for its planes.

Places KLM Cityhopper Flies To

Many of KLM's flights within Europe are flown by both KLM and KLM Cityhopper. The routes can change between KLM's Boeing 737 planes and KLM Cityhopper's planes depending on the season.

The airline used to have five fully staffed bases in the United Kingdom. These were taken over when KLM bought Air UK and merged it with KLM UK. Hundreds of British pilots and cabin crew continued to work on KLM Cityhopper flights from the UK and the Netherlands. However, all UK bases for cabin crew closed in 2017. The last pilot-only bases closed in May 2020.

The Fleet of Planes

KLM Cityhopper Embraer 175 with the newest paint design.

A KLM Cityhopper Embraer 190 with a special SkyTeam paint design.

A KLM Cityhopper Embraer 195-E2 in 2022.

Current Planes

As of April 2025, KLM Cityhopper only flies Embraer E-Jet planes. Here are the planes they use:

Special Government Plane

KLM Cityhopper used to operate a special Fokker 70 plane for the Dutch Government and the royal family. H. M. King Willem-Alexander himself often flew this plane. This Fokker was sold in 2017. A Boeing 737-700 BBJ now replaces it and is flown by KLM mainline.

Past Planes

A retired KLM Cityhopper Fokker 50.

When KLM Cityhopper started in 1991, most of its planes were Fokker types. These older planes have since been replaced by more efficient Embraer E-Jets. The last Fokker plane was retired on October 28, 2017. Today, the airline's fleet is made up entirely of Embraer 175s, 190s, and 195-E2s.

Services on Board

What You Get on Your Flight

KLM Cityhopper offers free drinks and snacks on all its scheduled flights. You cannot buy duty-free items on these flights.

Passengers in Business Class receive continental breakfast boxes, sandwiches, or dinner salads. They also get bar service. Economy Class passengers get sandwiches or a drink and a free snack. This depends on the time of day and how long the flight is.

KLM Cityhopper has two types of seating on all its flights. The first rows on all planes are for Europe Business Class passengers. This section can be made larger if more people want to fly Business Class. The other section is Europe Economy.

Since 2011, KLM decided to keep the middle seats empty in Business Class on its shorter flights. This gives Business Class passengers more space and comfort. This meant that seats C and E on any Business Class row on the Fokker planes were not used. A maximum of three passengers sat on each row. However, this seat blocking is not done on the Embraer E190 or E175 planes, which only have four seats across each row.

From April 22, 2013, KLM started charging for checked bags on all European flights. This includes all KLM Cityhopper flights. However, if you have a Business Class ticket or are a top member of the 'Flying Blue' frequent flyer program, you do not pay this fee. The baggage fee is also not charged if your KLM Cityhopper flight is part of a longer trip that goes to another continent.

You can buy Economy Comfort seats on all KLM Cityhopper flights. These seats are usually up to row 7 on the Embraer E190. They offer Economy passengers more legroom. These seats are also located closer to the front of the plane for faster exit. The number of these seats available changes depending on how many Business Class seats are sold on the flight.

Incidents and Accidents

• On April 4, 1994, a Saab 340 plane, operating as KLM Cityhopper Flight 433, had an accident at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Three people died and nine were seriously hurt. A warning light wrongly showed that an engine had low oil pressure. As the plane was coming in to land, the pilot decided to try to go around and fly again. However, only one engine was given full power, while the other stayed at a low setting. Because of this, the plane tilted sharply to the right, stalled, and hit the ground.

Famous Pilots

In 2017, Willem-Alexander, who is the King of the Netherlands, shared a secret. He had been flying as a co-pilot twice a month for KLM Cityhopper for 21 years. This included flying the state plane for the government.

See also

In Spanish: KLM Cityhopper para niños