KLM - everything's going to be fine. Really.
HBM
I flew from Manston to Schipol a couple of weeks after the service started. On the 10am flight, not the 6:30am NIGHT FLIGHT, naturally.
The charming staff told me that the first couple of days had been "mad busy", with VIPs and bigwigs jetting back and forth - on free tickets presumably - but things had quietened down since then.
There were 16 passengers on my flight on the way out, 12 on the way back. And, yes, I do realise that one trip is no more than a snapshot and may not be representative.
It's an uncrowded, quick and convenient journey, but clearly not sustainable if the planes are flying less than a quarter full. I'll let you know what it's like the next time I go - I hope to make the most of this route before KLM pulls the plug. My guess is that KLM will tough it out for the summer season, suspend it for the winter, and then simply not restart.
Charles Buchanan
Manston Airport bosses confident of KLM future
Bosses at Manston Airport have said they are confident that a new passenger service to Amsterdam has a future. It comes after passengers said they had travelled on KLM planes that were less than half full.
The Dutch carrier started twice-daily flights from East Kent to Schiphol three months ago. Charles Buchanan, Manston's chief executive, told the BBC that the new service was a success:
"We have some flights that are less full than others obviously, but we've had others that are absolutely jam-packed and not a spare seat to be had. That's the normal way of aviation - you get some that are full and some that are less so. We're confident that the service has a future. This is a growing service, the forward bookings are coming in at a good rate."
KLM started running two morning flights from Manston, with one returning in mid-morning and the other in the evening, starting on 2 April.
BBC 1st Jul 2013
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