Dutch flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is set to return Edmonton International Airport’s non-stop link to Amsterdam next year when it launches a new transatlantic link between the two cities. The carrier plans to introduce a three times weekly service on the route from May 5, 2015 using an Airbus A330-200, although it has not yet officially announced the proposed flight or opened reservations.

UPDATE: KLM officially opened reservations for this new transatlantic route on November 3, 2014. The flight will operate initially on a three times weekly basis from May 5, 2015, increasing to a four times weekly schedule from June 23, 2015.

According to our schedule blog, Airline Route, which exclusively revealed the proposed expansion last week (see 'KLM to Start Edmonton Service from May 2015'), the flight ‘KL675/676’, has been loaded in the reservation system’s Flight Information (FLIFO) section but includes the remark “ENTIRE FLT- H/ SEGMENT NOT TO BE DISPLAYED” at present time.

Air services between Europe and Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and a developing cultural, governmental and educational centre, have been limited over recent years and the introduction of this additional transatlantic connection will help facilitate the growing demand for travel to and from the city.

In fact, Air Canada to London Heathrow and Icelandair to Reykjavik currently provide the only direct accessibility into Europe, supported on a seasonal basis by summer flights from Air Transat to London Gatwick. The Air Canada route has been operated on a year-round basis since it was introduced in November 2006 but will stop for the forthcoming winter schedule later this month and resume in March 2015.

If KLM confirms its tentative plans to launch the Edmonton route it will mark the return of flights from Amsterdam for the first time in eight years. The Amsterdam – Edmonton route was previously flown by Dutch leisure carrier Martinair, also part of Air France-KLM, twice weekly using a Boeing 767-300ER on a seasonal basis up until 2007.

In our analysis we highlight annual bi-directional passenger flows between Edmonton and destinations across Europe. Last year an estimated 168,000 passengers flew in this market, up 7.8 per cent on the previous year. This was the second successive year of demand growth with numbers up 17.5 per cent in 2013 versus 2012.

With the recent year-round flights by Air Canada to London, it is no surprise that the United Kingdom is the largest European market from/to Edmonton, although there are also notable passenger flows into Germany, Italy and France with the Netherlands currently the fifth largest European market with an estimated 8,000 annual passengers in 2013 (down from a high of just under 13,000 when Martinair previously served the Amsterdam – Edmonton market).

In our chart, below, we highlight the largest origin and destination markets for passengers flying to/from Edmonton from/to Europe. It is interesting to see that Amsterdam is the fourth largest source or end market with demand rising 10.1 per cent in 2013 versus 2012 and 36.6 per cent versus 2011.

Data provided by