KLM warns it may cut European flights after summer over high taxes and fuel prices
Facing persistently high fuel prices and a new Dutch government flight tax due to begin Jan. 1, KLM is preparing to cancel some European routes after the summer season, the airline’s president and CEO, Marjan Rintel, told De Telegraaf.
Rintel, recently reappointed for another term, said the Dutch carrier is already implementing temporary cost-cutting steps to protect its finances while targeting a steady 8 percent gross margin over the next four years. That margin, she said, is essential to maintaining KLM’s position as a full network airline, something the Dutch cabinet itself endorsed in its latest coalition agreement as vital for the national economy.
“This year, we have been hit hard by the fuel prices; therefore, we must temporarily take extra measures to lower our expenses quickly. But the question is, of course, how long the situation in the Middle East is going to last,” Rintel told the De Telegraaf.
The planned tax will charge passengers 48 euros for medium-haul flights and 72 euros for long-haul flights. Rintel expressed deep concern that the higher levies will drive Dutch travelers to airports in neighboring countries.
“A family that flies to Morocco will soon be over 190 euros in taxes alone. Then the trip to Germany or Belgium is quickly made. That’s what keeps me awake,” she said. “Everyone has trouble with the expensive kerosene, but we also need a level playing field on the flight tax.”
Data from Düsseldorf Airport already shows a sharp rise in Dutch passengers after Germany reintroduced its own air tax, even as total traffic at the German hub fell.
Rintel urged the Netherlands to align its rates with Germany or the European average, calling Belgium’s roughly 10-euro tax politically realistic.
She noted that KLM is actively consulting its employees on the airline’s long-term strategy. “We remain a network company, because that is important for the economy of the Netherlands. ... The means to remain that is a gross margin of 8 percent. That we involve our colleagues in how we get there is no more than logical,” Rintel said. "Furthermore, it is important for us to remain competitive with neighboring countries, and the new flight tax makes this significantly more challenging."
Rintel pushed back against suggestions that lost local passengers could easily be replaced by international transfer traffic at Schiphol Airport.
“It does not work like that,” she explained. “We also need the Dutch passenger; otherwise, our network thins because we cannot maintain destinations. That leads to less income, which again leads to fewer investments.”
The airline itself must keep costs under control, she added, despite operating at a disadvantage. “We are ourselves responsible for keeping our own pants up and for reducing our costs. We are doing that too, but because of the unequal playing field, we compete with an arm tied behind our back.”
The airline also announced job cuts in January 2025, saying it will try to avoid compulsory layoffs but cannot rule them out. It was said to have cut 250 non-operational jobs as part of its “Back on Track” cost-saving program.
Rintel said she views the current high fuel prices as temporary but is open to further action if the situation drags on. “I assume that this high kerosene price is a temporary situation,” she said. “But a waiver of the slot rules we could, if the kerosene crisis lasts longer, possibly combine more flights. I expect that later in the year. We are first going to fly into a good summer.”
