KLM's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner To Land In San Francisco May 4

Making its debut in the United States.

 Beginning May 4, 2016, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will operate its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS).  This will be the KLM Dreamliner’s first flight out of the United States and will feature lower fuel consumption, a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system, Wi-Fi for all passengers, and new World Business Class (WBC), Economy Comfort, and Economy class cabins designed by renowned Dutch Designer Hella Jongerius. KLM introduced its first Dreamliner on November 23, 2015 and the new aircraft currently flies to Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Rio de Janeiro, Osaka, Delhi, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Chengdu.

KLM will offer Dreamliner service twice weekly throughout the summer season in addition to its daily frequency, currently operated by a Boeing 747-400 from San Francisco-SFO to Amsterdam-AMS.

Flight schedule – twice weekly* (in local time)

KL610: Departs San Francisco-SFO at 4:45 p.m., arrives at Amsterdam-AMS at 12:15 p.m. the following day;

KL609: Departs Amsterdam Airport Schiphol-AMS at 12:40 p.m., arrives at San Francisco-SFO at 2:45 p.m.

*Wednesdays and Sundays

“San Francisco is the first gateway in North America to receive KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as we continue to invest in supporting growing demand for our West Coast routes,” said Eric Caron, General Manager, Air France-KLM USA. “The addition of the Dreamliner also reflects our commitment to providing exceptional customer experiences through innovative design to deliver more comfort and connectivity onboard a faster, more fuel-efficient plane.”

A commitment to sustainability

Engines and other improvements enable the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to fly further, faster, cleaner, quieter and more efficient than comparable airplanes. Together with KLM’s efforts to reduce weight, to fly fuel-efficiently and to use sustainable biofuel, this airplane provides an important contribution to KLM’s sustainability goals, to include reducing the CO2 emissions of its fleet by at least 20 percent by 2020.

The Dreamliner is up to 20 percent more fuel efficient, because of the new engines, lightweight composite structure and aerodynamic efficiency. This means up to 20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions and 40 percent less noise emission. The sustainable considerations go further, however, with less waste and fewer hazardous materials used during manufacturing, and processes in place to ensure the airplane can be recycled at the end of its life cycle. Onboard, KLM has committed to sustainably sourcing for at least 50 percent of its products.

The aircraft is part of KLM’s program of fleet investment, which began with the introduction of the new World Business Class onboard the Boeing 747. This was followed by entirely new World Business Class and Economy Class interiors in the Boeing 777-200 and the phased introduction of new Boeing 777-300s. From December 2015, KLM will continue its fleet renewal with the deployment of the Embraer 175 and 190.

New flight mode

The interior design of the Boeing 787-9 maximizes comfort and privacy for passengers, while maintaining KLM’s aesthetic and brand values.

KLM’s Boeing 787-9 is fitted with onboard Wi-Fi, marking the launch of KLM Wi-Fi, which was tested in earlier trials. It will now be possible to use the internet, email and other online services onboard using laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

Larger windows, a higher cabin pressure and special LED-lighting further enhance the unique flight experience ensuring passengers arrive more rested at their destinations.

Luxurious personal space in World Business Class

KLM has chosen the newest full-flat World Business Class seat for its Boeing 787-9s. The position of the new seats in the cabin and various design decisions ensure passengers can enjoy as much privacy as possible during the flight, as every World Business Class seat in the Boeing 787-9 has direct aisle access.

Warmer colors – with different shades for every seat – and a large storage space ensure ultimate comfort and more personal room for passengers. Large, soft pillows and luxurious new blankets give the new World Business Class a warm and welcoming mood. Each seat is fitted with a 16-inch screen. There is also the option of a dual-screen experience, which allows passengers to game or chat using the handset while watching a film.

Economy Class

The seats in Economy Class offer passengers extra comfort. The seats recline 40 percent more than previous models, and all passengers have access to a power socket where they can recharge their mobile equipment. The inflight entertainment system has been renewed and expanded with a larger, 11-inch screen, intuitive HD-quality touchscreens, interactive 3D maps, and the option to communicate via Seat Chat with fellow passengers who are not seated nearby. The inflight entertainment system provides access to more than 150 films and 200 TV programs in 12 languages, including a large number of local films.

Catering by a new chef

For a full year, KLM will serve the creations of Michelin three-star Dutch chef, Jacob Jan Boerma, on World Business Class flights originating in Amsterdam. The meals in World Business class are served on tableware designed by famous Dutch designer, Marcel Wanders. Economy Class passengers also have a variety of à la carte meal choices that can be ordered in advance.

For more information on KLM 787-9 Dreamliner, visit https://787dreamliner.klm.com/en_gb/home.

About KLM

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded in 1919, making it the world’s oldest airline still operating under its original name. In 2004, Air France and KLM merged to form AIR FRANCE KLM. The merger produced the strongest European airline group based on two powerful brands and hubs – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle. Retaining its own identity, the group focuses on three core businesses: passenger transport, cargo and aircraft maintenance.

In the Netherlands, KLM comprises the core of the KLM Group, which further includes KLM Cityhopper, transavia.com and Martinair. KLM serves all its destinations using a modern fleet and employs over 32,000 people around the world. KLM is a leader in the airline industry, offering reliable operations and customer-oriented products resulting from its policy of enthusiasm and sustainable innovation.

Air France-KLM and its partners Delta Air Lines and Alitalia operate the biggest trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 250 daily flights.

KLM is a member of the global SkyTeam airline alliance, offering customers an extensive worldwide network. The KLM network connects the Netherlands to every important economic region in the world and, as such, serves as a powerful driver for the economy.

Air France Unveils Redesigned Accent By Graffiti Artist JonOne

Air France teamed up with New York-born painter and graffiti artist JonOne to redesign the Air France accent. Measuring four meters by seven meters, the giant accent was unveiled November 10 at the heart of Air France Industries’ hangars at Paris Orly. The art represents the French flag and symbolizes freedom, one of the values held dear to France and the artist alike while echoing the company’s slogan: Air France, France is in the Air.  An Air France Boeing 777 equipped with the airline’s new travel cabins will don the accent serving the Company’s global network for one year.

The aircraft sporting this exceptional livery will then fly for the first time to New York, a legendary and historic route for Air France.

In December 2015, a selection of exclusive items including notebooks, tote bags and models of the aircraft with the Air France redesigned accent will be available for purchase on airfranceshopping.com.

Air France, Ambassador of Contemporary Art

For the past 80 years, Air France has had a special relationship with the contemporary art world – from the spiritual artist Zao Wou-Ki to the electrifying JonOne, via Jeff Koons, David Mach, and many more.

Air France has previously worked with JonOne –in September 2012, during their time spent in the La Premiere lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, La Premiere customers were able to discover exclusive creations signed by JonOne. In the La Premiere cabin, on board long-haul flights, new menu and wine list covers also designed by JonOne stimulated the appetite and turned the flight into a gastronomic interlude.

In each travel cabin, throughout the year, the “Arts & Culture” TV program provokes Air France’s visual reflection around masters such as Le Corbusier, fun artists including Keith Haring, or sublime architectures such as the Louis Vuitton / Frank Gehry Foundation. In December 2015, Air France will show a video by JonOne as a tribute to abbé Pierre. And to make the most of this cultural showcase in the sky, the gigantic Air France Airbus A380s are equipped with genuine art galleries comprising wide video screens.

About JonOne

The person still known to many as John Andreas Perello was born in New York, to two Dominican parents who had fled Trujillo’s regime and met in New York to secure their chance at the American dream. The young man evokes the pitiless status quo of his childhood – “No Hope, No Future”, akin to the British punks’ nihilist movement. This paved the way for a found image – the dazzling trail of dynamic color and movement left by a spray-painted subway train.

So it would be the subway. The street. Graffiti.

The budding artist behind JonOne rapidly signed flamboyant murals, and “entered the world of art”. He visited museums and galleries, built his own culture – like Jean-Michel Basquiat, who he resembles in many aspects – and his graffiti took inspiration from his spiritual fathers (Kandinsky, Miro) and the lyrical abstraction which was a major influence in painting during this era – Pollock, of course, but also De Kooning, Motherwell, Rothko, etc. His life was punctuated by decisive encounters and trips, notable to Paris, where the artist had two major experiences – at the Hôpital Ephémère – a legal squat for artists at the end of the 90s – and his active collaboration for the Abbé Pierre Foundation (2011). In addition to reclaiming his Dominican roots, a perfect fusion between street art and High Art – the noble art of painting – his reputation was swiftly forged and fame followed. After multiple international exhibitions, on January 21, 2015, a monumental work, significantly titled “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” was inaugurated at the National Assembly, in Salon des Mariannes. This painting even became the new French stamp in September 2015.

About Air France

Air France, a global airline of French inspiration, with high standards and a caring attitude, turns the flight into a moment of real pleasure on all its daily operations in France, Europe and worldwide.

Since 2004, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have formed a global air transport giant with a strong European base. The Group also offers cargo transport and aeronautical maintenance solutions.

Air France-KLM is the leading Group in terms of international traffic on departure from Europe. In 2015, it offers its customers access to a network covering 316 destinations in 115 countries thanks to its four brands Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Transavia and HOP! Air France. With a fleet of 546 aircraft in operation and 87.4 million passengers carried in 2014, Air France-KLM operates up to 2,200 daily flights from its hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Its Flying Blue frequent flyer programme is one of the leaders in Europe with over 25 million members.

Air France-KLM and its partners Delta Air Lines and Alitalia operate the biggest trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 250 daily flights.

Air France-KLM is also a member of the SkyTeam alliance which has 20 member airlines, offering customers access to a global network of over 16,320 daily flights to 1,052 destinations in 177 countries.

Putin Suspends Russian Flights To Egypt Amid Security Fears

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday suspended all flights from Russia to Egypt, the most popular tourist destination for Russians, until the cause of a mysterious plane crash that killed 224 people over the Sinai Peninsula had been established.

Mr. Putin’s decision, which followed a recommendation from Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, was the first breach in what has largely been a wall of silence from Russian and Egyptian authorities over the crash on Saturday. Until now, the two countries have been playing down the possibility of terrorism — even as Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, and President Obama, raised it as a possibility.

On Friday, the British government, which is trying to bring roughly 20,000 of its citizens back to Britain from Egypt, banned checked luggage on all flights from Sharm el Sheikh, where frustrated tourists at the airport heckled John Casson, the British ambassador to Egypt. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines canceled all flights to and from the resort city, after a security assessment conducted at the airport.

A Kremlin spokesman said that Mr. Putin’s decision did not mean that the crash was caused by a terrorist act. Mr. Putin ordered that measures be taken to ensure that the roughly 45,000 Russian tourists already in Egypt — including Sharm el Sheikh, from which the doomed Metrojet plane departed — could be brought home safely.

Samples from the wreckage have been taken to Moscow for examination of possible traces of explosives.

“Russian specialists have collected swabs and scrapes from all fragments of the aircraft, luggage and soil,” the Russian minister for emergency situations, Vladimir Puchkov, said in remarks broadcast on national television. “The necessary samples have been taken from all items which might contain traces of explosives. All these samples have been delivered to Moscow and are being thoroughly examined now.”

More than 25 flights a day travel to Egypt from Russia, according to the Russian Tour Operators Association.

The drop in the value of the ruble over the past year has cut heavily into the number of Russians traveling overseas, with some destinations, like Spain, off by nearly 50 percent. But Egypt had largely held up, down by only 13 percent.

That changed rapidly after the crash, with bookings over all fallingup to 70 percent, tour operators said. Planes were still full over the past week however, because few tour operators offered refunds to those who had already booked and paid. Russians can buy a week in Egypt with room and some meals for as little as $400, but that is still a significant sum for many visitors.

The authorities in London have been working with a number of British airlines — easyJet, Thomson Airways and Monarch Airlines — to bring home 20,000 British citizens from the Sinai Peninsula. On Friday, the British government said that passengers traveling from Sharm el Sheikh to Britain would be permitted only one small item of hand luggage, for “essential items” like valuables, travel documents, keys, medications, credit cards and baby supplies.

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The travelers’ situation remained in a state of flux. On Friday morning, easyJet said that the Egyptian authorities had interfered with the repatriation flights, although Egyptian officials said they were cooperating, and Monarch said that departures would proceed as planned.

EasyJet said that eight scheduled flights from Sharm el Sheikh — seven bound for London and one for Milan — would not be departing, but that two other flights to the British capital would go ahead.

Hossam Kamal, the Egyptian minister of civil aviation, said in a statement on Friday that Egypt was working with Britain, although he cautioned that the effort would be done “in the light of the resources of the airport and in accordance with international security regulations.” He said eight flights would leave for Britain rather than the originally scheduled 29.

An official at the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk on behalf of the ministry, called the easyJet account “not correct,” saying the decision to limit flights was a matter of capacity and “organizational procedures.”

Betraying annoyance at the decision by British carriers to restrict checked baggage, Mr. Kamal said in his statement that the decision would only worsen the situation at the Sharm el Sheikh airport because it did not have room for the more than 120 tons of luggage that would be left behind.

The Dutch airline KLM told passengers on a flight from Cairo to Amsterdam on Friday that they could take only hand luggage. A statementon its website said the restriction was based on “national and international information and out of precaution.”

Turkish Airlines, which halted directed flights to and from Istanbul, sent a team of security experts to Sharm el Sheikh on Friday to carry out an assessment before deciding whether to resume service, a press officer for the company said.

The cause of the crash of the Russian jet, which could be the result of an explosive on board, a catastrophic mechanical failure, human error or an accidental explosion of fuel, remains a mystery.

An affiliate of the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the crash, and Mr. Obama’s comments were the first direct statement by the president that the crash might have been caused by something other than a technical malfunction. American officials have repeatedly cautioned that the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

In London on Thursday, Mr. Cameron was more emphatic about the cause, saying that it was “more likely than not a terrorist bomb” that had brought down the plane, as he announced plans to bring British citizens back home.

Mr. Kamal said on Thursday that the suggestion that a bomb had brought down the plane was not based on facts and that the British had unilaterally #KL

Reporting was contributed by Dan Bilefsky and Stephen Castle from London, Kareem Fahim and Merna Thomas from Cairo, and Ceylan Yeginsu from Istanbul.

Spource: By NEIL MacFARQUHAR, www.nytimes.com