In September 2023, Air France-KLM placed an incremental order for up to 90 Airbus A350s, including 50 firm orders and 40 options. The intent was for these planes to be used for long term fleet renewal across both carriers.
Prior to this, Air France had already been flying Airbus A350s, while KLM’s wide body fleet renewal was focused on Boeing 787s. We now have some more details as to what we can expect with A350s joining KLM’s fleet.
In this post:
KLM will fly Airbus A350s as of 2026, replace A330s and 777s
While we still don’t know exactly how many Airbus A350s KLM will take delivery of, we can expect that all planes belonging to the current order will be delivered between 2026 and 2030. In the case of KLM, the intent is to use these planes to replace Airbus A330-200s, Airbus A330-300s, and Boeing 777-200ERs:
- KLM has six Airbus A330-200s, which are an average of around 18 years old
- KLM has five Airbus A330-300s, which are an average of around 12 years old
- KLM has 15 Boeing 777-200ERs, which are an average of around 18 years old
KLM intends to keep flying Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 787-10s, and Boeing 777-300ERs. KLM is even installing new business class seats with doors on its 777-300ERs.
While we don’t know how exactly the Air France-KLM order will be split between Air France and KLM, I think it’s safe to say that at least half of the 50 firm orders will go to KLM, based on the fact that at least 26 planes will be retired.
KLM reveals planned Airbus A350 layouts
Luchtvaartnieuws has an update about KLM’s planned cabin configurations for the upcoming Airbus A350s. What can we expect?
- Airbus A350-900s will have 331 seats, including 34 business class seats, 26 premium economy seats, 33 extra legroom economy seats, and 238 standard economy seats
- Airbus A350-1000s will have 391 seats, including 34 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats, 32 extra legroom economy seats, and 297 standard economy seats
Airbus A350s will represent a significant capacity increase over the planes that they’re replacing, as currently A330-200s can accommodate 243 passengers, A330-300s can accommodate 292 passengers, and 777-200ERs can accommodate 316 passengers. So even the smaller A350-900 variant will he higher capacity than the largest plane being replaced.
I don’t think this is surprising, but KLM isn’t going for a particularly premium layout here in terms of the distribution of business class seats vs. economy seats. For example, Air France’s new A350-900s have 48 business class seats, so that’s a much bigger premium cabin. Obviously that reflects that Paris has a lot more premium demand than Amsterdam.
Bottom line
KLM is expected to take delivery of its first Airbus A350 in 2026. The airline will fly both the A350-900 and A350-1000, though the exact number of planes, plus the breakdown between the variants, isn’t yet known. These planes will be in fairly dense three cabin layouts, with 331-391 seats.
I’m curious to see just how many A350s KLM takes delivery of, and how many of those will be for the larger A350-1000 variant. I imagine any potential slot restrictions at Schiphol Airport (if/when they’re implemented) could impact the exact breakdown.
What do you make of KLM’s Airbus A350 plans?
I guess that means KLM won’t be getting the 777X then. A couple years ago it seemed like they were well on their way to an all-Boeing fleet and any Airbus aircraft the group ordered would go to Air France. 777X seems to be struggling as more airlines get the A35K instead.
The 777 is significantly wider than the A350.
And has an extra seat per row.
I won't be missing those A330s when they leave (I think it's also because their lease agreements are up?). They're fine for sitting/lounging on a daytime flight but the bed on that 2-2-2 layout is very cramped with very little storage space. The old 777 product is more spacious with more storage space.
Maybe some of these A350s will also go to SAS?
I must admit, as a passenger, I’m really sad to see the 777’s being replaced by the A350’s. I’m very under impressed with all Airbus equipment in general. The A330-900 and A350 I flew on recently seemed loud, very tight, and not real comfortable. I’m a huge fan of the 777. Always will be. Must be they got a good deal.
@John, you and I have completely opposite experiences. I loathe the old, clunky and very LOUD 777 aircraft. On the other hand, the a350 was roomier and splendidly quiet. Go figure!!
777 is roomier than the A350. It's several inches wider. You're likely thinking of airlines that have denser configurations vs. those with more sparse ones. For the same cabin config, 777 always has more space.
350 is indeed more quiet than existing 777s, though. This will likely change with the 777X. Though, honestly, I love the sound of those GE90s. It's a truly awesome piece of machinery. Most powerful commercial jet engine ever made by a significant margin.
KLM flies B777 in a ten abreast configuration, so at least in economy the B777 definitely has the narrower seats, even though the fuselage is wider. The A350 is likely getting the roomier 9 abreast configuration.
The a350 is a good fit at KLM. I’m glad that they are holding onto their 777-300er’s though. I like really big airliners. A change in government might be the answer to KLM’s problems. Different government with a different attitude toward commercial aviation.
I still maintain that the best way to fly out of CDG is to take a train to Amsterdam.
Plus, you don't get little gin-houses in AF J.
Air France does have an A350-900 configuration with 48 business class seats - which means business class is both in front of and behind the 2nd set of doors.
AMS is a much smaller local market than LHR, CDG and FRA so focuses more on connecting traffic than other of the European big carriers so a consistently smaller business class cabin makes sense.
That the premium cabins on the A350-1000 are essentially the...
Air France does have an A350-900 configuration with 48 business class seats - which means business class is both in front of and behind the 2nd set of doors.
AMS is a much smaller local market than LHR, CDG and FRA so focuses more on connecting traffic than other of the European big carriers so a consistently smaller business class cabin makes sense.
That the premium cabins on the A350-1000 are essentially the same size as the -900 says that they see the larger plane as the ability to only increase the size of the economy cabin while having a very economical very long haul aircraft is telling.
And Airbus clearly does have near term delivery slots available for the A350 which is also partly why Delta has been in no hurry to place its own expected A350-1000 order. With the loss of the Emirates order and the continued delays on announcing the Turkish order - if either the DL or TK order are confirmed - Airbus sales people are trying hard to sell planes, esp. the big ones. If only Rolls-Royce would not make the job so difficult.
When I first saw the article title I thought, for sure, you’d already be five paragraphs deep lecturing the Dutch on how horrible the 77W fuel efficiency is and how awful it is they’re keeping it around. ;) don’t they know how much more fuel efficient is going to be?!
If only everyone would listen to you and get rid of the 777, Tim ;)
I have to imagine upgauging is a hedge against the all-but-certain likelihood that the Dutch gov't will try, again and again and again until it sticks, to cut flights at Schiphol.
Sadly, this.
They don't seem likely to abandon their numerically-unsupported fetish for presenting aviation as some atypically high source of pollution, and it plays well with the public.
Replacing 777s with A350s isn't an upgauge. Replacing A330s with A350s is a slight upgauge, but really not that much.
With the dramatic changes in the composition of the Dutch Parliament, though, hopefully the "shrink Schiphol" insanity will be put to bed. Though it looks like they're trying to replace that with other insanity. It would be nice if people would stop voting for crazies on the political fringes (and I don't just mean in the Netherlands.)