KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, wants the Dutch government to compensate it for lost revenues as a result of the NATO summit in The Hague in June, KLM CEO Marjan Rintel said in an interview with BNR, Report informs via NL Times.
Due to the summit, KLM will have to scrap a fifth of its planned flights.
The NATO summit in The Hague is happening on June 24 and 25. Almost all Western government leaders are expected to attend. For security reasons, the airspace above The Hague will be closed during and around the summit, and the Polderbaan runway at Schiphol Airport will be used as parking for all the government aircraft. At the same time, the Buitenveldertbaan runway will be closed for maintenance.
KLM had already taken the maintenance into account and set up a new network to compensate for this, Rintel told the broadcaster. “And then you see that 20 percent of our flights cannot be operated,” she said. “That is another setback in a year in which you want to improve results. We will certainly discuss this with the government, and we will certainly ask for compensation for this.”
Rintel stressed that KLM understands the need for the NATO summit to happen “given the current uncertain geopolitics.” She also understands that Schiphol planned the runway maintenance long ago and that it is necessary to keep the airport’s infrastructure in order. But the Dutch airline cannot take blow after blow.