Abstract: KLM is proud on their large worldwide network and its contribution to the Dutch economy. A strong and powerful hub supports the Dutch economic position in the worldwide competition and the regional and national job market. Based on the network of KLM and their partners Schipol belongs to the four largest mainports of Europe.
A large fraction of the air transport at Schipol is carried out by the KLM group and their SkyTeam partners. By this Schipol was able to develop itself to a competing hub-airport. However, the size and the diversity of the Schipol hub-network is not self-evident. It is even rather vulnerable, due to the hard international competition, the used transfer hub-model and the small home market of KLM. The success of the mainport Schipol is to a larger extend depending on the (operational) cooperation between the network carrier (KLM), the airport Schipol, the air traffic control Netherland and the government.
This presentation starts with a description of the importance of the mainport Schipol for the Dutch economy and the contribution of KLM herein. Next, the building blocks of the KLM network and the business model of KLM are given. Finally, the infrastructural constraints following from the hub-network of KLM and the importance of a good collaboration between the different actors are discussed.