After 16 years, KLM resumes flights to Mumbai’s CSIA adding belly freight to busy route

After a 16-year hiatus, KLM is relaunching service to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), connecting Amsterdam to India with three weekly flights.

While the route’s added passenger connectivity has garnered much attention, KLM’s choice of a 787-9 widebody aircraft on the route has cargo implications as well, with belly capacity of more than 6 tonnes per passenger flight.

With Amsterdam facing a shortage of slots for freighters against a backdrop of increasing freight volumes, the thrice-weekly addition adds a total of 36 tonnes of freight capacity along the busy route each week.

GVK Mumbai International Airport, which operates CSIA, said that the start of operations by KLM was part of its commitment to enhancing Mumbai’s “rapidly developing trade and commerce relationship” with the Netherlands and the rest of the globe.