KLM’s First Airbus A350 Enters Service Friday With One Big Exception

KLM’s first Airbus A350-900 will enter service on Friday October 30, operating its first flight from Amsterdam (AMS) to Toronto (YYZ).

The inaugural passenger service will operate from Amsterdam Schiphol to Toronto Pearson as flight KL691, with the aircraft returning as KL692. KLM initially plans to deploy the A350 on five weekly Toronto services, increasing to daily flights from March 3, 2027, according to its latest published schedule.

Taking Delivery of our First Airbus A350 | Cockpit Tales | KLM

The first A350-900 (registered PH-ZNA) was delivered on October 2, and was named “De Nachtwacht” (Dutch) / “The Night Watch” (English) after Rembrandt’s famous painting. The A350s will seat 331 passengers, split between 34 reverse herringbone Stelia Opera lie-flat business class suites in a 1-2-1 config, 26 of the popular Collins MiQ recliner seats in premium economy (2-4-2), with the remaining 271 in economy, featuring Recaro R3 seats in a 3-3-3 layout.

However, those looking forward to booking business class seats will have to wait until early 2027 as the Stelia Opera suites are still going through final certification. KLM attributes the delay to a revised interpretation of regulatory requirements.

The Stelia Opera seats aren’t new to market though as they are already featured on most of Air France’s A350-900s. At the time of publication, KLM gave a very brief preview of the business class cabin during its delivery tour video, but I’m sure they will release updated imagery once the aircraft officially enters commercial service later today.

Credit: KLM

Montreal (YUL) is next on the line up. Starting December 14, 2026, the A330 will be swapped to an A350-900 three times weekly until January 1, 2027. Unfortunately, the A350 will be pulled from the route for the remainder of January and February, most likely going back to an A330. The A350 will return from March 1 to March 26, 2027.

Two countries in Africa will see a switch from Boeing 787-10s to A350-900s. Starting December 15, 2026, the first Tanzanian triangle service running from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro (JRO), Dar es Salaam (DAR) and back to Amsterdam, will see two of its five flights using the new Airbus variant. This will drop to one weekly A350 flight from January 6, 2027, returning to two from February 26, and increasing to three from March 6.

On December 20, 2026, the other Tanzanian route (Amsterdam – Zanzibar (ZNZ) – Dar es Salaam – Amsterdam) will also see an equipment swap, starting with one of the two flights, and upgrading to two of the three flights from January 8 to February 19, 2027.

From January 5, 2027, the Amsterdam – Kenya (NBO) route will see a shift, starting with three of seven flights.

The A350s are expected to replace the aging Airbus A330s and subsequently part of its Boeing 777-200ER fleet. KLM says the new aircraft uses approximately 25% less fuel than previous-generation aircraft and has a roughly 40% smaller noise footprint.

A second A350 is expected before the end of 2026, followed by five more during 2027. The third aircraft is currently expected in March, as KLM gradually builds the fleet needed to expand the type’s long-haul presence. In total, they will take delivery of 22 units over the course of the next few years.

Regarding its A330 fleet, KLM is now down to four Airbus A330-200 and five A330-300s, with plans to retire all their -200s once the equivalent number of A350s are introduced to the fleet.

Sign up for the free Gate Checked newsletter here sent three times weekly.

View All and Comment