For airlines around the world, mainline services to high-value short and long-haul destinations are a key money spinner. However, in order to maximize the number of passengers that can use these, many leading carriers have regional subsidiary airlines that feed passengers from lower-demand destinations through the main hub in order to connect onto the mainline network. KLM Cityhopper is one such airline.

Established in the early 1990s following a merger between Netherlines and NLM CityHopper, the carrier has gradually transitioned from operating Fokker aircraft to Embraer jetliners over the years. With this uniform fleet, the carrier specializes in short European hops, bringing passengers from all over the continent to KLM’s hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). But what are its longest routes this month?

Lisbon is the furthest-flung destination

According to present data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, KLM Cityhopper is scheduled to operate 9,157 passenger-carrying flights in November 2024. These will offer 959,672 seats at an average of 104.8 per flight, and a grand total of 450,466,712 available seat miles (ASMs). While nowhere near as long as KLM’s furthest mainline routes, certain corridors stand out.

This month, KLM Cityhopper’s longest route from its Amsterdam hub will serve Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon. Clocking in at 1,148 miles (1,848 km) in length, the Dutch flag carrier’s regional subsidiary will serve this corridor three times a day in each direction this November, offering 90 flights, 11,880 seats, and 13,638,240 ASMs in each direction for the month.

All of these flights are scheduled to be operated by the 132-seat Embraer E195-E2, which is KLM Cityhopper’s newest and largest aircraft type. According to current fleet data from ch-aviation, the airline has 18 of these next-generation regional jets in its fleet (at an average age of 2.6 years old), and another seven on order. KLM Cityhopper’s Lisbon flights are around three hours, and they face competition from:

• TAP Air Portugal.
• Transavia.
• Vueling

The other 1,000+ mile route

As it happens, Lisbon is actually one of two destinations served by KLM Cityhopper this month that is more than 1,000 miles away from the airline’s home base at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The second links the Dutch capital with Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC) in the Spanish coastal city of Alicante, with this particular European aerial corridor clocking in at 1,002 miles (1,613 km) in length.

KLM Cityhopper’s presence in Alicante is significantly lower than in Lisbon, with just 18 flights each way in November. Generally speaking, these operate from Friday to Sunday, and have a block time of around two hours and 40 minutes flying westward. When coming back to Amsterdam, this is closer to three hours. KLM Cityhopper’s competition on this route comes from two other airlines, who offer:

• Transavia – 72 flights each way in November.
• Vueling – 30 flights each way.

5 routes between 900 and 1,000 miles

As the length of the routes being examined shortens, we find that there are more and more in closer numerical proximity to one another. Indeed, KLM Cityhopper’s third-longest route this month is just nine miles shorter, with third-placed Porto (OPO) clocking in at 993 miles (1,598 km) long. KLM Cityhopper has just one November rotation on this route, with mainline KLM jets operating 88 round trips.

Also seldom served are KLM Cityhopper’s routes to Cagliari (CAG) in Italy and Dubrovnik (DBV) in Croatia, with just two rotations apiece this month. The former corridor is 925 miles (1,489 km) long, and the latter isn’t far behind, at 921 miles (1,482 km). While the Porto rotation used the 132-seat Embraer E195-E2, these corridors are served by KLM Cityhopper’s smaller and older 100-seat Embraer E190s.

In terms of the competition faced by KLM Cityhopper on these routes, Porto is also served from Amsterdam by Transavia on a daily basis, as well as the aforementioned mainline KLM flights. Meanwhile, at least for this month the Dutch flag carrier’s regional subsidiary had a monopoly to Cagliari and Dubrovnik.

KLM Cityhopper’s other two routes between 900 and 1,000 miles this month see it connect Amsterdam with Naples (NAP) and Valencia (VLC). These corridors measure 908 miles (1,461 km) and 920 miles (1,481 km) respectively, with five November rotations to Naples and 60 to Valencia.

Interestingly, September saw one of its Valencia flights form part of SkyTeam’s ‘Aviation Challenge,’ which, according to KLM, “encourages airlines to conduct operations as efficiently and economically as possible.” For this particular flight, this saw the deployment of initiatives such as a new climb procedure, the use of electric ground vehicles, the minimization of food waste, and sustainable uniforms.

On the other side of the coin

While we have focused primarily on KLM Cityhopper’s longest routes this month, it also provides an interesting layer of context to compare and contrast these with the carrier’s shortest corridors. For November 2024, the least length of these connects Amsterdam Schiphol with Brussels Airport (BRU) in Belgium. This route is just 98 miles (185 km) long, and will be served a whopping 119 times each way.

Not much further than that is KLM Cityhopper’s 111-mile (179 km) hop to Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) in neighboring Germany, with the Dutch flag carrier’s regional subsidiary serving 85 times in each direction this November. Meanwhile, the airline’s third and final route below the 150-mile mark this month sees its aircraft fly 149 miles (240 km) across the North Sea to Norwich (NWI), with 55 November rotations.