KLM’s first Airbus A350-900 has completed two test flights from Toulouse ahead of its expected delivery later this month, finally bringing the type to the Dutch airline seven years after it transferred its original A350 order to Air France.
The aircraft, which will become PH-ZNA, made its maiden flight on September 4 and returned to the air for a second test on September 10. KLM released the first images of the aircraft in flight several days after the initial sortie.
Named The Night Watch after Rembrandt’s famous painting, the A350 will be the first of 22 A350-900s planned for KLM. The airline expects to initially deploy the type to Toronto, Montreal, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Zanzibar.
KLM will configure the aircraft with 331 seats: 34 in World Business Class, 26 in Premium Comfort and 271 in Economy.
Business Class unavailable initially
The first two A350s will enter service without passengers in their 34 World Business Class seats because certification of the new installation has not yet been completed.
KLM said aviation authorities revised their interpretation of regulatory requirements for the seats, requiring additional certification work. Premium Comfort and Economy will be available from the start of commercial operations.
The A350 is intended to progressively replace KLM’s Boeing 777-200ERs and Airbus A330-200s and A330-300s. Its arrival will also add another Airbus type to a long-haul fleet currently centered on the Boeing 777 and 787.
A350 returns after 2019 reversal
KLM was originally supposed to become an A350 operator several years earlier. In June 2019, Air France-KLM decided to reorganize the widebody orders of its two main airlines to simplify their long-haul fleets.
Seven A350-900s originally ordered for KLM were transferred to Air France. In exchange, six Boeing 787s that had been destined for Air France were reassigned to KLM.
The strategy concentrated the A350 at Air France and the 787 at KLM. At the time, the group expected KLM’s long-haul fleet to eventually consist only of Boeing 777s and 787s.
That strategy changed in 2023, when Air France-KLM placed a new order for 50 A350-900s and A350-1000s, with another 40 purchase rights. The group left flexibility to allocate the aircraft between Air France and KLM, bringing the A350 back into the Dutch carrier’s plans.
KLM is now preparing to operate 22 A350-900s. The passenger aircraft will be joined by the A350F in the group’s Dutch cargo operation from 2027, when Martinair is expected to begin receiving the new Airbus freighter.
