Dutch flag carrier KLM has commenced its first long-haul Airbus A350-900 service, operating from Amsterdam to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Canada's largest and busiest airport. The airline will initially operate the route with the aircraft up to five times weekly, before moving the rotation to a daily service next March. Toronto is the first of many new A350 destinations for the SkyTeam partner, with plans to serve Montreal and multiple destinations in Africa.
KLM has operated flights from Amsterdam to Toronto for more than half a century, with this year marking 52 years of service to the city and more than 75 years to Canada; the airline first commenced services on April 29, 1974. Flight KL691 is scheduled to depart Amsterdam at 1:30 PM for the over eight-hour journey across the North Atlantic, arriving in Toronto at 4:40 PM, while return service KL692 departs Toronto just before 7:00 PM and operates overnight for an early morning arrival back in Europe, landing in Amsterdam at 7:05 AM.
KLM has a total of 22 Airbus A350-900s set to be delivered over the next few years, with its first A350-900 delivered on October 2. That aircraft carries the nickname De Nachtwacht, meaning The Night Watch, and had previously been used for crew training and testing, during which time it made multiple round-trip flights to the Norwegian city of Stavanger. The next destination will be Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL), served three times a week, followed by a triangle service from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro (JRO) and Dar es Salaam (DAR), with Nairobi (NBO) to follow on January 5.
The aircraft operating the first flight, registered PH-ZNA, took its first test flight under French registration F-WZMM on September 4, 2026, according to ch-aviation, and was delivered on October 2. The jet is configured with 331 seats across three classes, including 34 World Business, 26 Premium Comfort and 271 Economy seats, and is equipped with 4K Panasonic Astrova screens, high-speed Wi-Fi via Viasat and built-in Bluetooth audio. These A350s are set to replace KLM's aging Boeing 777-200ER aircraft as well as the remaining A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft, as part of a widebody fleet renewal program.