A group of KLM passengers flying between Bogotá El Dorado International Airport (BOG) and Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (AMS) was stranded in Panama for several days following a diversion of flight KL749.
Stranded in Panama
Flight KL749 between Bogotá and Amsterdam (with a stopover at Cartagena International Airport, CTG) suffered a technical issue on January 14. According to data by FlightRadar24.co, the flight had departed Cartagena. It had flown for about half an hour when it diverted its flight course and redirected en route to Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
As reported by De Telegraaf, the aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner 9, suffered a technical issue. At the airport in Panama, KLM found out that the repair –which was undisclosed– would take longer; therefore, the flight was canceled, and passengers had to be rebooked.
Nonetheless, the passengers were stranded in Panama for a few days. They left Panama City en route to Amsterdam between January 16 and 17, as it was reported by local media outlets. A spokesperson for KLM said,
“KLM never compromises on the safety of passengers and crew. We are very aware that canceling flights is very annoying for passengers.”
Photo: FlightRadar24.com.
The aircraft involved in this incident
Flight KL749, was operated onboard one of KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The Dutch flag carrier has 13 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, according to data by ch-aviation. The aircraft involved in this incident had the registration number PH-BHO. It has the capacity to carry 294 passengers in a three-class cabin. There are 216 seats in economy, 48 in economy, and 30 in business.
This plane was first ordered by Air France-KLM in December 2011 and was delivered by Boeing on March 2018. KLM owns the aircraft, although it is managed by CMB Financial Leasing. It totaled nearly 24,300 flight hours by July 31, 2022.
According to data by FlightRadar24.com, the plane remained stranded in Panama City between January 14 and 20, when it finally flew the transoceanic route back home. Since then, KLM has scheduled this aircraft to operate four flights, including a round route between Amsterdam and Tokyo (flights KL863 and KL864) and a round flight between Amsterdam and San José, Costa Rica.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.
A view at KLM operations to Latin America
According to data by Cirium, KLM operates 103 weekly flights to Latin America and the Caribbean. The airline flies to 16 destinations across the region, making over 34,000 seats available each week.
Most of the routes KLM operates to Latin America, and the Caribbean are daily, and only five routes have fewer frequencies, with Amsterdam-Bridgetown and Amsterdam-St. Maarten having only three flights per week.
KLM flies to Aruba (AUA), Bridgetown (BGI), Bogotá (BOG), Cancun (CUN), Curazao (CUR), Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Sao Paulo (GRU), Lima (LIM), Mexico City (MEX), Paramaribo (PBM), Panama City Tocumen (PTY), San Jose (SJO), St. Maarten (SXM), Quito (UIO), and Santiago de Chile (SCL).
The Dutch flag carrier is the third-largest airline in terms of capacity and scheduled flights between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, behind Iberia and close partner Air France.
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Source: De Telegraaf, FlightRadar24.com, Cirium, ch-aviation.
Source: simpleflying.com
