The Dutch airline KLM will temporarily suspend all long-haul connections from Friday. The background is that the government has tightened the entry regulations and these could become problematic for the crews. Pure cargo routes are also affected.

The Netherlands has extended the ban on passenger flights departing from the United Kingdom, South Africa and some South American countries. At the same time, the entry requirements were tightened. KLM is now canceling the 270 weekly long-haul flights and, on top of that, those connections within Europe where the crews spend the night outside of the Netherlands as part of night stops.

The government requires that a negative PCR test must be presented and that a rapid test must also be taken immediately before departure. If the latter is positive, the crew member is not allowed to fly. This could result in the flight becoming impossible due to a lack of personnel. KLM does not want to risk that.