German Airways is one of the carriers providing extra lift for KLM Cityhopper over the summer schedule period.
KLM Cityhopper, the regional subsidiary of the Dutch flag carrier, is leasing in extra capacity over the northern hemisphere summer season, as it tackles a lack of personnel.
Cityhopper is temporarily acquiring a pair of Embraer 170s from UK regional airline Eastern Airways, together with five Embraer 190s from German Airways.
“We have wet leases with German Airways and Eastern Airways,” a KLM spokeswoman said. “This is due to a shortage of pilots. Recently we have hired more pilots and we are training them now.” She declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the shortage of flightdeck personnel.
The external aircraft began operations with Cityhopper on March 31 and will serve until the end of the summer schedule on October 26.
Cityhopper operates a substantial fleet of 30 E190s and 18 E195 E2s, seating 100 and up to 132 passengers respectively, together with 17 smaller E175s. The Eastern E170s have a slightly smaller seating arrangement than the E175s (76 compared to 88), but the spokeswoman said that “We are confident that we can adapt and optimize our operations to accommodate the 170 aircraft.”
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