KLM moves Schiphol cargo handling into own warehouse

By Marcus Bennett

KLM will consolidate all cargo handling at Amsterdam Schiphol into its own warehouse, covering freight from passenger and cargo aircraft as it prepares for a new terminal due in 2035.

The move forms part of a broader financial restructuring that includes about 5,000 positions, outsourcing, fresh labor deals and a reshaped European fleet. KLM identified no cargo-role reductions and no additional hires to absorb higher volumes.

What changes at Schiphol?

KLM said the consolidation covers freight carried on both passenger and cargo aircraft. The carrier also plans to expand support services for customers requiring additional assistance, but has not specified which services, their cost or their start date.

KLM said: “This will help prepare KLM Cargo for the new cargo terminal, scheduled for completion in 2035, and enable it to attract more transfer cargo passing through Schiphol.”

The carrier expects cargo volumes to rise and says it can absorb them without hiring more employees. It attributes that outcome to simpler processes, automation and staff deployment across activities, yet disclosed no volume forecast, transfer-cargo target, handling-rate change or staffing baseline.

For shippers and forwarders, the plan offers a clearer operating arrangement and a stated route to more transfer cargo, not evidence of immediate capacity or rate gains. Because KLM published no tonnage, transit-time or pricing data, forwarders cannot yet quantify the commercial benefit or pass it to customers.

In 2024, Menzies Aviation agreed to provide cargo warehouse and ramp handling for all KLM/Martinair freighter operations at Schiphol for five years. Menzies called the renewed contract its largest at the airport. KLM did not say whether its move into its own warehouse changes that agreement.

For carriers and handlers, the unresolved contract sits alongside broader outsourcing. Transfer schedules, service-level terms and the division of work between KLM and Menzies therefore matter to freight customers, even though KLM supplied none of those details.

How large is the cost program?

KLM says it has or will reorganize around 5,000 positions and aims to limit the impact on jobs through natural attrition, voluntary arrangements and transfers. It did not provide a net job-loss total or implementation calendar. It also plans to seek fresh labor deals, without naming the unions, terms or timetable.

The announced components are:

• 1,250 roles at the catering unit under its partnership with Gategroup.
• Around 800 ground-services roles transferring to external partners.
• 2,000 positions moving to Air France-KLM, including 1,500 at customer contact centre Cygnific.
• A further 1,000 roles that KLM expects productivity improvements to remove.

The four figures add to 5,050, slightly above KLM’s rounded “around 5,000” headline. The company did not say whether any categories overlap.

KLM says certain activities will move to external partners, reorganize or consolidate within Air France-KLM as it focuses on core work. For shippers, the commercial test is whether those transfers interrupt handling or weaken accountability; KLM announced neither transition milestones nor service guarantees.

KLM reports “significant progress” under its Back on Track program, with more than €750 million in structural improvements, yet says those gains do not secure the carrier’s future.

CFO Bas Brouns said: “We need to strengthen our financial foundation to make KLM more resilient in the face of uncertainty and better prepared for the future. We need a KLM that can invest in a new generation of aircraft, better customer service, and our people.”

Brouns said the measures should increase revenue and reduce structural costs, and called a €1 billion improvement in annual earnings essential. KLM gave no base year or schedule for either figure and did not say how much of the €750 million represents recurring annual savings, so the amounts do not establish a directly comparable target.

For shippers and forwarders, the near-term test is service continuity while work moves among KLM, Air France-KLM and contractors. KLM hopes attrition and voluntary arrangements will cushion job reductions, but the announcement provides no transition schedule or assurance that handling performance will remain unchanged.

What changes in European capacity?

KLM will change the balance between larger and smaller aircraft. The Airbus A321neo remains in the fleet, while Embraer 195-E2s will replace the planned A320s. KLM says more smaller aircraft will match capacity to demand across its European network and give KLM Cityhopper a greater role.

KLM will phase out Boeing 737 and Embraer 190 aircraft “over the coming years,” without specifying a timetable. It will reallocate European capacity toward routes that contribute most to passenger connectivity and Amsterdam Schiphol’s nonstop network.

Because the cargo plan covers freight on passenger aircraft, fleet changes can alter available cargo space, yet KLM disclosed no tonnage, route-level cargo capacity or payload implications. The stated fleet objective is passenger connectivity, and the announcement identifies no additional freighter aircraft or freighter routes.

The next proof point is whether KLM can use consolidated handling and automation to attract more transfer cargo by 2035 without adding cargo staff, while preserving service through the Menzies contract and European fleet changes.