Dutch KLM airlines to start new direct flights to Cuba

The Dutch airline group KLM will launch new direct flights to Cuba next week in a bid to increase the number of Dutch tourists interested in visiting the Caribbean island, the Cuban Ministry of Tourism said Wednesday. The new Amsterdam-Havana flights will start on Oct. 31 and the KLM will use an aircraft of MD-11 with a capacity of 285 passengers on each flight, including 261 seats for Economy Class and 24 for World and Business Class. The MD-11 type is a three-engine medium-to-long range aircraft made by U.S. manufacturer McDonnel Douglass. The new flights will run on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Cuban tourism authorities expect the three new weekly flights will contribute to increasing tourist arrivals to the island by visitors from not only the Netherlands, but also from the Scandinavian region, Russia, Eastern Europe, Germany and Britain. The inaugural flight to Cuba is expected to bring top officials from the KLM and Air France airlines, tour operators, businessmen and travel journalists who, following their arrival in Havana, will spent a week in Cuba to report on the island's recreational activities and tourist attractions. The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines company was founded in 1919 and in 2004 merged with AirFrance, both of which are part of the Sky Team alliance. Tourism is Cuba's second most important source of revenues with net profits worth more than 2 billion U.S. dollars a year. And 2.7 million tourists are expected to arrive in Cuba in 2011.