KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Group issued this statement about its shrinking and unprofitable freighter fleet including Martinair‘s (AMS) McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter fleet:
At its meeting on September 4, 2014, the Air France-KLM Board of Directors examined the findings of the strategic review of its full-freighter operations which was launched earlier this year.
On top of the ongoing reduction of the full-freighter fleet, and facing a slower than expected recovery in demand, the Board of Directors has decided to reduce the full-freighter fleet based in Amsterdam to 3 aircraft in operation by the end of 2016. Five MD-11s will be phased out on an accelerated basis during 2015 and 2016.
By then, the Group will operate five full-freighter aircraft: 2 Boeing 777Fs in CDG and 3 Boeing 747 ERFs in AMS, compared with a total of 14 in 2013.