Where does KLM fly the Boeing 737-900 ?

I see they only have 5 of that version. Why so few ?

The 900 version in general seems to be rare ...

- Bought for high traffic city pairs FRA, LHR, CDG etc,
- KLM had 5 abreast business class at the time
- Full seat capacity use restricted by exit doors
- No reason to buy more
- 900ER range / weight / costs not needed for European key routes

Where they fly them? All over the place. But some destinations get them very frequently.

TLV is always a -900. CDG/BCN/LHR see them nearly daily. The leases expire within a couple of years so I’m curious as to what Klm will do with these 5 oddballs.

FRA is mostly served by Embraers theses days.
I asked the social media team on Facebook some time ago, but they said they don't have standardized fixed routes for these planes. Appearing often in the flightradar24 database are destinations like BCN, MAN, ARN, TLV, FCO, LON, OTP, GLA, sometimes HEL, TXL, NCL. I find it very hard to log them.

keesje wrote:

- Bought for high traffic city pairs FRA, LHR, CDG etc,
- KLM had 5 abreast business class at the time
-

I knew that, but does anyone have a picture?

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Wow, someone tell Delta they made a 100+ frame mistake!!!

I have flown the KL AMS-BCN a couple of times and I believe it still is a 739.

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

I would disagree, the B737-900ER is a great aircraft, especially for the longer routes that need the extra capacity.

Took it a lot of times between CDG & AMS.
Quite busy when they operate KL1233/1232. Superb timing for long flights out from AMS.

deltadawg wrote:

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Wow, someone tell Delta they made a 100+ frame mistake!!!

Delta is on its way to 130 (final deliveries in 2019) and UA already has 148 -900/900ERs. There's no question it's a market success.

MIflyer12 wrote:

deltadawg wrote:

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Wow, someone tell Delta they made a 100+ frame mistake!!!

Delta is on its way to 130 (final deliveries in 2019) and UA already has 148 -900/900ERs. There's no question it's a market success.

There is a hell of a difference between the 737-900 and the 737-900ER, you can't compare them.

Only 52 -900's where build, [email protected], [email protected] (United) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] , [email protected] .

That's not a market succes, the -900ER was.


The 737-900 is nearly pointless without a proper C-class up front, it just doesn't add any extra seats compared to a -800 and the extra length eats the range compared to the -800 as the -900's MTOW is the same.

Don't be surprised if KLM just orders 5 more 737-800's when the -900's lease ends. That, or they will all be replaced by the neo/max.

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

What a dumb statement. Why is it a bad attempt? The 739ER can carry more passengers than a -800 due to the extra door.

Arguments can be made against the base -900, but for a while, that's all that was available before the ER came to fruition.

FlyRow wrote:

The 737-900 is nearly pointless without a proper C-class up front, it just doesn't add any extra seats compared to a -800 and the extra length eats the range compared to the -800 as the -900's MTOW is the same.

Don't be surprised if KLM just orders 5 more 737-800's when the -900's lease ends. That, or they will all be replaced by the neo/max.

Well, KL fits 8 extra seats in the -900 vs the -800, so they have some extra capacity. I think KL didn't order -900ER's as it would have added another 737 variant to their fleet. But I don't believe KL will replace them with -800s. With slots at AMS running out, KL needs to increase capacity and will order larger planes as a result (which they already have been doing for the past few years, actually). So I expect KL will order 737-10s and E195-E2s within the next AF/KL narrowbody order, replacing the oldest 738s and E190s.

frigatebird wrote:

FlyRow wrote:

The 737-900 is nearly pointless without a proper C-class up front, it just doesn't add any extra seats compared to a -800 and the extra length eats the range compared to the -800 as the -900's MTOW is the same.

Don't be surprised if KLM just orders 5 more 737-800's when the -900's lease ends. That, or they will all be replaced by the neo/max.

Well, KL fits 8 extra seats in the -900 vs the -800, so they have some extra capacity. I think KL didn't order -900ER's as it would have added another 737 variant to their fleet. But I don't believe KL will replace them with -800s. With slots at AMS running out, KL needs to increase capacity and will order larger planes as a result (which they already have been doing for the past few years, actually). So I expect KL will order 737-10s and E195-E2s within the next AF/KL narrowbody order, replacing the oldest 738s and E190s.

Actually it is only two seats difference. 186 for the -800 and 188 for the -900.

Furthermore you are right! KLM alreay ordered four -800s to replace some -700s. With those being delivered next year it is (in my opinion) nearly a given they will go for the MAX eventually. and indeed upgauge.

They will be replaced by 737-10s with the coming order of MAX for KLM.

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Maybe you should tell that to United. I just booked a DEN/ORD flight and EVERY flight that day was a 739.

bob75013 wrote:

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Maybe you should tell that to United. I just booked a DEN/ORD flight and EVERY flight that day was a 739.

Guys chill, the -900 was a very bad attempt and never caught on because it was a terrible plane.

The 737-900ER is a great plane, like the A321. The grow-above-the -800 part is rubish, but lets not say the -900 was great because United have 12 -900's..


And since this thread is about the -900, not the -900ER, yeah it was a bad plane and a bad attempt at making something like the 757 so the statement is kind of correct.

The -900ER works great the US where there are a lot of routes that needed 757 capacity but not the super-transcon range or weight that comes with it.

The -900 non-ER is a great fit for Indonesia where there is a requirement for high cap that can get off 8000 ft fields with 180+ pax but only needs to go a few hundred km and also fits into gates originally designed for the 727/737/MD-80/Fokker

So that is the two primary markets where the -900/ER has done well.

MIflyer12 wrote:

deltadawg wrote:

xdlx wrote:

737-900 a BAD attempt at recreating B757 capacity. Airplane should have never grown beyond the 800.

Wow, someone tell Delta they made a 100+ frame mistake!!!

Delta is on its way to 130 (final deliveries in 2019) and UA already has 148 -900/900ERs. There's no question it's a market success.

If you need 100+ tail stands to deplane it..... IT SUCKS!

seahawk wrote:

They will be replaced by 737-10s with the coming order of MAX for KLM.

Source?