KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will launch on March 25 a daily nonstop service from Amsterdam to Taipei using a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. The flight will continue onwards to Manila, effectively replacing the carrier’s current nonstop services from Amsterdam to the Philippine capital.

The new onestop service to Manila will provide a way for KLM to circumvent the Common Carrier Tax (three per cent) and Philippine Billings tax (2.5 per cent) being levied by Philippine authorities (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 4, 2012).

However, as KLM does not have fifth-freedom rights to carry passengers between Taipei and Manila, the number of seats available for passengers will be drastically reduced compared to current services using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Meanwhile, as a consequence of the new Amsterdam-Taipei direct services, KLM’s existing Amsterdam–Bangkok–Taipei flights will terminate in Bangkok.