Boarding your flight

Security checks and boarding times

Since November 2006, the security checks have been intensified. Therefore, please take into account the longer waiting times and make sure that you are at the airport 2 to 3 hours prior to departure. 

When you are travelling to or from a European airport you should also take into account the additional security measures for hand luggage. Click here for an explanation about these security measures.

All passengers, including transfer passengers, will be subjected to an extensive security check at the gate (previously, this security check was only done immediately after the passport control). 

To avoid delays, you are requested to be at the gate on time: 

• For flights in Europe: 30 minutes prior to departure
• For intercontinental flights: 60 minutes prior to departure

In addition, we request you to take into account the following information.

When does the gate close?

Please make sure you are at the boarding gate on the time indicated on your boarding pass.

When departing from Schiphol, the gate for KLM flights closes 10 minutes before the planned departure time. For KLM cityhopper flights, this is 12 minutes before the departure time.

When departing from other European airports, the gate for KLM and KLM cityhopper flights closes 10 minutes before the planned departure time.

The reason why the gate closes at least 10 minutes before departure is to avoid flight delays for the passengers.

If you arrive at the gate after it has closed, you risk that the seat that you reserved in advance or which has been assigned to you, will be cancelled. In that case, you cannot make use of the so-called 'boarding compensation'.

If you would like to know how you can get a boarding pass, please click here.