KLM Cityhopper

When a small jet in KLM blue touches down in Düsseldorf, Hamburg or Stuttgart, it is very often not a “real” KLM at all. Behind many connections to Amsterdam is KLM Cityhopper, the regional subsidiary of the Dutch airline. From the outside you barely notice: same livery, same flight numbers, same crown on the tail. This page shows you how to recognize Cityhopper anyway and how to tell the fleet’s three Embraer types apart.

KLM Cityhopper at a glance

KLM Cityhopper is the regional airline of KLM and is wholly owned by its parent. That makes it part of the Air France-KLM Group and, through KLM, a member of the SkyTeam alliance. The airline is headquartered in Schiphol-Oost, and its only hub is Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

The job is clearly defined: KLM Cityhopper serves routes within Europe where a large medium-haul jet would have too much capacity. The flights bring passengers from small and mid-sized cities to Amsterdam, where they connect to KLM’s long-haul network. According to fleet overviews, Cityhopper serves around 70 destinations – a large share of them in Great Britain, Scandinavia, France and Germany.

The current company was founded in 1991, when KLM merged two regional subsidiaries: NLM CityHopper and NetherLines. NLM had existed since the 1960s as a KLM subsidiary for regional flights, and KLM had taken over NetherLines in the late 1980s. In the following years, further regional operations of the group moved under the Cityhopper umbrella, including KLM UK, which grew out of Air UK.

Codes, callsigns and flight numbers

KLM Cityhopper is a good example of how having its own code doesn’t mean you will actually see it.

• IATA code WA: officially belongs to KLM Cityhopper but hardly shows up in schedules.
• ICAO code KLC: the company’s own identifier toward air traffic control.
• Callsign CITY: the airline’s own radio callsign.
• KL and KLM in everyday operations: The vast majority of Cityhopper flights are sold under KLM flight numbers and flown with the KLM callsign.

For you as a spotter, that means the departure board and usually the flight tracker simply say KLM. If you want to know exactly whether the parent or the subsidiary is flying, you have to look at the aircraft type and the registration. Why flight number and callsign are not the same thing is explained in the article Callsign and flight number; the logic behind the abbreviations is in IATA and ICAO codes explained.

The fleet: three Embraer types

Since the end of the Fokker era, KLM Cityhopper has flown exclusively jets from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. According to common fleet overviews, the fleet looks like this in September 2026:

Type	Count	Seats	In service since	Spotter tip
Embraer 175	17	88	2016	Shortest type, classic winglets
Embraer 190	16	100	Late 2000s	Medium length, oldest aircraft in the fleet
Embraer 195-E2	25	132	2021	Longest type, large geared turbofan engines

All three types have a cabin with four seats per row and a flexible business section up front whose size can be adjusted for each flight. The seat counts in the table give the total number of seats. According to fleet overviews, more E195-E2s are on the order list, so the numbers will shift over the coming years.

Embraer 190: the original workhorse

The E190 marked the start of the farewell to Fokker. The first aircraft joined the fleet in the late 2000s, with more following in the years after. In April 2014, Cityhopper took delivery of its 28th aircraft of this type, making it the largest E190 operator in Europe at the time. On the same day, KLM unveiled a revised livery, first on the E190. One of the E190s, PH-EZX, also wears the SkyTeam alliance livery – a nice target for anyone collecting special liveries.

Embraer 175: successor to the Fokker 70

To replace the Fokker 70, KLM ordered mostly Embraer 175s in 2015. The first aircraft arrived in March 2016, and in the end 17 were in the fleet. The E175 is about four and a half meters shorter than the E190, making it the airline’s most compact jet.

Embraer 195-E2: the new generation

On February 23, 2021, KLM Cityhopper took delivery of its first Embraer 195-E2. With 25 aircraft it is now the largest part of the fleet. The E2 belongs to the second E-Jet generation with a new wing and Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines. It is much longer than the E190 and, with 132 seats, offers almost a third more seats. If you want to dig deeper into the differences from the first generation, you’ll also find them on its smaller sister, the Embraer 190-E2, and its predecessor, the Embraer 195.

E175, E190 or E195-E2? How to tell them apart

All three types wear the same livery and look similar in basic shape. With a few glances you can still place them reliably.

All Cityhopper jets are registered in the Netherlands and therefore carry a registration starting with PH-. The safest way to find out which type hides behind a particular registration is to look it up in a current fleet list – that also lets you assign photos reliably later on. How registrations are built in general is shown in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

How to recognize KLM Cityhopper

The livery is KLM’s: light blue fuselage on the upper half, the KLM crown and titles, below that a white underside with a dark blue cheatline. KLM revised the look in 2014; the curved cheatline that drops toward the front earned it the nickname “Smiling Dolphin.”

Because the livery is identical, the aircraft type remains your most important clue. An Embraer in KLM colors is almost always KLM Cityhopper. In Europe the parent KLM flies mainly Boeing 737s and jets of the Airbus A320neo family, and on long-haul Boeing 777s, 787s and Airbus widebodies. At its leisure and low-cost sister Transavia, by contrast, you see green-and-white aircraft.

From Fokker to Embraer: a short look back

For a long time KLM Cityhopper was one of the world’s most important Fokker operators. Turboprops and jets from the Netherlands shaped the scene at European regional airports. The switch to Embraer took about a decade:

• March 2010: last scheduled flight with the Fokker 50
• 2012: the last Fokker 100s leave the fleet
• 2014: 28th E190 and new livery
• 2016: first E175 as a replacement for the Fokker 70
• Late October 2017: last passenger flight with the Fokker 70, end of the Fokker era at KLM
• February 2021: first Embraer 195-E2

One Fokker 70 became especially famous: PH-KBX served as the Dutch government and royal aircraft and was operated by Cityhopper. In 2017 King Willem-Alexander made public that he had regularly flown as a copilot at KLM Cityhopper for over two decades – including on that very aircraft. After it was sold, a Boeing 737 operated by KLM took over the role. You can read more about such aircraft in the article Spotting government aircraft.

Spotting KLM Cityhopper

The best place is Schiphol, of course. The Embraers take off and land there in dense succession, often alternating with Boeing 737s of the parent. At the Spotterplaats Polderbaan you get to see many landings up close – provided the runway direction in use fits. Schiphol has several runways that are used in changing combinations depending on the wind. How to estimate the active direction in advance is shown in the guide to the runway direction in use at an airport.

In Germany you come across Cityhopper at many airports with a KLM connection to Amsterdam. You have good chances, for example, at the observation deck in Düsseldorf, the observation deck in Hamburg or the observation deck in Stuttgart. Which rotations are flown with Embraers and which with a larger KLM aircraft changes depending on the day, season and demand. A look at the flight tracker in the morning saves you from disappointment.

For Embraer photos a medium focal length works well: the jets are much smaller than a 737, so for landings from farther away you need a bit more telephoto. Which lenses have proven themselves is covered in the article on the right focal length. And if you’re just starting to tell types apart, Recognizing aircraft types for beginners is a good way in.

Common mix-ups

• Taking every KLM aircraft for KLM – small Embraers in KLM colors belong to the subsidiary KLM Cityhopper.
• Searching for WA flight numbers – the airline’s own code hardly shows up in everyday operations, and flights mostly run under KL.
• Confusing the E2 and the E190 – engine size, landing gear height and wingtips separate the generations.
• Treating the E175 and E190 as the same – the E175 is quite a bit shorter; the registration helps with assignment.
• Logging other airlines’ Embraers as Cityhopper – Helvetic, Air France and other airlines also fly E-Jets.
• Carrying over old Fokker info – KLM has not flown Fokkers since 2017.

Conclusion

KLM Cityhopper is the invisible half of KLM in Europe. Same livery, same flight numbers – and yet a separate airline with its own fleet. If you pay attention to the type, you’ll be right almost every time: an Embraer in KLM blue is Cityhopper. With the registration and a look at the engines and wingtips, you can then cleanly separate the E175, E190 and E195-E2.