Grumpy airline hits out at Hamilton

Posted on 22/09/2010

Dutch airline KLM has had a major sense of humour failure over a recent promotional event at Schiphol airport featuring McLaren and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton drove a Formula One car on a runway of the Netherlands' main international airport, but a KLM spokesman fumed the runways should be exclusively for aircraft "and not for race cars".

"An airport is not a theme park," he moaned. "As the main user of the major Schiphol airport it was a huge inconvenience. At such a busy airport, safety and sustainability must come first. Why couldn't a campaign like this take place at a closed airport?”

KLM also claims it was not informed in advance about the closure of the runway for the F1 demonstration.

The local airline said it will discuss the situation with the government authority Inspectie voor Verkeer en Waterstaat (IVW) in order to avoid a repeat of the situation. De Telegraaf newspaper said IVW has launched an investigation after receiving multiple complaints.