KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will take over Delta Air Lines’ flights between Portland and Amsterdam this fall, preserving a long-haul international destination but offering fewer flights each week.

The Dutch airline said it would start operating the nonstop route between Portland International Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Oct. 27.

It will operate three times a week during the winter, from November to March, with flights leaving Portland on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

In the summer, flights will depart Portland five days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Delta has operated the Amsterdam route from Portland for 15 years, and it offered daily service. Delta and KLM are partner airlines, with reciprocal mileage plans.

Portland airport officials said the arrangement maintains a key international destination.

“The nonstop from PDX to Amsterdam is an important and popular flight for our business community, and for vacationers to and from Europe,” Dan Pippenger, chief aviation officer at the Port of Portland, said in a statement. “It will be KLM’s first route out of PDX and there’s a lot to look forward to: it’s a new carrier option for travelers, operated with a 787 Dreamliner, and there’s the transatlantic partnership with Delta to support the transition.”

Delta last year abandoned its plan for daily nonstop flights between Portland and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and indefinitely delayed plans for a previously announced service to Incheon, South Korea, serving the capital city Seoul.

-- Elliot Njus edits business news. Contact him at enjus@oregonian.com.