The journey of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the oldest airline in the world 

You wouldn’t have guessed that the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the world's oldest airline, would you? Founded almost a century ago, the Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KLM) it came into being in 1919 and had its first flight the following year. KLM launched the world's longest flying route, Amsterdam to Jakarta (Indonesia), in 1924. At the time, Indonesia was still a Dutch colony. Here’s a sneak peek into the origin of world’s oldest airline and its milestones.  

The origin of KLM Airlines 
KLM was founded in October 1919 by a group of investors and its first director, Albert Plesman. The reason why the airlines was referred to as royal is attributable to Queen Wilhelmina (the then Queen of Netherlands), who bestowed the title about a month before the airline was founded. Though the oldest this airline was not the first to offer commercial air travel. 

The first flight between London's Croydon Airport and Amsterdam took place in May 1920. In 1924, the Dutch carrier launched long-haul flights to Jakarta (then known as Batavia), utilising a Fokker F.VII aircraft. Services to Curacao (a Dutch island) began in 1930. It suffered losses during WWII, as did most airlines, but aircrafts were still in action in Europe and Dutch East Indian territories.  

KLM during World War II 
When the World War II broke out, several planes of KLM were painted in all-orange to avoid confusion with military planes. Flights to Lisbon (which bypassed both British and French airspace) started taking off  in April 1940, and were limited to Scandinavia, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Several KLM aircrafts were en route to or from the Far East, or were running routes in Europe, when Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. However, KLM promptly began rebuilding its network after the World War II ended in August 1945. Later, it resumed service to Jakarta, and in 1946, it commenced operations to New York. 

The evolution of KLM 
With the DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, and DC-6, planes in its fleet, KLM was the first European airline to operate Douglas aircrafts. The DC-8 was the company's first jet aircraft, which was introduced in 1960. In 1971, the Boeing 747 was debuted. In fact, it was the first European airline to introduce the Flying Dutchman Frequent Flyer Programme. In 2005, this evolved to the Flying Blue programme. Despite the fact that KLM and Air France merged in 2004, the company's headquarters remain in Amsterdam. 

KLM Airlines merged with Air France? 
KLM thought it was a little lonely hopping around above the clouds after 70 years of flying alone. Well, their friendly southern neighbours shared their sentiments, and KLM merged with Air France on September 30, 2003. They became subsidiaries of a holding company called Air France-KLM.  

KLM factfolio 
Here are some more unique facts about KLM Airlines: 

• KLM began hiring male and female flight attendants in 1935 to help with passenger safety and service. 
• Long before in-flight entertainment systems, KLM was the first airline to create an in-flight magazine, the Holland Herald, in 1966. 
• Since King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has been a KLM pilot for over 20 years, the airline truly is a royal company. He is currently Boeing 737-certified. He flies once or twice a month and was recently seen in the cockpit on a journey from Amsterdam to Istanbul. Talk about cool royalty!