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KLM

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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij
IATA
KL		 ICAO
KLM		 Callsign
KLM
Founded 1919
Hubs Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Frequent flyer program Flying Blue
Member lounge KLM Crown Lounge
Alliance SkyTeam
Subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper

Martinair

Transavia
Fleet size 243 (+16 orders) incl.cargo
incl.subsidiaries
Destinations 125 incl.subsidiaries
Parent company Air France-KLM
Company slogan "Journeys of Inspiration"
Headquarters Amstelveen, The Netherlands[1]
Key people Albert Plesman (founder) P. F. Hartman (CEO), F. Gagey (CFO)
Website: http://www.klm.com
KLM can also refer to KLM (Human Computer Interaction).

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Dutch: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, literally Royal Aviation Company; usual English translation: Royal Dutch Airlines) is the national airline of the Netherlands and is part of Air France-KLM. KLM's headquarters is in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, near its hub Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

KLM operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to more than 90 destinations. KLM is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. It has 33,000 employees (as of March 2007).[2]

The merging of KLM with Air France in May 2004 created Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM is incorporated under French law with headquarters at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, France. Both Air France and KLM continue to fly under their distinct brand names.

Air France-KLM is part of the SkyTeam alliance with Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico, Korean Air, Czech Airlines, Alitalia, Northwest Airlines, Aeroflot, China Southern Airlines and Continental Airlines until October 2009.

Contents

[edit] History

A 1919 advertisement

KLM was founded on 7 October 1919, making it the oldest carrier in the world still operating under its original name, though the company stopped operating during the Second World War - apart from the operations in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. The first KLM flight was on 17 May 1920, from Croydon Airport, London to Amsterdam carrying two British journalists and a number of newspapers. It was flown by an Aircraft Transport and Travel Airco DH.16, callsign G-EALU, piloted by Jerry Shaw. In 1920 KLM carried 440 passengers and 22 tons of freight. In 1921 KLM started scheduled services. By 1926 it was offering flights to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, Bremen, Copenhagen, and Malmo; using primarily Fokker F2 & Fokker F.III.[3] KLM was also the first airline to fly to Manchester Airport, using a DC-2 via Doncaster.

Intercontinental service to the Netherlands East Indies (today's Republic of Indonesia) started in 1929. This was for several years the world's longest scheduled route. The service used Fokker F.VIIb, although the first non-scheduled KLM flight had been in 1924 by Fokker F7 registration H-NACC piloted by Van der Hoop. In 1930 KLM carried 15,143 passengers. The first transatlantic KLM route was between Amsterdam and Curaçao in December 1934 using the Fokker F-XVIII "Snip." In the 1940s the KLM was the only civilian airline operating the Douglas DC-5.

On 21 May 1946, KLM was the first continental European airline to launch scheduled service to New York. In 1950 KLM carried 356,069 passengers. On 25 July 1957, the airline introduced its first flight simulator for the Douglas DC-7C - the last KLM aircraft with piston engines - which opened the first trans-polar route from Amsterdam via Anchorage to Tokyo on November 1, 1958. Each crew flying the transpolar route over the Arctic was equipped with a winter survival kit, including a 7.62 mm selective-fire AR-10 carbine for use against polar bears in the event the plane was forced down onto the polar ice.[4]

KLM Boeing 737-800
The "Worldwide Reliability" logo with Northwest Airlines, 1993-2002

In March 1960, KLM introduced the first Douglas DC-8 jet into its fleet. In 1966, KLM introduced the Douglas DC-9 on European and Middle East routes. The new terminal buildings at Schiphol Airport opened in April 1967 and in 1968, the Douglas DC-8-63 entered service. With 244 seats it was the largest airliner of the time. KLM was the first airline to put the higher gross-weight Boeing 747-200B into service in February 1971 with Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, beginning the era of widebody jets.

In 1980, KLM carried 9,715,069 passengers. In 1983, it reached agreement with Boeing to convert some of its Boeing 747-200s to stretched upper deck configuration. The work started in 1984 at the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington and finished in 1986. The converted aircraft were called Boeing 747-200SUD, which the airline operated in addition to Boeing 747-300s. In June 1989, KLM introduced the Boeing 747-400. Later that year, in July, KLM acquired 20 per cent of Northwest Airlines, starting an alliance between the two airlines. In 1990, KLM carried 16,000,000 passengers. In March 1994, KLM and Northwest Airlines introduced World Business Class on intercontinental routes, and in July 1995, KLM introduced its Boeing 767-300ER.

KLM Convair

In March and June 2002, KLM announced it would renew its intercontinental fleets by replacing the Boeing 767s, Boeing 747-300s, and eventually the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 with Boeing 777-200ERs and Airbus A330-200s. Some 747s will be first to retire. The MD-11s will remain in service until 2014/2015. The first Boeing 777 was received on October 25, 2003, entering commercial service on the Amsterdam-Toronto route, while the first Airbus A330-200 was introduced on August 25, 2005 and entered commercial service on the Amsterdam-Washington Dulles route.

In March 2007 KLM started using the Amadeus reservation system, along with partner Kenya Airways.

[edit] Corporate organization

KLM is listed on the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, New York and Paris.

Subsidiaries:

Former subsidiaries:

[edit] Merger

Air France-KLM

On 30 September 2003, Air France and KLM announced that they would in future be known as Air France-KLM. This entity was offered on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on 5 May 2004. The takeover by Air France marked the end of the oldest independent airline in the world. The Royal adjective will remain.[citation needed] Its independent identity is guaranteed to 2008, but its operations may be merged with those of the French company. In the meantime, it does not appear that KLM's longstanding joint venture with Northwest Airlines will be affected. Both KLM and Northwest joined the SkyTeam alliance in September 2004.[citation needed] Media:http://www.picturehoster.org/storage/558.jpg

[edit] Presidents - CEOs

[edit] KLM Delft Blue houses

Selection of KLM Delft Blue Houses

Since 1952, KLM has presented its long-haul first-class passengers with small Delftware, blue-and-white porcelain reproductions of old Dutch canal houses.[5] In 1993, amidst the change-over from three to two cabins on its long-haul service, these canal houses (in Dutch, "huisjes") were made available to its "WorldBusiness Class" passengers.

Initially, these houses, ranging in size from 5 to 11 cm. (about 2 to 4 inches) were filled with Rynbende jenever (a Dutch liquor and precursor to gin made from juniper berries); once Rynbende (Simon Rynbende & Sons) was acquired by Henkes, the houses were filled with Henkes jenever, and when that company was acquired by Bols, they became filled with Bols jenever.[6]

The impetus for these houses was a rule aimed at curtailing a previously-widespread practice of offering significant incentives to passengers by limiting the value of gifts given by airlines to 75 US cents; however, no limit was placed on the provisions of duty-free liquor, so KLM was able to provide this more-valuable gift, camouflaged as liquor.[7] Prior to giving out these Delft-blue liquor-filled houses, KLM gave Delft-blue tiles as gifts, but these tiles broke the 75 cent limits.

A KLM crew in Suriname, who flew Guinness record-holder Maurizio Giuliano just after he broke the record to become the youngest person to visit all sovereign nations of the world[8]

There are 88 different houses as of 2008, with an additional house added every year on the 7th of October; this being the anniversary of KLM's founding (KLM, the world's oldest commercial airline, being 88 years old in 2008), each numbered and representing the number of years KLM has been in operation. Each year, a new house receives the next sequential number. All houses are reproductions of historic houses in the Netherlands or its overseas dependencies, although the specific location of every archetype of some of the first ten huisjes was not recorded.[citation needed]

In addition to the 88 standard houses, sealed and filled with jenever (with numerous variations on the wording on the bottom or back of the houses in different manufacturing batches and with different jenever manufacturer names), there are variants that are not filled with gin, which are distributed to passengers on certain long-haul flights to Islamic countries who forbid import or export of liquor. In 2006 when, in response to terrorist activities, liquids were banned or restricted on various flights, KLM's trans-Atlantic flights to the United States briefly also offered the same liquor-free huisjes. Until the early 1980s, the houses distributed on those routes were packaged as "ashtrays" with an open chimney and a semi-circular hole cut into the rear of the house, ostensibly for a cigarette.[citation needed]

Additional, larger, special Delftware have periodically been offered to VIPs and honeymoon couples[citation needed]; for most of the 1980s and 1990s, this was a model of the Royal Palace; since 2003, this was the "Waag."[citation needed] These are particularly prized by collectors and at auctions they are often valued at about $1000.[citation needed]

[edit] Destinations and routes

Main article: KLM destinations

KLM is the only carrier on 61 of the routes it operates, representing 45% of its ASKs from the airport. On around 14% of flights (10 routes) it faces competition from two other airlines. Seven of these routes are within Europe (Copenhagen, London-Heathrow, Milan- Malpensa, Oslo, Prague, Stockholm-Arlanda and Vienna) the other five being Bangkok, Curaçao, Taipei, Toronto and Tripoli. The only route on which KLM faces three competitors is Barcelona where clickair, Transavia and Vueling all provide competition.[9]

[edit] Fleet

The KLM fleet consists of the following aircraft:[10]

Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers
(WBC or ES*/Economy)		 Routes
KLM
Airbus A330-200 10 2 251 (30/221) Long haul
Boeing 737-300 10 0 127 (39/88) Short haul
Boeing 737-400 13 0 147 (39/108) Short haul
Boeing 737-700 4 9 129 (45/84) Short haul
Boeing 737-800 21 0 171 (57/114) Short and medium haul
Boeing 737-900 5 0 189 (51/138) Short and medium haul
Boeing 747-400 5 0 428 (42/388) Long haul
Boeing 747-400M 17 0 280 (42/238) Long haul
Boeing 777-200ER 15 0 327 (35/292) Long haul
Boeing 777-300ER 3 5 425 (35/390) Long haul
McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 10 0 294 (24/270) Long haul
Sub-total 113 16
KLM Cargo
Boeing 747-400ERF 4 0 Only cargo KLM Cargo
Sub-total 4 0
Total 117 16

* Europe Select (ES) is offered on European short-medium haul flights using narrow-body aircraft. A movable bulkhead is used to vary the number of seats in Europe Select on Boeing 737 aircraft, depending on demand. World Business Class (WBC) is offered on International medium-long haul flight using wide-body aircraft. ** A movable curtain is used to vary the number of seats assigned as Europe Select and Economy. All seats, regardless of class, are exactly the same with the exception of a different colour headrest (red for economy and blue for frontward ES seats).

[edit] Cabin

Boeing 777-200ER World Business Class
Boeing 777-200ER Economy Class
Boeing 777-300ER Economy Class

KLM offers Business Class and Economy class on its aircraft. On shorthaul aircraft, Flexible Business Class is called Europe Select, while on longhaul aircraft Business Class is called World Business Class.

[edit] World Business Class

World Business Class offers a 60 inch pitch on all longhaul aircraft. All aircraft offer a 170 degree angled lie-flat seat with a 10.4" TV monitor with AVOD (Audio Video on Demand), email/text messaging, a privacy canopy, a massage function, and laptop power ports. KLM's newest addition to the fleet, the Boeing 777-300ER features the same Business Class seat as merger partner Air France.

All WBC seats offer personal reading lamps, leg/foot rests, and personal telephones (At the back of the controller)

Pre-departure facilities include a fully flexible reservation, check-in desks, lounge access, priority boarding, and 150% Flying Blue miles. Onboard, passengers are given a three course meal with menus, pre-departure beverages, and snacks, which are available throughout the flight.

[edit] Europe Select

Europe Select, KLM's premium product on shorter sectors, is offered on flights operated by Boeing 737 equipment. It offers a 33 inch pitch, a meal service on board (hot or cold meals depend on the length of the flight), priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, double Flying Blue miles, and fully flexible booking.

Boeing 737-800 landing

[edit] Economy Class

Economy Class offers a 31" pitch on all long haul aircraft except the Airbus A330-200, which offers a 32" pitch. Except for the 747-400 planes, wide-bodied aircraft offers personal TVs with AVOD and personal telephones (on the back of the controller), and an email/text messaging function. The 747 planes will receive personal TVs in Economy Class during 2009, until then entertainment is limited to personal audio and big screen entertainment.[11]

On short haul European flights on KLM and KLM Cityhopper, aircraft have no in flight entertainment, and contain a seat pitch of around 30 or 31". Passengers flying Economy Class long-haul routes outside of Europe receive a hot meal service (often more than one depending on the flight duration), with real metal cutlery. Passengers flying within Europe in KLM Economy Class receive a snack to suit the time of day. Freshly prepared sandwiches made the day of flight served on most morning flights. Drinks (including alcohol) are free on KLM for all passengers, with the exception of champagne.[12]

KLM's 747-400s and 777-300ERs economy seating are ten-abreast (3-4-3), the 777-200ERs and MD-11s are nine-abreast (3-3-3), while the A330s are eight abreast (2-4-2).

[edit] Codeshare agreements

As of April 2009, KLM has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[13]

KLM - SkyTeam Alliance Logo

[edit] KLM Asia

KLM Asia (荷蘭亞洲航空公司 Hanyu Pinyin: Hélán Yàzhōu Hángkōng Gōngsī) was a wholly KLM owned subsidiary, registered in Taiwan, Republic of China. The airline was established in 1995 in order to operate flights to Taipei, without compromising the traffic rights held by KLM for destinations in the People's Republic of China. KLM Asia is no longer in operation but its aircraft still fly in the KLM Asia livery.

The livery of KLM Asia does not feature Dutch national symbols, such as the Flag of the Netherlands, nor does it use KLM's stylised Dutch Crown logo, instead featuring a special KLM Asia logo.

[edit] KLM Asia fleet

KLM Asia 747-400 Combi
KLM Asia Boeing 747-400 Combi registration PH-BFC "City of Calgary"

KLM Asia has 6 Boeing 747-400 Combi aircraft (included in the KLM fleet as 747-400M).

  • PH-BFC - City of Calgary
  • PH-BFD - City of Dubai
  • PH-BFF - City of Freetown
  • PH-BFH - City of Hong Kong
  • PH-BFM - Mexico City
  • PH-BFP - City of Paramaribo

[edit] Incidents and accidents

For sourcing and full list of accidents from 1943 see:Aviation safety database

This list does not include KLM cityhopper, which had a single accident involving fatalities in 1994.

The most notable accident in which a KLM flight has been involved was the 1977 Tenerife disaster. After this accident KLM flights have not lead to fatalities.

Accidents involving fatalities

  • On December 20, 1934, KLM Douglas DC-2, PH-AJU "Uiver" crashed at Rutbah Wells, Iraq, killing all occupants. It participated in the Mac Robertson Air Race in October 1934 and won the handicap division. It had returned to the Netherlands in November and the crew were heroes. It was on its first flight after return from the race and was enroute to the Netherlands Indies carrying the Christmas mail.[14]
  • On July 14, 1935, KLM Fokker F.XXII PH-AJQ "Kwikstaart" crashed and burned just outside Schiphol, killing four crew and two passengers - 14 other occupants survived.[3]
  • On July 20, 1935, KLM Douglas DC-2, PH-AKG "Gaai" crashed in an Alpine pass in the San Bernardino Pass near Pian San Giacomo, killing all three crew and all ten passengers.[3]
  • On December 28, 1941, KNILM Douglas DC-3, PK-ALN (formerly KLM PH-ALN) "Nandoe" was destroyed on the ground by Japanese fighters at Medan, North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, killing all crew members and passengers.

Notable incidents without fatalities


[edit] Controversy

KLM has been accused of helping Nazi war criminals to escape from Europe at the end of the Second World War. Suspected war criminals were forbidden by the Allies to leave Germany but historical researches made by Dutch journalists show that KLM asked the Swiss authorities to allow some former Nazi to cross the borders without proper documents in order that they could then escape to South America. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] KLM has always denied that it played such a role.[31]


[edit] References

  1. ^ "Fact Sheet." SkyTeam. Retrieved on 27 December 2008.
  2. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: pp. 101-102. 2007-04-03. 
  3. ^ a b c (Dutch) Albert Heijn, ed (1969) KL-50 - logboek van vijftig jaar vliegen. Meijer, Amsterdam.
  4. ^ Pikula, Sam (Major), The ArmaLite AR-10, Regnum Publications (1998), p. 73
  5. ^ "See". A Taste of the House of Bols. Lucas Bols, B.V.. http://www.houseofbols.com/atasteof.asp. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  6. ^ http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiltheo/rynbende.htm
  7. ^ "See". The Ultimate Dutch Status Symbol: House-Shaped Booze Bottles; Jet-Setters Hoard, but Avoid Drinking, KLM's Freebies; The $1,000 Cheese Building. Wall Street Journal. 2008-05-31. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121217604543933443-lMyQjAxMDI4MTAyMjEwNzI2Wj.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 
  8. ^ Maurizio Giuliano, The Stamp Collector, Journalist (British magazine), April 2004
  9. ^ "KLM still growing at Amsterdam; UK and Norwegian markets important; three new routes in 2008". anna.aero. 12 September 2008. http://www.anna.aero/2008/09/12/klm-still-growing-at-amsterdam/. 
  10. ^ http://vervoer.ivw.nl/en/lucht/luchttechbed/Luchtvaartuigregister/index.jsp
  11. ^ "Entertainment on Board". KLM. http://www.klm.com/travel/no_en/travel_information/on_board/entertainment/index.htm#2. Retrieved on 2009-06-05. 
  12. ^ http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/travel_information/on_board/travel_classes/index.htm#3
  13. ^ KLM Codeshare Agreements
  14. ^ "Uiver verbrand, inzittenden gedood", De Telegraaf 42 (15920): 1, 21 December 1934 
  15. ^ "DC-3 PH-TCR bij start in Copenhagen verongelukt". http://www.aviacrash.nl/paginas/ph-tcr.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-27. 
  16. ^ De Tijd (Netherlands) 24 June 1949, cited in Heijn (1969)
  17. ^ "Constellation "Franeker" stort neer bij Bombay". 2005-12-15. http://www.aviacrash.nl/paginas/franeker.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-27. 
  18. ^ De Telegraaf 17 Jul 1935, cited in Heijn (1969)
  19. ^ KLM PH-TFF Bangkok Crash
  20. ^ Aviation Safety Network NTSB
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ http://www.trouw.nl/krantenarchief/1996/12/07/2629556/_KLM_hielp_nazi_s_vluchten_.html
  23. ^ http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/1901/reisnieuws/article/detail/145789/2008/01/24/KLM-hielp-nazi-s-vluchten.dhtml
  24. ^ http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article421290.ece/KLM_hielp_nazis_bij_vlucht_naar_Argentinie
  25. ^ http://www.nd.nl/artikelen/2009/juni/05/buitenlandse-zaken-liet-nazi-vluchten-toe
  26. ^ http://www.netwerk.tv/node/1329
  27. ^ http://www.volkskrant.nl/archief_gratis/article702928.ece/Luchtvaartmaatschappij_reageert_gelaten_op_beschuldiging_van_Amerikaanse_senator_KLM_hielp_na_oorlog_vluchtende_nazis
  28. ^ http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article1880273.ece/Getuige_KLM_liet_nazis_vluchten
  29. ^ "KLM accused of helping Nazis flee". 2007-05-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6635677.stm. 
  30. ^ "'KLM helped Nazis to escape'". 2007-05-02. http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2007/05/klm_helped_nazis_to_escape.php. 
  31. ^ "Airline accused of helping Nazis to flee". 2007-05-08. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1760116.ece. 

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