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KLM can also refer to Keystroke-Level Model.
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 are in Amstelveen near its hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.[2] 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).[3] 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 Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. 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, and China Southern Airlines.
[edit] History 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.[4] 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 1 November 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.[5]   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.  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 25 October 2003, entering commercial service on the Amsterdam-Toronto route, while the first Airbus A330-200 was introduced on 25 August 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 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. 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. [edit] Presidents - CEOs
[edit] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.  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. 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. Additional, larger, special Delftware have periodically been offered to VIPs and honeymoon couples; for most of the 1980s and 1990s, this was a model of the Royal Palace; since 2003, this was the "Waag". These are particularly prized by collectors and at auctions they are often valued at about $1000. [edit] Destinations and routesMain 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 10% of flights (13 routes) it faces competition from two other airlines. Eight of these routes are within Europe (Barcelona, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Milan Malpensa, Oslo, Prague, Stockholm and Vienna), the other five being Bangkok, Curaçao, Taipei, Toronto and Tripoli.[10] [edit] Fleet  The KLM fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 17 October 2009):
[edit] Cabin   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 ClassWorld 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 (except WBC Holiday Fare which may have restrictions [14]), check-in desks, lounge access, priority boarding, and 125% to 175% Flying Blue miles[15]. Onboard, passengers are given a three course meal with menus, pre-departure beverages, and snacks, which are available throughout the flight. [edit] Europe SelectEurope 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.  [edit] Economy ClassEconomy 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 first 747 plane (PH-BFN) has received the personal TVs onboard the Economy Class in July 2009 and more 747s will be gradually be refitted in the next few months. Until then the rest of Boeing 747-400s are limited to personal audio and mainscreen entertainment without PTVs.[16] 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.[17] 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]As of April 2009, KLM has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[18] 
[edit] KLM AsiaKLM 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 has 6 Boeing 747-400 Combi aircraft (included in the KLM fleet as 747-400M).
[edit] Incidents and accidentsFor 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
Notable incidents without fatalities
[edit] ControversyKLM 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 research done 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. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] KLM has always denied that it played such a role.[36] [edit] References
[edit] External links
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