KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

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KLM (in full: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, literally Royal Aviation Company; usual English: Royal Dutch Airlines) is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. Before its (agreed) take-over by Air France, KLM was the national airline of the Netherlands.

Air France-KLM is France and the Netherlands' main air carrier and its KLM subsidiary operates from the airline hub of Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam, where the subsidiary company has its headquarters.

Air France took over KLM in May 2004, resulting in the creation of Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM is incorporated under French law and its headquarters are located at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris. Air France-KLM is the largest airline company in the world in terms of operating revenues, and the third-largest in the world (largest in Europe) in terms of revenue-passenger-kilometers (RPKs). In 2004, KLM travelled 6 million passengers. [1]

Air France-KLM is part of the SkyTeam Alliance with Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico, Korean Air, CSA Czech Airlines, Alitalia, Northwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines. Both Air France and KLM continue to fly under their distinct brand names, and the strategy is probably to keep the two brands in the future.

1 History
2 Incidents and accidents
3 Destinations
4 Fleet
5 See also
6 External links

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History

Image:KLMS.jpg Image:Klmreliable.gif KLM was founded on October 7, 1919, making it the oldest carrier still operating under its current name. The first KLM flight was on May 17, 1920, with a flight from London to Amsterdam carrying two English journalists and a number of newspapers. This first flight was carried out by an Airco de Havilland DH16, callsign EALU, piloted by Jerry Shaw. In 1921 KLM started regularly scheduled service, by 1926 offering flights to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, Bremen, Copenhagen, and Malmo; using primarily Fokker F2 & F3. Intercontinental service to Indonesia started in 1929 using Fokker F7-B, although the first non-scheduled KLM flight had been made in 1924 by Fokker F7 Callsign NACC piloted by van der Hoop.

KLM has subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper, KLM Cargo and KLM Asia. A former subsidiary is KLM exel. KLM has an 100% share in Transavia Airlines, a 50% share in Martinair and a 26% share in Kenya Airways. KLM UK was a KLM subsidiary until KLM Cityhopper merged with it. KLM is listed on the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, New York and Paris. For political reasons, flights into Taipei, Taiwan, and the Republic of China are operated by KLM Asia. The livery of KLM Asia does not have the crown logo on the tail and fuselage.

In May 2004, KLM was taken over by Air France. Its independent identity is guaranteed for the coming five years, but eventually it is anticipated that its operations will be merged into 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.

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Incidents and accidents

On March 27, 1977, KLM Flight 4805 & Pan Am Flight 1736 collided at Los Rodeos Airport on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, killing 583 people.(see Tenerife disaster).

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Destinations

see full article: KLM destinations.

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Fleet

Image:Klm.b737.750pix.jpg The KLM fleet consists of the following aircraft (in January 2006):

03 Airbus A330-200 (+ 6 orders)
14 Boeing 737-300
13 Boeing 737-400
14 Boeing 737-800 (+ potentially an additional 14 on order, 1 to be delivered in 4-2006 and 1 in 2007
05 Boeing 737-900 (+ potentially an additional 15 on order)
22 Boeing 747-400 (5 full pax, 17 combi)
03 Boeing 747-400ERF (full freighter, + 1 on order)
09 Boeing 767-300ER
11 Boeing 777-200ER (+ 7 on order)
10 McDonnell Douglas MD-11

The orders of the Airbus A330-200, as well as the Boeing 777-200ER, will over time replace the 767 and MD-11 aircraft, but KLM is also looking into adding the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350.

The average age of KLM fleet is 9.9 years old in April 2006.

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