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112-556: The company was founded as Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred. Olsen A/S in 1933, after Fred. Olsen & Co. took over the assets of a failed airline with the same name from 1927. After taking over the incumbent Widerøe the following year, allowing five other shipping companies a partial ownership and changing the company's name to Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred. Olsen & Bergenske A/S , DNL started domestic seaplane routes based at Oslo Airport, Gressholmen , and later Oslo Airport, Fornebu , using Junkers Ju 52 aircraft. In 1935, DNL

224-621: A hub . The Swedish government did not want to participate with less than a 50% share, and preferably as a majority owner. It was stated that this was because they had half the population and the only organization capable of operating intercontinental routes. On 1 August, Overseas Scandinavian Airlines System was established, where DNL received a 2/7 ownership. The consortium received its head office in Stockholm, but would also serve Copenhagen and Oslo with intercontinental flights. The agreement meant that DNL had to transfer employees to Stockholm and

336-615: A board member. They came with their recommendation on 28 November 1945, which favored a single, privately owned Norwegian flag carrier, with a broad ownership, who would receive a concession for the operation of all domestic and international routes. Following the 1945 Norwegian parliamentary election on 8 October, the Labor Party received a majority, with 76 of 150 seats. Also the Norwegian Communist Party did its best election ever, receiving 11 seats. A proposition

448-586: A delegation was sent to the United States, where it negotiated the necessary permissions from the American authorities and purchase rights for aircraft. After the break-out of World War II, the United States had become more interested in a northern transatlantic route, so it could reach the neutral Scandinavian countries. Oslo Airport, Fornebu opened on 1 June 1939, and later the same month so did Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. DNL had made arrangements to pool

560-533: A five-year concession to operate a route from Oslo to various cities in Asia. This forced OSAS to plan its Asia-routes using only Swedish and Danish crew and planes, and not operate from Oslo. This was followed by SAS on 26 October, when they opened a DC-6 route to Bangkok with seven intermediate stops. At first there were two round trips per month, but from 1950 this was increased to two per week. The SAS cooperation initially only considered intercontinental traffic, and

672-551: A holding company called Air France-KLM . Both airlines would retain their own brands; both Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol would become key hubs. In February 2004 the European Commission and United States Department of Justice approved the proposed merger of the airlines. In April 2004 an exchange offer in which KLM shareholders exchanged their KLM shares for Air France shares took place. Since 5 May 2004 Air France-KLM has been listed on

784-619: A majority of 78%, effectively re-nationalizing it. The company management remained under the control of private stakeholders. In 1980, KLM carried 9,715,069 passengers. In 1983, it reached an agreement with Boeing to upgrade ten of its Boeing 747-200 aircraft (Three 747-200Bs and seven 747-200Ms) with the stretched-upper-deck modification. The work started in 1984 at the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington , and finished in 1986. The converted aircraft were called Boeing 747-200SUD or 747-300, which

896-552: A member of the schedule planning committee. The company received a share capital of NOK 1.6 million. DNL bought 51% of Widerøe, and the airline continued without scheduled services, operating air taxi, school and general aviation , plus a limited number of post routes in Northern Norway. On 16 March 1935, Mowinckel's Third Cabinet was replaced by the Labor Nygaardsvold's Cabinet . They wanted to stimulate

1008-477: A national airline. The foundation of the company was made on 16 October 1933, with Thomas Olsen, Rudolf Olsen, Johan L. Müller, Ganger Rolf and Bonheur —all within the Fred. Olsen sphere—as owners. The airline was established with a share capital of NOK 750,000 and took over the former DNL. The new company was named Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred. Olsen A/S and hired Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen —since 1921 director of

1120-528: A private company under private control; he allowed the Dutch government to acquire a minority stake in the airline. In 1950, KLM carried 356,069 passengers. The expansion of the network continued in the 1950s with the addition of several destinations in western North America. KLM's fleet expanded with the addition of new versions of the Lockheed Constellation and Lockheed Electra , of which KLM

1232-464: A reorganization of the company, which led to the reduction of staff and air services. In 1965, Albarda died in an air crash and was succeeded as president by Dr. Gerrit van der Wal. Van der Wal forged an agreement with the Dutch government that KLM would be once again run as a private company. By 1966, the stake of the Dutch government in KLM was reduced to a minority stake of 49.5%. In 1966, KLM introduced

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1344-692: A route from Tromsø to Kirkenes on 13 October. In October, several new routes opened, including the reopening of the Stockholm route via Örebro and Karlstad in Sweden, to Kristiansand via Amsterdam and Brussels to Paris , from Bergen via Haugesund and Stavanger to Kristiansand, an extension of the Copenhagen route to Prague , and finally from Oslo to Stavanger. In 1946, DNL transported 47,112 passengers. The initial postwar fleet consisted of six Douglas DC-3, all converted from military C-47 . Five Junkers Ju 52 seaplanes were used, based on ten aircraft left by

1456-408: A single land airport, no routes were started by DNL. In cooperation with DDL, Lufthansa and ABA, DNL entered the pool that flew the route from Oslo via Gothenburg to Copenhagen. On 2 March 1938, the board of DNL decided to sell Valkyrien to Chargeurs Reunis and abandon plans for intercontinental traffic. Instead, negotiations started with Aer Rianta of Ireland, who were cooperating with Pan Am on

1568-639: A stake include: Subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures of KLM in the past include: KLM also worked closely with ALM Antillean Airlines in the Caribbean to provide air service for the Dutch-controlled islands in the region with KLM aircraft such as the Douglas DC-8 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 being operated by KLM flight crews on behalf of ALM. KLM Asia ( Chinese : 荷蘭亞洲航空公司 ; pinyin : Hélán Yàzhōu Hángkōng Gōngsī )

1680-425: A swooping cheatline that wraps around the entire forward fuselage. The livery was first introduced on Embraer 190s . In April 2010, KLM introduced new uniforms for its female cabin attendants, ground attendants and pilots at KLM and KLM Cityhopper. The new uniform was designed by Dutch couturier Mart Visser . It retains the KLM blue colour that was introduced in 1971 and adds a touch of orange—the national colour of

1792-485: A three-engine Junkers W 34 . It was registered as LN-DAB on 1 June 1935 and named Ternen . Riiser-Larsen and Bernt Balchen were hired to manage the company, while marketing and sales were done by Fred. Olsen. Terje Rabben was employed to run the DNL operations from the base at Gressholmen. To start the route from Oslo to Bergen immediately, a Ju 52 was wet leased from Lufthansa. It was delivered on 7 June and initially kept

1904-483: A winter hiatus, KLM resumed its services using its pilots, and Fokker F.II and Fokker F.III aircraft. In 1921, KLM started scheduled services. KLM's first intercontinental experimental flight took off on 1 October 1924. The final destination was Jakarta (then called ' Batavia '), Java , in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia ); the flight used a Fokker F.VII with registration H-NACC and

2016-624: A young aviator lieutenant named Albert Plesman sponsored the ELTA aviation exhibition in Amsterdam . Attendance at the exhibition was over half a million, and after it closed, several Dutch commercial interests intended to establish a Dutch airline, which Plesman was nominated to head. In September 1919, Queen Wilhelmina awarded the yet-to-be-founded KNLM its "Royal" (" Koninklijke ") predicate. On 7 October 1919, eight Dutch businessmen, including Frits Fentener van Vlissingen , founded KLM as one of

2128-505: Is a wholly owned subsidiary registered in Taiwan . The subsidiary was established in 1995 to allow KLM to continue operating flights to Taipei without compromising the mainline KLM's traffic rights for destinations in the People's Republic of China. Aircraft operated by the subsidiary retain their Dutch registration and the basic KLM livery but receive several modifications: the flags of both

2240-519: Is available for an additional fee. Fred. Olsen %26 Co. Fred. Olsen & Co. is a holding company based in Oslo , Norway . The company was founded as a shipping firm by Petter Olsen in 1848. Today the company manages the Olsen family's interests in a variety of sectors including logistics, energy and consumer goods. The company was founded by Petter Olsen (1821–1899) in 1848 and, by his death,

2352-692: Is formed by the four Managing Directors, including the CEO. Nine Supervisory Directors compose the Supervisory Board. KLM's head office is located in Amstelveen, on a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) site near Schiphol Airport . The airline's current headquarters was built between 1968 and 1970. Before the opening of the new headquarters, the airline's head office was on the property of Schiphol Airport in Haarlemmermeer . Companies in which KLM has

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2464-429: Is now part of Fred. Olsen Energy . Fred. Olsen also had a major share in the construction and engineering company Aker and currently owns Timex Corporation . The company has also periodically entered the tanking business, operating a total of 40 ships since 1920. In 1973, it sold its tanking interests but reentered the industry again in 1986, creating the publicly listed company First Olsen Tankers in 1993 that

2576-676: The Havørn Accident eleven days later, the airline purchased another Ju 52, LN-DAH Falken , used from Lufthansa. In 1936, DNL and Balchen—who had a wide range of contacts in the US—started negotiations with Pan American Airways (Pan Am) about cooperation on a transatlantic route between Norway and the United States. DNL argued that Norway's location made it an ideal base for the European flights to North America. Pan Am would operate from New York to Reykjavík , while DNL would operate

2688-476: The Azores in the winter. Valkyrien was instead used on domestic routes. During the second season, DNL increased the routes to also include Bergen– Tromsø and Tromsø– Honningsvåg . A night post route was flown from Oslo to Gothenburg. During the five months of operation, the airline flew 339,116 kilometres (210,717 mi) and transported 2,300 passengers. From 1937, the state received the right to appoint two of

2800-542: The Caribbean resumed. Long-range, pressurized Lockheed Constellations and Douglas DC-6s joined KLM's fleet in the late 1940s; the Convair 240 short-range pressurized twin-engine airliner began European flights for the company in late 1948. During the immediate post-war period, the Dutch government expressed interest in gaining a majority stake in KLM, thus partially nationalizing it. Plesman wanted KLM to remain

2912-648: The Douglas DC-9 on European and Middle East routes. The new terminal buildings at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol opened in April 1967, and in 1968 the stretched Douglas DC-8-63 ("Super DC-8") entered service. With 244 seats, the Super DC-8 was the largest airliner in scheduled passenger service at the time, although its size was surpassed by that of the Boeing 747 first flown in 1969. On 6 March 1967, KLM ordered

3024-623: The Euronext exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam and New York. In September 2004, the merger was completed by creation of the Air France-KLM holding company. The merger resulted in the world's largest airline group and should have led to an estimated annual cost-saving of between €400 million and €500 million. It did not appear that KLM's longstanding joint venture with Northwest Airlines—which merged with Delta Air Lines in 2008—was affected by

3136-499: The McDonnell Douglas MD-11s with Boeing 777-200ERs and Airbus A330-200s . Some 747s were withdrawn from service first. The MD-11s remained in service until October 2014. The first Boeing 777 was received on 25 October 2003, while the first Airbus A330-200 was introduced on 25 August 2005. On 30 September 2003 Air France and KLM agreed to a merger plan in which Air France and KLM would become subsidiaries of

3248-681: The Netherlands . KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen , with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol . It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM group and a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Founded in 1919, KLM is the oldest operating airline in the world , and has 35,488 employees with a fleet of 110 aircraft (excluding subsidiaries) as of 2021. KLM operates scheduled passenger and cargo services to 145 destinations . In 1919,

3360-637: The Norwegian Ministry of Defence appointed a committee with the goal of building a civilian airport near Oslo. It concluded in June, and recommended that the airport be built at Fornebu . By 1934, construction had started, although the airport would not open until 1 June 1939. On 1 September 1933, the Oslo-based shipping company Fred. Olsen & Co., owned by the brothers Thomas Fredrik Olsen and Rudolf Olsen , announced their plans to establish

3472-508: The "Leeuwerik", KLM had lost in 1935 around 15% of its pilots. As a result there was a shortage of crew members and airplanes. The Amsterdam—Milan flight service was as a result taken over by Deutsche Lufthansa . The first of the airline's Douglas DC-3 aircraft were delivered in 1936; these replaced the DC-2s on the service via Batavia to Sydney . KLM was the first airline to serve Manchester's new Ringway airport , starting in June 1938. KLM

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3584-531: The 747 as its first Boeing aircraft, which marked the beginning of its use of widebody aircraft and an improved relationship between the airline and Boeing since the 1939 crash of a Boeing 307 Stratoliner carrying KLM representatives on a demonstration flight. To negotiate for lower unit prices and form a maintenance pool for its 747 fleet, KLM formed the KSS maintenance consortium in 1969 with Scandinavian Airlines and Swissair . Despite showing initial interest in

3696-564: 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. The four-engine turboprop Vickers Viscount 800 was introduced on European routes in 1957. Beginning in September 1959, KLM introduced the four-engine turboprop Lockheed L-188 Electra onto some of its European and Middle Eastern routes. In March 1960,

3808-763: The Australia-Dutch East Indies region, where they helped transport refugees from Japanese aggression in that area. Although operations paused in Europe, KLM continued to fly and expand in the Caribbean. After the end of the Second World War in August 1945, KLM immediately started to rebuild its network. Since the Dutch East Indies were in a state of revolt , Plesman prioritised re-establishing KLM's route to Batavia. This service

3920-592: The Bergen-based company as a partner in DNL. On 7 November 1934, Bergenske became a partner in DNL, and the company renamed Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred. Olsen og Bergenske A/S. Johan Wulfsberg from BDS became a board member of DNL. As a reply to DNL's new concession application to make short-term sea plane routes using a Junkers Ju 52 , the government urged DNL to make an alliance or merger with Widerøe. By then, four regional shipping companies— Vesterålske , Nordenfjeldske , Stavangerske and Arendalske —had bought

4032-511: The Civil Aviation Council—as managing director. The Olsen brothers and Müller were all elected to the board. The company's initial plans were to gain the operating rights for the airports which were under construction, including Fornebu; Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik ; and Stavanger Airport, Sola . The other was receive a state grant to start a service from Oslo, via Kristiansand , to Amsterdam in cooperation with KLM . Domestically,

4144-559: The ESAS head office in Copenhagen and the OSAS head office in Stockholm, without any similar build-up of competence in Norway. Because of the way the costs were divided between the pool partners, DNL was also receiving smaller margins that the others. Since 2019, the airline has provided complimentary Wi-Fi access in its aircraft cabins for all passengers. Furthermore, a premium connection option

4256-530: The German forces and sent to Germany. A limited service was kept in Northern Norway during the resistance, but also these were terminated after the German forces took control of the whole country. From 26 September, three weekly services were operated from Trondheim to Tromsø, with two of these continuing to Kirkenes , using Najaden . This was terminated on 20 March, after most of DNL's pilots had fled to

4368-612: The German forces. There was also an uncertainty as to whether the national airline of Norway should continue to be private, or if a state-owned airline should be established. To look at the issue, the Norwegian authorities-in-exile established the Norwegian Civil Aviation Board to look at all matters regarding civil aviation. It was this board which was permitted to negotiate traffic rights with other countries, make purchase rights of aircraft and participated in

4480-486: The German forces. Two of these, Najaden and Falken (renamed Veslefrikk and Askeladden , respectively), had been used by DNL before the war. On 16 July, the board decided to purchase three Sandringham Mark VI flying boats from Short Brothers . There were internal protests against the purchase of the Sandringhams, since they were regarded as unsuited for Norway. They incurred high operating costs and all three of

4592-441: The KLM fleet. The airline previously operated DC-8 passenger and freight combi aircraft as well and later operated Boeing 747-400 combi aircraft. The 1973 oil crisis , which caused difficult economic conditions, led KLM to seek government assistance in arranging debt refinancing. The airline issued additional shares of stock to the government in return for its money. In the late 1970s, the government's stake had again increased to

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4704-625: The Netherlands and European Union are removed while the Dutch Crown logo is replaced with the KLM Asia wordmark. The fleet of aircraft operated by the subsidiary consists of seven Boeing 777-200ER and two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft as of March 2020. As of 2012, KLM used the "KLM Asia" brand to fly to Taipei and the aircraft had to fly over China. Previously KLM used Boeing 747s for its services to Taiwan. In 2012, it started operating

4816-668: The Norwegian Civil Aviation Board started to initiate operations of civilian airliners. For 1945, the task was given to the Royal Norwegian Air Force , who used surplus aircraft to operate a limited number of routes. At the same time, Thomas Olsen and Thomas Falck started mobilizing among shipowners and other businesspeople to raise capital for DNL, while at the same time trying to ensure the employment of military pilots, navigation officers and other people with aviation competence. Egil Gløersen

4928-505: The SkyTeam alliance (2004–present). KLM has utilized several major liveries since its founding, with numerous variations on each. Initially, many aircraft featured a bare-metal fuselage with a stripe above the windows bearing the phrase "The Flying Dutchman". The rudder was divided into three segments and painted to match the Dutch flag. Later aircraft types sometimes bore a white upper fuselage, and additional detail striping and titling. In

5040-595: The United Kingdom to support the allied forces. The airline suffered from a general mistrust both from the German and Allied authorities. The Germans generally did not trust any shipowners, since these had their fleet organized in Nortraship and used in Allied convoys. The Norwegian authorities in exile were also distrustful of DNL, because the airline had taken initiative to operate a route, essentially helping

5152-614: The United States and Europe as part of a joint venture. In March 1994, KLM and Northwest Airlines introduced World Business Class on intercontinental routes. KLM's stake in Northwest Airlines was increased to 25% in 1994. KLM introduced the Boeing 767-300ER in July 1995. In January 1996, KLM acquired a 26% share in Kenya Airways , the flag-carrier airline of Kenya. In 1997, Pieter Bouw resigned as president of KLM and

5264-471: The airline introduced the first Douglas DC-8 jet into its fleet. In 1961, KLM reported its first year of losses. In 1961, the airline's president Fons Aler was succeeded by Ernst van der Beugel . However, This leadership change did not lead to a reversal of KLM's financial difficulties. Van der Beugel resigned as president in 1963 for health reasons. Horatius Albarda was appointed to succeed Ernst van der Beugel as president of KLM in 1963. Albarda initiated

5376-411: The airline made its two DC-4 aircraft available for SAS. To begin with, Oslo received one of the two weekly services to Gander and New York, but all traffic from Norway had to transfer in Copenhagen for the service to South America. In 1946, Norwegian ship-owner Ludvig G. Braathen had establish Braathens SAFE , and started charter traffic, mainly to Asia. From 14 January 1949, Braathens SAFE received

5488-414: The airline operated in addition to three newly built Boeing 747-300s manufactured from the ground up. In 1983, KLM took delivery of the first of ten Airbus A310 passenger jets. Sergio Orlandini retired in 1987 and was succeeded as president of KLM by Jan de Soet. In 1986, the Dutch government's shareholding in KLM was reduced to 54.8 percent. It was expected that this share would be further reduced during

5600-457: The airline wanted to operate the route from Oslo to Kristiansand and from Kristiansand to Stavanger , Bergen and Ålesund . An application was sent the government, at the time Mowinckel's Third Cabinet , with a proposal for a ten-year concessions using land planes. Routes were to start off with a five-month service, and gradually increase to a full-year service from 1940. The company stated that it needed NOK 500,000 annually in support from

5712-652: The airline, Leo van Wijk resigned from his position and was succeeded by Peter Hartman . Beginning in September 2010, KLM integrated the passenger division of Martinair into KLM, transferring all personnel and routes. By November 2011, Martinair consisted of only the cargo and maintenance division. In March 2011, KLM and InselAir reached an agreement for cooperation on InselAir destinations, thus expanding its passenger services. Beginning 27 March 2011, KLM passengers could fly to all InselAir destinations through InselAir's hubs in Curaçao and Sint Maarten . This cooperation

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5824-564: The blue Lufthansa livery, including a swastika . The aircraft was registered as LN-DAE, christened Havørn and later received DNL's livery. Operations were scheduled to commence on 7 June, but fog forced a delay until 11 June. After that there were flown 180 trips with a 100% regularity. Training was done by German crew on board Havørn . Travel time from Oslo to Bergen was four and a half hours, with intermediate stops in Moss , Arendal , Kristiansand, Stavanger and Haugesund. It cost NOK 95 to fly

5936-412: The center. All versions of this livery had small "KLM Royal Dutch Airlines" titles, first in red, and later in blue. Since 1971, the KLM livery has primarily featured a bright blue fuselage, with variations on the striping and details. Originally a wide, dark blue cheatline covered the windows and was separated from the light grey lower fuselage by a thin white stripe. The KLM logo was placed centrally on

6048-511: The company had 16 ships with offices in Hvitsten . Petter's son Thomas Fredrik "Fred" Olsen (1857–1933) or Fred. Olsen, whom the company is named after, took the company from a small business with a few boats into a powerful multinational shipping and shipbuilding business. He had a vision of providing high-quality service on a network of lines, at first domestically and, afterwards, internationally. To do this required steamships , of which

6160-465: The company to two-thirds, thus partly nationalizing it. The board of directors remained under the control of private shareholders. On 25 July 1957, the airline introduced its flight simulator for the Douglas DC-7 C – the last KLM aircraft with piston engines – which opened the transpolar route from Amsterdam via Anchorage to Tokyo on 1 November 1958. Each crew flying the transpolar route over

6272-590: The company's eight board members. That year also saw DNL start its first international route, when Valkyrien was started the route between Oslo and Stockholm . Part of the reason for the route was that transport to the Soviet Union could not go via Germany, where the only contemporary international flights from Oslo went. However, the Stockholm-service was not profitable, and terminated on 31 July. Stavanger Airport, Sola opened on 30 May, but with only

6384-537: The company's ships were in Allied service, though 28 were lost – about half the fleet. Rudolf died in 1951 and Thomas suffered ill health from 1955, eventually dying in 1969. Thomas's son, also named Fred. Olsen (born 1 January 1929), is now in control of the company, after becoming director in 1955. In the early 1970s, Fred. Olsen entered the offshore business, with Dolphin drilling rigs and part of Saga Petroleum . The Saga shares were sold in 1991 while Dolphin

6496-606: The debates in parliament, the minority governing Liberal Party was in favor of Widerøe-operated sea plane routes, while the majority opposition from the Agrarian Party and the Labor Party wanted to increase investments in land airports. In 1933, Thomas S. Falck was appointed director of Bergenske Dampskibsselskab (BDS). Fred. Olsen wanted a partner for DNL, in part to strengthen its geographic spread, and meetings were held between Olsen family and Falck to introduce

6608-518: The decade. The Boeing 747-400 was introduced into KLM's fleet in June 1989. With the liberalization of the European market, KLM started developing its hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol by feeding its network with traffic from affiliated airlines. As part of its development of a worldwide network, KLM acquired a 20% stake in Northwest Airlines in July 1989. In 1990, KLM carried 16,000,000 passengers. KLM president Jan de Soet retired at

6720-418: The economy through public investments, and decided that construction of airports was to be accelerated. On 5 April, DNL was granted concession for a sea plane route along the coast from Oslo to Tromsø , plus the international route from Oslo via Kristiansand to Amsterdam. DNL received NOK 200,000 in state grants, plus NOK 100,000 from Norway Post, for the first year of operation. DNL decided to purchase

6832-511: The end of 1990 and was succeeded in 1991 by Pieter Bouw. In December 1991, KLM was the first European airline to introduce a frequent flyer loyalty program, which was called Flying Dutchman . In January 1993 the United States Department of Transportation granted KLM and Northwest Airlines anti-trust immunity, which allowed them to intensify their partnership. As of September 1993, the airlines operated their flights between

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6944-462: The end of 2008, Fred. Olsen sold its part of Comarit and is no longer a stockholder of the Moroccan passenger carrier. KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines , or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈlʏxtfaːrt ˈmaːtsxɑpɛi ˌɛnˈveː] , lit.   ' Royal Aviation Company ' ), is the flag carrier of

7056-484: The first commercial airline companies. Plesman became its first administrator and director. The first KLM flight took place on 17 May 1920. KNLM's first pilot, Jerry Shaw, flew from Croydon Airport , London, to Amsterdam. The flight was flown using a leased Aircraft Transport and Travel de Havilland DH-16 , registration G-EALU, which was carrying two British journalists and some newspapers. In 1920, KLM carried 440 passengers and 22 tons of freight. In April 1921, after

7168-635: The first was acquired in 1897. By 1914, the first motor ship was put in use on the South America line. In World War I , 23 of the company's 44 ships were sunk. After the first Fred. Olsen's death, his sons Rudolf Olsen and Thomas Fredrik Olsen took over the company. During their leadership, the company expanded, even entering the aviation business with its own airline Fred. Olsen Flyselskap in addition to later partial ownerships of Det Norske Luftfartselskap , Scandinavian Airlines System , Widerøe , and Sterling Airlines . During World War II ,

7280-616: The foundation of the International Air Transport Association and the International Civil Aviation Organization . The Swedish intercontinental airline, Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik managed to purchase ten Douglas DC-4 at the end of the war; they had initially planned on selling some to DDL and DNL, but were not permitted to negotiate any agreements with DNL. After the liberation of Norway on 8 May 1945,

7392-512: The full journey. During the first season, DNL transported 3,214 passengers and 31.6 tonnes (31.1 long tons; 34.8 short tons) of mail. It also took over Norwegian representation for Aerotransport, DDL, KLM, Sabena , Air France and Aero , and joined the International Air Traffic Association . At the end of the year, Havørn was purchased. On 6 June 1936, DNL registered its second Ju 52, LN-DAF Najaden . After

7504-515: The immediate future, so it was better to start with sea plane services. Riiser-Larsen went on a national lecture tour to gain support for civil aviation from local politicians and businesspeople. He also negotiated agreements to pool flights to Sweden with Aerotransport , to Denmark with Det Danske Luftfartselskab , to Germany with Lufthansa and to the United Kingdom with Imperial Airways . By early 1934, DNL decided that they would instead apply for initial seaplane routes using two Waco Cabin . During

7616-406: The majority of Widerøe. Falck took contact with the other four shipping companies, and on 18 December the six shipping companies agreed to merge their interests into DNL. Ownership was split 40% by Fred. Olsen, 38% by Bergenske and 22% by the other four shipping companies. Widerøe was initially planned to be either dissolved or take over the smaller seaplane routes. The state was permitted to appoint

7728-458: The merger with Air France. KLM and Northwest joined the SkyTeam alliance in September 2004. Also in 2004, senior management came under fire for providing itself with controversial bonuses after the merger with Air France, while 4,500 jobs were lost at KLM. After external pressure, management gave up on these bonuses. In March 2007 KLM started to use the Amadeus CRS reservation system, along with partner Kenya Airways. After 10 years as president of

7840-399: The mid-1950s, the livery was changed to feature a split cheatline in two shades of blue on a white upper fuselage and angled blue stripes on the vertical stabilizer. The tail stripes were later enlarged and made horizontal, and the then-new crown logo was placed in a white circle. The final major variation of this livery saw the vertical stabilizer painted completely white with the crown logo in

7952-426: The operations from Oslo via Kristiansand to Amsterdam with KLM. The route was initially operated with a Douglas DC-2 , leased from KLM. DNL had discussed cooperating with British Airways and extending the Amsterdam-route to London, but this was not done. After the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, all international routes and operations in Southern Norway were terminated. Two aircraft were requisitioned by

8064-535: The original aircraft crashed within four years. The land DC-3s were used on international routes, while the sea planes were used on domestic routes. Negotiations between DNL, DDL and Aerotransport to consolidate their transatlantic operations started on 2 February 1946. Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik had started services from Stockholm to New York, but a consortium was discussed whereby the three airlines would pool their operations to create economy of scale . Disagreement existed over which airport should be used as

8176-564: The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, this was the world's longest-distance scheduled service by airplane. By 1926, it was offering flights to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, Bremen, Copenhagen, and Malmö, using primarily Fokker F.II and Fokker F.III aircraft. In 1930, KLM carried 15,143 passengers. The Douglas DC-2 was introduced on the Batavia service in 1934. The first experimental transatlantic KLM flight

8288-565: The potential for confusion with military aircraft. European routes were limited to services to Scandinavia, Belgium and the UK, with flights to Lisbon (bypassing both British and French airspace) starting in April 1940. When Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, several KLM aircraft—mostly DC-3s and a few DC-2s—were en route to or from the Far East, or were operating services in Europe. Five DC-3s and one DC-2 were taken to Britain. During

8400-432: The prototype 747-100 variant, KLM instead acquired the higher-gross-weight 747-200B powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, becoming the first airline to put the type into service on 14 February 1971. In March 1971, KLM opened its current headquarters in Amstelveen . In 1972, it purchased the first of several McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft—McDonnell Douglas's response to the 747. In 1973, Sergio Orlandini

8512-426: The rating for an airline's performance across both airport staff and cabin staff combined. It is the second consecutive year that KLM won this award; in 2012 it was awarded this title as well. On 19 June 2012, KLM made the first transatlantic flight fueled partly by sustainable biofuels to Rio de Janeiro . This was the longest distance any aircraft had flown on biofuels. In 2019, KLM celebrated its centennial, as it

8624-408: The revised Amsterdam-Taipei- Manila route with Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. KLM Asia aircraft are also occasionally used in services to other destinations, including China, in the wider KLM network. Dirk Roosenburg designed the KLM logo at its establishment in 1919; he intertwined the letters K, L, and M, and gave them wings and a crown . The crown was depicted to denote KLM's royal status, which

8736-654: The rights to seek compensation for any requisitions and other costs incurred by the German invasion. Operations started on 1 April 1946, from Oslo to Copenhagen. Eight days later, the route from Oslo via Stavanger to London opened, and on 15 April from Oslo to Stockholm, and on the same day, some of the Copenhagen routes started stopping in Gothenburg. the route to Copenhagen was extended from Copenhagen to Zürich and Marseille on 29 April. On 22 May, 13 people were killed in an accident at Fornebu. The first domestic route, from Trondheim to Tromsø, opened on 27 May, followed by

8848-583: The service from Reykjavík to Bergen and onwards to various destinations in Europe. The contract was signed in March and DNL bought a Sikorsky S-43 flying boat , registered as LN-DAG and christened Valkyrien . However, after the aircraft was delivered and three weeks before the route was to be inaugurated, Pan Am changed their mind, canceled the agreement and decided that the transatlantic route should instead operate via Newfoundland to Foynes in Ireland, and via

8960-428: The state and Norway Post for the service. In 1933, the brothers Viggo Widerøe and Arild Widerøe —who would found Widerøe in 1934—also applied for routes in the same areas, but using sea planes on the route from Oslo via Kristiansand and Stavanger to Haugesund. Also Norske Luftruter applied, but a three-year concession was granted to Widerøe. The government stated that no airports had been built yet, and would not be in

9072-439: The state through loans. While ESAS proved profitable for Aerotransport and DDL, it became a burden for DNL. The former two had a much closer overlap between their routes, while DNL had operated without direct competition with the other two on most of its routes. Instead of coordinating resources, ESAS had become another administrative level; there were also concerns from Norway that administrative and operative staff were leaking to

9184-544: The statutory managing directors and executive vice-presidents of KLM's business units that are represented in the Executive Committee. The supervision and management of KLM are structured following the two-tier model ; the Board of Managing Directors is supervised by a separate and independent Supervisory Board . The Supervisory Board also supervises the general performance of KLM. The Board of Managing Directors

9296-440: The three national airlines continued to compete on inter-Scandinavian and European traffic. All three were represented with sales offices in each of the other countries, and all three maintained sales offices in all foreign cities they served. Informal discussions to pool international routes started in 1947, after all three companies had suffered losses on these routes. After SILA and Aerotransport merged, negotiations started between

9408-528: The three. The brand name "Scandinavian Airlines System" was to be used on all flights, domestic and international, and the airlines would coordinate their services to avoid parallel flights. Domestic scheduling would remain at the discretion of each national airline. DNL would then close its Swedish and Danish offices, and retain Scandinavian offices in other European cities. The pool agreement, which became known as European Scandinavian Airlines System (EASA),

9520-529: The transatlantic route; DNL, DDL, Aero and Aerotransport planned to start a route from Foynes via Stavanger, Oslo and Stockholm to Moscow. However, Pan Am decided to move the route to the Azores when it commenced in 1939 and DNL's Shannon-plans were terminated. Following this, the Nordic airlines started negotiating the possibility of cooperating on their own transatlantic route via Iceland and Newfoundland. In 1940,

9632-472: The war, these aircraft and crew members flew scheduled passenger flights between Bristol and Lisbon under BOAC flight numbers and registration. On 3 March 1942, Douglas DC-3 PH-ALP " Pelikaan ", then registered as PK-AFV, was shot down over Western Australia by Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Mitsubishi A6M Zeros during the attack on Broome while carrying a package of diamonds. The DC-3 crash landed at Carnot Bay, 80 kilometers from Broome. Pelikaan

9744-426: The white tail and the front of the fuselage. In December 2002, KLM introduced an updated livery in which the white strip was removed and the dark-blue cheatline was significantly narrowed. The bright blue colour was retained and now covers most of the fuselage. The KLM logo was placed more centrally on the fuselage while its position on the tail and the tail design remained the same. In 2014, KLM modified its livery with

9856-550: Was NOK 25.2 million, with the state owning 20%, Fred. Olsen and Bergenske 10% each. In total, 49% of the shares were owned by shipping companies, 19.5% by banks, insurance, trade and industrial companies, and 12% by individuals. At least 75% of the company had to be owned by the state, Norwegian citizens or companies controlled by Norwegians. All the major shipping companies supported DNL with capital, except Wilh. Wilhelmsen , who wanted to focus on shipping, and Ludvig G. Braathen , who founded his own airline, Braathens SAFE , which

9968-406: Was appointed for DNL, led by Falck. When the proposition reached parliament, it was decided that the share capital in the company should be raised to between NOK 25 and 30 million to insure more owners, since the original NOK 15 million had already been sold. The cabinet was also granted permission to at their discretion purchase shares for an addition NOK 5 million. A 20-year concession

10080-403: Was appointed to succeed Gerrit van der Wal as president of KLM. At the time, KLM, as well as other airlines, had to deal with overcapacity. Orlandini proposed to convert KLM 747s to "combis" that could carry a combination of passengers and freight in a mixed configuration on the main deck of the aircraft. In November 1975, the first of these seven Boeing 747-200BM Combi aircraft were added to

10192-767: Was between Amsterdam and Curaçao in December 1934 using the Fokker F.XVIII "Snip". In July 1935 the KLM had three major international passenger flight crashes in one week. The "Kwikstaart" crashed in Amsterdam on 14 July, the "Maraboe" in Bushir and on 20 July and the “Gaai” crashed in San Giacomo . The week of 14 to 20 July 1935 is known as the "black week". In these three crashes KLM lost three airplanes and lost crew in two crashes. With an earlierer crash in April of

10304-690: Was close to starting transatlantic flights in cooperation with Pan Am , but services never commenced despite purchasing a Sikorsky S-43 . After the outbreak of World War II , DNL ceased operations from 1941 to 1946. From then, DNL started international flights using Douglas DC-3 and introduced Short Sandringhams on domestic sea routes. Along with Aerotransport of Sweden and Det Danske Luftfartselskab of Denmark, DNL founded Overseas Scandinavian Airlines System to pool transatlantic flights. In 1948, all of DNL's services were re-branded as SAS and pooled through European Scandinavian Airlines System . The company experienced four fatal accidents. The first DNL

10416-404: Was extended to a code share agreement in 2012. In early 2018, the cooperation with Inselair was terminated, including any interlining agreements, after Inselair found itself in financial difficulties which forced the airline to sell off part of its fleet and cancel some of its routes. On 20 February 2013, KLM announced that Peter Hartman would resign as president and CEO of KLM on 1 July 2013. He

10528-419: Was forced to cut their summer schedule due to disruption at airports across Europe. Key business and operating results of KLM are shown below (as at year ending 31 December): As of July 2022 , KLM's corporate leader is its president and chief executive officer (CEO) Marjan Rintel, who succeeded Pieter Elbers . The president and CEO is part of the larger Executive Committee, which manages KLM and consists of

10640-579: Was founded in 1919. Since it is the oldest airline still operating under its original name, it was the first airline to achieve this feat. Being heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic , KLM cut at least 6,000 jobs in total. It also said that the decision of the government to have all the passengers and crew COVID-19 tested before flying will have an impact on its flights. On 16 December 2021, Air France-KLM announced an order for 100 Airbus A320neos to be divided between Transavia and KLM. In July 2022, KLM

10752-506: Was granted at KLM's establishment. The logo became known as the "vinklogo" in reference to the common chaffinch . The KLM logo was largely redesigned in 1961 by F.H.K. Henrion . The crown, redesigned using a line, four blue circles and a cross, was retained. In 1991, the logo was further revised by Chris Ludlow of Henrion, Ludlow & Schmidt. In addition to its main logo, KLM displays its alliance status in its branding, including "Worldwide Reliability" with Northwest Airlines (1993–2002) and

10864-635: Was granted to DNL by parliament on 15 February. In February, DNL procured a four-story building in Oslo City Center, and continued and a hangar at Fornebu. The company started to acquire offices in the various cities it was going to serve; within a few weeks of parliament's decision, DNL had 300 employees, and by June it reached 1,500, with an average age of 27 years. The company had ordered three Douglas DC-3 and two DC-4. On 27 March, public sales of shares started, which raised an additional NOK 3.7 million from 1,900 purchasers. Total share capital

10976-477: Was granted to Norske Luftruter, but DNL was granted the concession to operate the ferry to the island from Oslo East Station . In 1930, the government appointed a civil aviation commission, led by Admiral von der Lippe, to consider all aspects of civil aviation in Norway. It concluded in 1932, and recommended that a single, large national airline be established. The same year, the Municipality of Oslo and

11088-403: Was intended to be a charter airline , and later became SAS's main Norwegian competitor. Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S was founded on 2 July 1946; it took the name, part of the personnel and the agreements and arrangements DNL had. Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred. Olsen & Bergenske was bought by Fred. Olsen, and became Fred Olsen Air Transport (Fred. Olsen Flyselskap). That company received

11200-484: Was made by the Ministry of Defense on 18 January 1946, and sent to parliament. It discussed several options, such as creating a government agency or a state-owned limited company, permitting several airlines to operate the different routes, and looked at the possibility that the shipowners were purchasing DNL shares to hinder competition with their shipping lines. It concluded with a part private, part state-owned company

11312-489: Was piloted by Jan Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop. In 1927, Baltimore millionaire Van Lear Black , who had heard about the 1924 flight, chartered H-NADP to do the same flight, which departed June 15 and went successfully (16 days), and flew back to much rejoicing. This inspired KLM to make a second test flight, which left on 1 October, returning successfully with much experience gained. In September 1929, regular scheduled services between Amsterdam and Batavia commenced. Until

11424-481: Was preferred, and that the state should purchase shares for NOK 5 million. While the Labor Party at the time was in favor of nationalization , the proposition stated that this was a possibility to limit the state's spending of dearly needed capital. By then, the Civil Aviation Board had procured two DC-4 for NOK 7.7 million, which would be transferred to DNL. From 21 January, an interim board

11536-622: Was registered on 4 May 1927, with a share capital of NOK 6,500, with Arnold Ræstad and the main shareholder. On 18 June, the share capital was raised to NOK 50,000, including a 20% stake owned by the Municipality of Oslo and Norway Post . At the time, the only service to Norway was Lufthansa , who operated from Gressholmen Airport in Oslo via Gothenburg and Copenhagen to Warnemünde in Germany. Both DNL and Norske Luftruter applied for ground handling for Lufthansa at Gressholmen. This

11648-424: Was reinstated by the end of 1945. Domestic and European flights resumed in September 1945, initially with a fleet of Douglas DC-3s and Douglas DC-4s . On 21 May 1946, KLM was the first continental European airline to start scheduled transatlantic flights between Amsterdam and New York City using Douglas DC-4 aircraft. By 1948, KLM had reconstructed its network and services to Africa, North and South America, and

11760-673: Was repurchased in 1999. Fred. Olsen Renewables has been involved in wind power since 1997 with wind farms in Norway , Sweden , Ireland and the United Kingdom . In 1980, it was involved in Nimslo , a company making 3D cameras, which later went bankrupt. Fred. Olsen is today owned by Anette S. Olsen , the fifth generation of the family and daughter of Fred. Olsen. She took over ownership of Fred. Olsen & Co. in 1995 and has since been CEO, though Fred. Olsen has remained Chairman. At

11872-455: Was sent to the United States to study the operations of United Airlines and Northwest Airlines . On a meeting on 17 July, Norway's nine largest shipping companies agreed to raise NOK 15 to 20 million in share capital, and the company to join IATA. The task of making a recommendation for a permanent solution for the national airline was given to a new Civil Aviation Board, which had Falck as

11984-640: Was subsequently strafed by the Zeros that had shot it down, killing three passengers and the flight engineer. Diamonds worth an estimated 150,000–300,000 Australian pound were stolen from the wreckage of the aircraft, and nobody has been convicted of the crime. Douglas DC-3 PH-ALI " Ibis ", then registered as G-AGBB, was attacked by the Luftwaffe on 15 November 1942, 19 April 1943, and finally shot down on 1 June 1943 as BOAC Flight 777 , killing all passengers and crew. Some KLM aircraft and their crews ended up in

12096-517: Was succeeded by Camiel Eurlings . Hartman remained employed by the company until he retired on 1 January 2014. On 15 October 2014, KLM announced that Eurlings, in joint consultation with the supervisory board, had decided to immediately resign as president and CEO. As of this date, he was succeeded by Pieter Elbers . KLM received the award for "Best Airline Staff Service" in Europe at the World Airline Awards 2013. This award represents

12208-400: Was succeeded by Leo van Wijk . In August 1998, KLM repurchased all regular shares from the Dutch government to make KLM a private company. On 1 November 1999, KLM founded AirCares , a communication and fundraising platform supporting worthy causes and focusing on underprivileged children. KLM renewed its intercontinental fleets by replacing the Boeing 767s, Boeing 747-300s, and eventually,

12320-531: Was taken into use on 18 April 1948. Per M. Backe became CEO of OSAS, and was replaced by Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen. ESAS had two opposing goals: to operate the partner's aircraft along the 3–2–2 ratio, and operate them most rationally. Because of the un-unified fleet composition, these were often not possible to combine. DNL lost NOK 17 million in 1948, in part because it had the least efficient aircraft and received no compensation for its higher operating costs. To remain liquid, DNL received NOK 35 in capital from

12432-402: Was the first European airline to fly. On 31 December 1953, the founder and president of KLM, Albert Plesman, died at the age of 64. He was succeeded as president by Fons Aler . After Plesman's death, the company and other airlines entered a difficult economic period. The conversion to jet aircraft placed a further financial burden on KLM. The Netherlands government increased its ownership of

12544-671: Was the only civilian airline to receive the Douglas DC-5 ; the airline used two of them in the West Indies and sold two to the East Indies government, and is thus the only airline to have operated all Douglas 'DC' models other than the DC-1. The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 restricted KLM's operations, with flights over France and Germany prohibited, and many of its aircraft painted in overall orange to limit

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