KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Netherlands · KLM · Active
Current Offers14 active
Airline Identity
History
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded on 7 October 1919 by a group of Dutch businessmen led by Albert Plesman, who became its first director, and received its 'Royal' designation from Queen Wilhelmina before it even flew; it is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. Its first flight was in May 1920 (London–Amsterdam), and in 1929 it launched scheduled service to Batavia (Jakarta), then the world's longest scheduled air route. In 1946 KLM became the first continental European airline to operate scheduled transatlantic flights, and in 1971 it was the launch operator of the Boeing 747-200B. In 2004 KLM merged with Air France to form the Air France-KLM group.
Current Operations
KLM operates a hub-and-spoke network from Amsterdam Schiphol, flying to roughly 160-plus destinations directly across five continents (with codeshares extending reach well beyond that), spanning short-haul European routes and long-haul intercontinental service to Asia, the Americas, and Africa. Its fleet mixes Boeing 777s and 787s and Airbus A330s on long-haul routes with narrowbody and regional aircraft on shorter sectors, and it has been taking delivery of Airbus A350s and A320neo-family jets. KLM is part of SkyTeam and the Air France-KLM group.
Last verified 2026-08-22· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.