KLM celebrates anniversary in ABC islands – 95 Years of Inspirational Aviation

As one of the first commercial airlines in the world, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was in a favorable position to claim the blue of the sky as its corporate color. KLM is the longest established airline still operating under its original name since its foundation 95 years ago. Of those 95 years, KLM has been flying to and from Curaçao for exactly 80 years. Both anniversaries are worth a celebration.

TEXT FRANS HEILIGERS

History in the Making
An aviation exhibition held in the summer of 1919 in Amsterdam convinced a number of Dutch industrial leaders and bankers to invest in the start up of a Dutch commercial airline. Even before its official incorporation, Queen Wilhelmina awarded the upcoming airline its “royal” predicate on September 12, 1919. The organizer of the exhibition and young former flight lieutenant of the Dutch Air Force, Albert Plesman, founded the company on October 7, 1919, at the office of public notary Hendrik Stroop in The Hague.

The official name then was Royal Airline Company for the Netherlands and Colonies, Inc. In 1946, the name was simplified to just KLM, which internationally became KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Plesman was in charge of the fledging company’s daily operations. Supported by a staff of seven, he and his colleagues worked through the winter of 1920 to prepare for the first scheduled flight, which took place on May 17, 1920. Pilot Jerry Shaw flew a De Haviland DH-16 from Crowdon Airport in London to Amsterdam, carrying two British journalists and a package of newspapers on board, as well as a letter from the Lord Mayor of London to the Burgomaster of Amsterdam. The aircraft had to land on a muddy strip in the meadows where Schiphol International Airport is now located and to this day is still the home base of KLM. The London-Amsterdam route is the oldest service still operated by the inaugural airline.

KLM’s first intercontinental flight took place on October 1, 1924 to Batavia, located in the then, Dutch East Indies. Another landmark in KLM’s history was recorded in October 1934 when KLM entered its first all-metal aircraft, a Douglas DC-2, for the London-Melbourne Air Race, which was organized to commemorate the Australian city’s first centennial. KLM’s standard production DC-2, named De Uiver, had to be modified to meet the criteria of specially designed racing planes. The KLM crew, led by Captain Parmentier, managed to come in first in the handicap category and second in the speed category. The plane carried four paying passengers because, besides gaining publicity for KLM, Plesman wanted to demonstrate that scheduled air services between Europe and Australia were commercially viable.

Curaçao Connection
The first transatlantic flight between Amsterdam and Curaçao came about in December of 1934 using the Fokker F-XVIII Snip. The local government prepared a piece of open land at Hato to receive the flight. A Royal Netherlands Navy submarine was stationed in the middle of the ocean to act as a navigation beacon. Equipped with extra fuel tanks for the crossing the aircraft left Holland on December 15. Stops were scheduled in France, Spain, Morocco and the Cape Verdian Islands before crossing the ocean. It landed successfully at Zanderij in Surinam’s capital Paramaribo on December 20. Two days later, the Snip flew first to La Guaira in Venezuela before ending its journey in Curaçao at 3:00 in the afternoon, where the crew was welcomed by a huge crowd. On that same day they flew over Bonaire and then to Aruba, where they stayed for a short while before returning to its new home base, Curaçao.

KLM is the longest established airline still operating under its original name since its foundation 95 years ago.

The Jet Era
The late 1950’s saw the birth of a new generation of commercial aircraft and the dawn of a new era in the history of civil aviation with the entry of the jetliner. The aircraft’s smoothly running engines and higher flight capability which allowed it to fly above the weather brought new standards of comfort, a sudden increase in airlines’ total capacity and shorter flying times. The globe seemed to have shrunk. Every major city on earth was brought within a 24-hour reach of other cities.

The Global Village
Since KLM’s incorporation 95 years ago, commercial aviation has developed from an exclusive transportation mode for the happy few to a highly sophisticated industry serving the travel needs of billions of people around the globe each year. The concept of the “global village” would never have developed had there not been an airline industry to carry its inhabitants across it within the span of a day. The same applies to logistic concepts such as overnight and just-intime delivery in the cargo transport sector.

For many years the Curaçao airport carried Dr. Albert Plesman in its name, before it was decided to name it the Hato International Airport of Curaçao. The bust of Dr. Plesman, which in the past was in the airport terminal, is now located near KLM’s office at Hato Airport.

Anniversary Actions
The local KLM establishment celebrates the anniversary with a series of activities, such as a sort of a scavenger hunt for a suitcase hidden at the airports of Curaçao and Aruba, with clues on Facebook about to find the suitcase. There is also the opportunity to make a “selfie” and submit it to possibly win a KLM ticket. Those reaching the beautiful age of 80 in December this year received a birthday cake from KLM upon submitting their birth date to the company. Two persons who witnessed the arrival of the Snip back in 1934 were special guests at a reception for business relations on November 13th in Curaçao. Terminally ill children of Siloam Village were invited to have a look inside a KLM plane. Furthermore, KLM had a surprise one day of special rates in connection with the anniversary.