KLM

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**KLM Royal Dutch Airlines**, legally *Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.*, is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is part of the Air France–KLM group, and a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. KLM was founded in 1919; it is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name and had 35,488 employees as of 2015. KLM operates scheduled passenger and cargo services to 145 destinations.

## History

### **Jet age**

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, 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. This change of leadership, however, did not lead to a reversion of KLM's financial difficulties. Van der Beugel resigned as president in 1963 due to health reasons. Horatius Albarda was appointed to succeed Ernst van der Beugel as president of KLM in 1963. Alberda initiated a reorganization of the company, which led to the reduction of staff and air services. In 1965, Alberda 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 the Douglas DC-9 on European and Middle East routes.

## Corporate affairs and identity

### **KLM Asia**

**KLM Asia** (Chinese: 荷蘭亞洲航空公司; pinyin: *Hélán Yàzhōu Hángkōng Gōngsī*) is a wholly KLM-owned subsidiary registered in Taiwan. The airline was established in 1995 to operate flights to Taipei without compromising the traffic rights held by KLM for destinations in the People's Republic of China.

The livery of KLM Asia does not feature Dutch national symbols, such as the flag of the Netherlands, nor KLM's stylised Dutch Crown logo. Instead, it features a special KLM Asia logo. The airline has seven Boeing 777-200ER and two Boeing 777-300ER. KLM Asia initially operated the Amsterdam-Bangkok-Taipei route with a B747-400 Combi or a B747-400 non-combi aircraft. Since March 2012, it has operated the revised Amsterdam-Taipei-Manila route with Boeing 777-200ER/-300ER aircraft. Some aircraft are already painted in the revised KLM Asia livery of 2014.

## Destinations

KLM and its partners serve 133 destinations in 70 countries on five continents from their hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

### **Codeshare agreements**

KLM codeshares with the following airlines:

* Aer Lingus
* Aeroflot
* Aerolíneas Argentinas
* Aeroméxico
* Air Astana
* Air Europa
* Air France
* Air Malta
* Air Serbia
* airBaltic
* Alitalia
* Bangkok Airways
* Belavia
* Bulgaria Air
* China Airlines
* China Eastern Airlines
* CityJet
* Copa Airlines
* Croatia Airlines
* Czech Airlines
* Delta Air Lines
* Etihad Airways
* Garuda Indonesia
* Georgian Airways
* Insel Air
* Jet Airways
* Kenya Airways
* Korean Air
* kulula.com
* Malaysia Airlines
* Oman Air
* Pegasus Airlines
* Sichuan Airlines
* TAAG Angola Airlines
* TAROM
* Transavia
* Ukraine International Airlines
* Vietnam Airlines
* WestJet
* XiamenAir

## Fleet

### **Current fleet**

As of June 2018, the KLM fleet (excluding its subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper, Transavia and Martinair) consists of the following aircraft: