The first powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft occurred on December 17, 1903, when Orville Wright piloted the Wright Flyer at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Six years later, on November 16, 1909, the world’s first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service was established. However DELAG, based in Frankfurt, did not operate fixedwing aircraft, but a fleet of zeppelin rigid airships. It ceased operations within 30 years. The first scheduled airline to use a fixed-wing aircraft was the St Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line. It commenced service on January 1, 1914, between St Petersburg, Florida, and Tampa, across Tampa Bay, a distance of just 37 km, with a Benoist XIV biplane. However, the airline folded up in five months. KLM, which stands for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij voor Nederland an Kolonien (“Royal Dutch Airlines”) was established in 1919, and holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest airline still in service.

Soon after World War I ended, many European countries used surplus military planes to launch commercial operations. In the Netherlands, it was an aviation exhibition organised by aviator Albert Plesman in August 1919 that started it all. The exhibition attracted more than half a million visitors and generated a tidal wave of enthusiasm for aviation. On October 7, 1919, a group of eight Dutch investors and bankers led by 30-year old Plesman, got together and founded KLM. Even earlier, in September 1919, Queen Wilhelmina awarded the airline its “Royal” title. Naturally, Albert Plesman became the carrier’s first administrator.

Flight operations were launched on May 17, 1920, on a modest scale. Only one old De Havilland DH-16 aircraft chartered from a British company flew on the Amsterdam-London route. However, by 1921, KLM introduced the four-seater Fokker F.II and the five-passenger Fokker F.III. A series of cooperative agreements with other airlines helped the fledgling airline gradually expand its routes. KLM quickly gained a reputation among European carriers for punctuality and impeccable service. In July 1924, the airline began operating the new Fokker F.VII aircraft that could carry up to seven passengers in relative comfort.

Plesman was a visionary and strict leader who remained at the helm for the first three decades of KLM’s history. Under his leadership KLM improved its fleet year by year with larger, faster, and better aircraft. In fact, KLM was better placed than other European airlines for purchasing new aircraft, since the Dutch company Fokker produced some of the most popular passenger planes of the period, such as the Fokker F.VIIA-3m and F.VIIB-3m. The Dutch Government did its bit for the country’s flag carrier. If not for a government bailout in 1927, when many European airlines were perishing, KLM would have gone bankrupt. The prominent state role has continued to this day. Even during the financial turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch Government provided a timely aid package.

Plesman’s quest for speed and modernity continued in the 1930s. Since the Fokker offerings of the early 1930s, such as the Fokker F.XX and the F.XXXVI, were limited to top speeds of about 200 km/h Plesman got in touch with the Douglas Aircraft Company in the United States for 14 DC-2s, thus helping Douglas enter the European market.

In 1930, KLM began scheduled passenger service between Amsterdam and Batavia (now Jakarta). The Fokker F.XII plane, with a capacity of 16 passengers, took 10 days to reach, including 81 hours of flying time. It was the world’s longest scheduled flight before the Second World War.

Soon after World War II commenced, the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. Despite attempts to sustain regular services, KLM had to cease all European operations in May 1940. Yet flights in East Asia continued unabated. That is why KLM is also the world’s longest continuously operating airline. As the war neared its end, KLM resumed its European and overseas operations. It was helped by a loan of 14 Douglas C-54 fourengine transports (the military version of the DC-4) from the US government. In 1946, KLM became the first airline to operate scheduled services to New York from mainland Europe. In March 1960, the airline entered the jet age, introducing the first Douglas DC-8 jet into its fleet. In 1971, with the arrival of the Boeing 747, KLM launched widebody operations.

KLM merged with Air France on May 5, 2004, in a €800m deal. However, the two carriers retained their own branding and individuality. In 2023, KLM and Air France jointly announced their intention to invest extensively in fleet renewal. As of November 2024, KLM has a fleet of 111 aircraft with another 146 on order. The airline has begun receiving Airbus A321neo aircraft, with new Airbus A350 aircraft also due in over the next few years. Albert Plesman’s vision for KLM of operating the fastest and most advanced aircraft thus continues undimmed.