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96-501: 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 the Netherlands . KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen , with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol . It is a subsidiary of

192-563: A Boeing 747 flight on 26 April 1970. It was followed by the introduction of the DC-10-30 on 12 November 1973, and the first Airbus A300 in 1976. In 1979, Lufthansa and Swissair became launch customers for the Airbus A310 with an order for twenty-five aircraft. The company's fleet modernization programme for the 1990s began on 29 June 1985, with an order for fifteen Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A300 -600s. Ten Boeing 737-300s were ordered

288-471: A travel ban because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Consequently, the airline incurred losses of 1 million euros per hour by April 2020. While Lufthansa reduced its costs throughout 2020, continuing health risks and travel restrictions still caused hourly losses of approximately 500,000 euros on average at the beginning of 2021. On 14 May, Lufthansa Group announced that it planned to operate 1,800 weekly flights by

384-413: A 16 euro surcharge on Global Distribution System bookings. The surcharge is payable unless tickets are purchased from the airline's website, or its airport service centres and ticket counters. Amadeus said the new model would make "comparison and transparency more difficult because travellers will now be forced to go to multiple channels to search for the best fares." For the period between 1–14 September,

480-573: 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 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

576-452: 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 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

672-414: A few days later. All were delivered between 1987 and 1992. Lufthansa also bought Airbus A321 , Airbus A340 , and Boeing 747-400 aircraft. In 1987, Lufthansa, together with Air France , Iberia , and Scandinavian Airlines , founded Amadeus , an IT company (also known as a GDS ) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system. Lufthansa adopted

768-468: A historical study was commissioned to shed light on this aspect of the company's past. However, Lufthansa was criticized for not publishing the resulting study for more than a decade. The early 2000s witnessed Lufthansa demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of industry challenges. Despite significant industry losses following the 11 September attacks, the airline maintained profitability and strategically avoided workforce reductions. Lufthansa became

864-510: A long-standing dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union, which has advocated for a system in which pilots can retire at the age of 55, and 60% of their pay be retained. Lufthansa pilots were joined by pilots from the group's budget carrier Germanwings to stage a nationwide strike in support of their demands in April 2014 which lasted three days. The pilots staged a six-hour strike at the end of

960-403: A loss of 298 million euros in the first quarter of 2010 and another 13 million loss in the year 2011 due to the economic recession and restructuring costs, Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut 3,500 administrative positions or around 20 percent of the clerical total of 16,800 in 2012. Lufthansa announced a restructuring program called SCORE to improve its operating profit. As a part of the restructuring plan,

1056-456: A major purveyor of West Germany's image abroad. During this time, East Germany attempted to establish its own " Lufthansa " airline in 1955, but legal challenges from the West German carrier led to its abandonment.  East Germany subsequently launched Interflug as its national carrier in 1963. Lufthansa embraced the jet age in 1958 by ordering four Boeing 707 aircraft. This marked

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1152-450: A new corporate identity in 1988. The fleet was given a new livery, while cabins, city offices, and airport lounges were redesigned. Following German reunification on 3 October 1990, Lufthansa swiftly reintegrated Berlin into its network, marking the city's return as a key destination within 25 days. The mid-1990s saw a period of strategic restructuring for Lufthansa. This involved the establishment of independent operating companies within

1248-459: A result, service to Chicago from Düsseldorf was first made seasonal, suspended for the winter 2015 season, and then canceled altogether. Service to Newark, however, was initially maintained. From the winter 2015 schedule through the end of the winter 2016 schedule, Düsseldorf was served by aircraft which also flew the Munich-Newark route. The Düsseldorf-Newark route ended on 30 November 2018, which

1344-438: 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 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

1440-595: 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 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

1536-565: A significant leap forward, allowing them to launch jet flights between Frankfurt and New York City in March 1960. To further bolster their jet fleet, Boeing 720B aircraft (a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways) were later acquired. Lufthansa's network continued to expand throughout the early 1960s. In February 1961, their Far East routes extended beyond Bangkok to include Hong Kong and Tokyo. Africa saw additions in 1962 with Lagos , Nigeria, and Johannesburg , South Africa joining

1632-618: 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 )

1728-424: 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

1824-726: 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 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,

1920-496: 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

2016-664: 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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2112-450: 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 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

2208-549: The Koninklijke Marine . The monarch of the Netherlands has the right to appoint the royal title to a company or organisation. To qualify for a nomination, the company or organization has to meet the following conditions: As a rule, the monarch will award only one royal title per branch of business. Medical and financial corporations are excluded, as are organizations with political or religious goals. The King of

2304-642: 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, a young aviator lieutenant named Albert Plesman sponsored the ELTA aviation exhibition in Amsterdam . Attendance at

2400-560: 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 the Euronext exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam and New York. In September 2004, the merger was completed by creation of

2496-519: 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 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

2592-468: 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 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,

2688-633: 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 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

2784-712: The Belgians can appoint the title to a company or association that has been in existence in Belgium for at least fifty years, although rare exceptions are made for newer recipients considered of great importance for society. Deutsche Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( German pronunciation: [ˌdɔʏtʃə ˈlʊfthanzaː ʔaːˈɡeː] ), or simply Lufthansa , is the flag carrier of Germany . When combined with its subsidiaries, it ranks second in Europe by passengers carried, as well as largest in Europe and fourth largest in

2880-591: 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 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

2976-713: 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 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

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3072-523: 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. 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,

3168-454: The French Alps, killing all 150 aboard whereas Spohr had misleadingly said the co-pilot "was 100% airworthy without any restrictions, without any conditions". In June 2015, Lufthansa announced plans to close its small long-haul base at Düsseldorf Airport for economic reasons by October 2015. At the time, the base consisted of two Airbus A340-300s rotating between Newark and Chicago . As

3264-533: The Lufthansa Group, specializing in areas like maintenance ( Lufthansa Technik ), cargo ( Lufthansa Cargo ), and information technology ( Lufthansa Systems ). Over time, the group further expanded through the addition of LSG Sky Chefs (catering), Condor (leisure travel), and Lufthansa CityLine (regional operations). Lufthansa joined Air Canada , Scandinavian Airlines , Thai Airways International , and United Airlines to form Star Alliance on 18 May 1997,

3360-446: The March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 incident, "the darkest day for Lufthansa in its 60-year history", when pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew an aircraft into a mountain, murdering 149 passengers. Nonetheless, damage control by Spohr and his team was poor according to several sources. It was revealed that Lubitz suffered from a severe case of depression and mental disorders and had intentionally crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into

3456-550: 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

3552-494: 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 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,

3648-444: The Netherlands. KLM has used several slogans for marketing throughout its operational history: KLM has an extensive presence on social media platforms and also runs a blog. Customers can make inquiries through these channels. The airline also uses these networks to inform customers of KLM news, marketing campaigns and promotions. Koninklijk The word is also used in the names of some state-controlled organisations, such as

3744-449: 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

3840-528: The South Atlantic from August 1956. However, the political realities of the time presented challenges to the airline. The United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France did not allow Lufthansa to fly to any part of the divided Berlin during the division of Germany . The airline had hoped this would only be a temporary matter and planned to move its headquarters and primary hub back to the German capital once

3936-536: 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 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

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4032-582: The airline announced it would sell six A380 aircraft back to Airbus, beginning in 2022. Pro-migration activists from Germany have criticised Lufthansa for performing deportation flights on behalf of the German government. In 2019, 4,573 people were deported on their planes, while their subsidiary Eurowings performed 1,312 deportations. This totals more than 25% of deportations in Germany in 2019. At least two deportees perished during transport. On 19 March 2020, Lufthansa cancelled 95 percent of all flights due to

4128-469: The airline experienced a 16.1% drop in revenue, indicating to some that the new fee backfired, although the airline maintains that the decrease was due to the pilot strike, and "other seasonal effects". In October 2017, Lufthansa took over 81 aircraft from the insolvent Air Berlin . The total purchase price for the shares acquired by Lufthansa from the insolvency estate of Air Berlin amounted to around 210 million euros. On 4 December 2017, Lufthansa became

4224-643: The airlines operated their flights between 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

4320-540: The branding of the former flag carrier by acquiring the Luft Hansa name and logo in 1954. Lufthansa's corporate headquarters are in Cologne . The main operations base, called Lufthansa Aviation Center , is located at Frankfurt Airport , the airline's primary hub. It also maintains a secondary hub at Munich Airport , along with its Flight Operations Centre . Lufthansa traces its history to 1926 when Deutsche Luft Hansa

4416-411: 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

4512-469: 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 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 –

4608-403: 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 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

4704-484: The company started to transfer all short-haul flights outside its hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and Düsseldorf to the company's re-branded low-cost carrier Germanwings . In September 2013, Lufthansa Group announced its biggest order, for 59 wide-body aircraft valued more than 14 billion euros at list prices. Earlier in the same year, Lufthansa placed an order for 100 next-generation narrow-body aircraft. The group has had

4800-481: The distinction of being the first customer for the Boeing 737 and one of only four buyers of the initial 737-100 model (alongside NASA , Malaysia-Singapore Airlines , and Avianca ). While NASA technically had the first built 737 airframe, it was ultimately delivered last and originally intended for Lufthansa, making them the first foreign launch customer for a Boeing airliner. The wide-body era for Lufthansa started with

4896-655: The end of June. The company's recovery plans involved high-density cargo to replace paying customers. All Lufthansa Group required all passengers to wear a mask while aboard. On 25 June, Deutsche Lufthansa AG shareholders accepted a € 9,000,000,000 bailout, consisting of capital measures and the participation of the Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy . The measures, which passed after initial opposition by principal shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele , gave

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4992-480: The end of the 2000s, Lufthansa made a large commitment to very large aircraft, introducing the first of 14 Airbus A380 in 2010 and becoming the becoming the launch customer for the Boeing 747-8I in 2012, eventually purchasing 19 of the type. In 2011 Lufthansa planned significant growth at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for the originally planned opening in 2012 with many new connections from Berlin. After

5088-436: The evaluation. In celebration, Lufthansa painted an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 747-8 in the "5 Starhansa" livery. In March 2018, Lufthansa and other airlines like British Airways and American Airlines accepted a request from Beijing to list Taiwan as part of China. In March 2019, Lufthansa ordered 20 Boeing 787-9 and an additional 20 Airbus A350-900 for its own and the group's fleet replacement and expansion. Also,

5184-633: 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 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

5280-457: The first European airline to receive the Skytrax 5-star certification. As stated by Skytrax, a key factor in the positive rating was the announcement of a new Business Class cabin and seating that was expected to be introduced in 2020. While this makes Lufthansa the 10th airline to be holding this award, in reality the 5th star was given to a product that was supposed to be introduced two years after

5376-431: The government a 20% stake in the airline. In January 2021, Lufthansa CEO Spohr announced that the entire currently stored Airbus A340-600 fleet will be retired with immediate effect and not return to service anymore. This decision was later overturned, with several A340-600 aircraft returning to service in 2021 after several months in storage. In June 2021, Lufthansa said it wants to repay state aid it received during

5472-410: The government in return for its money. In the late 1970s, the government's stake had again increased to 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

5568-478: 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 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

5664-453: The launch customer for the Connexion by Boeing in-flight internet connectivity in 2004. Lufthansa further solidified its position as a major European airline group through strategic acquisitions. The acquisitions of Swiss International Air Lines in 2005, Brussels Airlines (staged between 2009 and 2017), and Austrian Airlines in 2009 expanded the group's reach and network capabilities. At

5760-530: The liquidated Deutsche Lufthansa for DM 30,000 (equivalent to €41,000 today), thus continuing the tradition of a German flag carrier with that name. On 1 April 1955, Lufthansa won approval to commence operation of scheduled domestic flights. The airline's initial network linked Hamburg , Düsseldorf , Frankfurt , Cologne, and Munich . International flights started on 15 May 1955, to London , Paris , and Madrid , followed by Super Constellation flights to New York City from 1 June of that year, and across

5856-452: 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 the airline, Leo van Wijk resigned from his position and was succeeded by Peter Hartman . Beginning in September 2010, KLM integrated

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5952-399: 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

6048-502: The network. Innovation continued with the introduction of the Boeing 727 in 1964. This enabled Lufthansa to launch a pioneering Polar route from Frankfurt to Tokyo via Anchorage in May of that year. Further expansion plans were solidified in February 1965 with the order of twenty-one Boeing 737 aircraft, entering service in 1968. Lufthansa's role in Boeing's history is noteworthy. They hold

6144-546: The pandemic before Germany's federal election in September 2021 if possible. Also in June 2021, Lufthansa said it would change its communications to adopt a more gender-neutral and inclusive language. It will remove greetings such as " Ladies and Gentlemen ". In January 2022, Lufthansa admitted it had operated over 18,000 empty flights to keep airport slots during the pandemic. In March 2022, Lufthansa originally confirmed that its entire Airbus A380 fleet would be retired, having been in storage since early 2020. This decision

6240-506: 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

6336-452: The political situation changed, plans that ultimately never came to fruition. Instead, Lufthansa turned Frankfurt Airport into its primary hub in 1958. The airline also embarked on a marketing campaign to encourage travelers to consider visiting West Germany as it rebuilt in the wake of World War II and to use its hub to connect to other locations across Europe. By 1963, the airline, initially limited in its public relations efforts, had become

6432-413: The pre-war Deutsche Luft Hansa. West Germany had not yet been granted full sovereignty over its airspace, so it was not known when the new airline could become operational. Nevertheless, in 1953, Luftag placed orders for four Convair CV-340 and four Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations aircraft and set up a maintenance base at Hamburg Airport . On 6 August 1954, Luftag acquired the name and logo of

6528-423: 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

6624-406: 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

6720-529: 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

6816-470: 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 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

6912-491: The summer holidays in September 2014, which caused the cancellation of 200 Lufthansa flights and 100 Germanwings flights. During the course of the 2014 FIFA World Cup , part of the fleet was branded "Fanhansa". In November 2014, Lufthansa signed an outsourcing deal worth $ 1.25 billion with IBM that will see the US company take over the airline's IT infrastructure services division and staff. Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa's CEO, called

7008-500: The surrender of Germany and the ensuing Allied occupation of Germany , all aircraft in the country were seized and Deutsche Luft Hansa was dissolved. The remaining assets were liquidated on 1 January 1951. In an effort to create a new national airline, a company called Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf ( Luftag ) was founded in the city of Cologne in West Germany on 6 January 1953, with many of its staff having worked for

7104-466: 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 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

7200-425: 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

7296-658: The world by revenue . Lufthansa is also one of the five founding members of Star Alliance , which is the world's largest airline alliance , formed in 1997. Lufthansa was founded in 1953 and commenced operations in April 1955. Besides operating flights under its own brand, the Lufthansa Group also owns several other airlines, including Austrian Airlines , Brussels Airlines , Discover Airlines , Eurowings and Swiss International Air Lines . The group also owns several aviation-related companies, including Global Load Control , Lufthansa Consulting , Lufthansa Flight Training , Lufthansa Systems and Lufthansa Technik . The company

7392-400: The world's first multilateral airline alliance . Lufthansa actively addressed its historical legacy during this period. In 1999, the airline participated in a German initiative aimed at resolving wartime misdeeds, acknowledging the use of forced labor by its predecessor, Deutsche Luft Hansa. As part of the initiative, Lufthansa also reportedly paid tens of millions German marks. Additionally,

7488-652: 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 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

7584-519: 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 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

7680-484: 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 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

7776-402: 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

7872-493: 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 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

7968-415: 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

8064-531: Was formed in Berlin by the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd , the world´s sixth-oldest airline , and Junkers Luftverkehr . Deutsche Luft Hansa was Germany's flag carrier until the outbreak of war when it came under the command of the Luftwaffe . During the war, the airline was focused mainly on aircraft maintenance and repair in which forced labor was employed on the site of Berlin Tempelhof Airport . Following

8160-459: Was founded as Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf (often shortened to Luftag ) on 6 January 1953 by staff of the former Deutsche Luft Hansa , Germany's national airline founded in 1926. While Deutsche Luft Hansa played a significant role in the development of commercial aviation in Germany, it was liquidated in 1951 due to its association with the Nazi regime during World War II . Luftag adopted

8256-521: 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

8352-503: 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

8448-453: 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 . However, This leadership change did not lead to

8544-742: Was introduced on the Batavia service in 1934. The first experimental transatlantic KLM flight 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

8640-455: Was operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Their base was officially closed in March 2019. On 22 March 2016, Lufthansa ended Boeing 737-500 operations. The airline's last Boeing 737 (a 737-300) was retired on 29 October 2016, after a flight from Milan to Frankfurt. Lufthansa operated the 737 in several variants for almost 50 years, the first aircraft having been delivered on 27 December 1967. On 1 September 2015, Lufthansa implemented

8736-417: 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 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

8832-447: Was reversed in June 2022, with plans to now return up to five aircraft from storage by 2023 to be based at Munich Airport . There is also an option to return all eight remaining A380 aircraft to service by 2024, as six of formerly 14 have already been sold. In May 2022, Skytrax demoted Lufthansa from its aforementioned 5-star rating which it held since 2017 as the first European carrier to do so, to an overall 4-star rating. In 2023,

8928-527: 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 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

9024-506: 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

9120-660: 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, 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

9216-571: 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 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

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