KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines is the national airline of the Netherlands with headquarters in Amstelveen and a main hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, serving over 90 destinations.  KLM-Royal Dutch offers both domestic and international flights and is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, the second largest airline alliance in the world.

KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines is part of Air France-KLM, and also has an operating agreement with Northwest Airlines, based in Minneapolis. The KLM group serves nearly 75 million passengers every year, runs a fleet of 607 aircraft, and reaches 258 travel destinations. Air France-KLM recently expanded its global reach even further by purchasing a 25 per cent stake in the Italian airline Alitalia.

The entire KLM group carries almost 75 million passengers annually, operates a fleet in travel operation of 607 aircraft, and serves 258 destinations worldwide.  Air France-KLM recently purchased a 25 percent stake in the Italian airline Alitalia.

KLM-Royal Dutch is the world’s oldest airline and was founded in 1919.  KLM-Royal Dutch operated its first flight in May 1920 from London to Amsterdam.  The airline stopped operating during World War II.  KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines has been accused of helping Nazi war criminals flee Germany after World War II, a charge the company denies.

If you fly in business class or the first-class cabin on KLM, you will be given souvenir Delftware, blue-and-white porcelain reproductions of the canal houses of old Holland. These miniature houses are filled with Dutch liquor. The practice of handing out the Delftware mementos for each premium traveler began in 1952, and as of 2008, the airline’s eighty-eighth year of operation, there are 88 Delftware designs. A new Delftware porcelain is added on October 7 each year, on the anniversary of the founding of the airline.

The KLM mileage program is called Flying Blue. Members can earn and use mileage points on flights run by Air France-KLM and other SkyTeam carriers, but also a variety of other travel, transportation, and financial companies. Flying Blue members can attain four membership levels—Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Ivory. Levels are determined by accumulated miles on Air France-KLM or any other SkyTeam company, and also on flights operated by Kenya Airways, which is a partner of Flying Blue.

KLM’s venerable history hasn’t protected the company for current economic turbulence. Air France-KLM recently announced it will lay off up to 2,000 employees on account of lower ticket sales and fewer cargo shipments. These cuts represent about 1 in 30 Air France-KLM workers. The company also plans to reduce its airline capacity by about 2 per cent in the summer of 2009, to make up for the $653 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. Airline management says it has not ruled out future job cuts or flight reductions as they seek to stabilize their finances and return the company to profitability.

An airline watchdog group based in Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, announced in February 2009 that it is suing Air France-KLM over price fixing allegations. KLM denies the charges and will defend against the suit. British Airways and Qantas were recently fined $5 million and $20 million over similar price fixing allegations.

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