Happy 98th Birthday KLM

IATA	ICAO	Callsign
KL	KLM	KLM

In 1919, a young aviator lieutenant named Albert Plesman sponsored the ELTA aviation exhibition in Amsterdam. The exhibition was a great success; 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 KLM 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.

KLM was founded on the 7th October 1919 and it is the national airline of the Netherlands with its headquarters in Amstelveen and with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The name KLM is an abbreviation of its full legal name, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Royal Dutch Airlines). It is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name.

The first KLM flight took place on 17 May 1920. KLM's first pilot, Jerry Shaw, flew from Croydon Airport, London to Amsterdam. The flight was flown using a leased Aircraft Transport and Travel De Havilland DH-16, registration G-EALU, and was carrying two British journalists and a number of 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 own pilots and aircraft: Fokker F.II and Fokker F.III In 1921, KLM started scheduled services.

KLM's first intercontinental flight was initiated on the 1st of October 1924.

The merger of KLM with Air France in May 2004 formed Air France–KLM, which is incorporated under French law with its headquarters in Paris. Both Air France and KLM continue to fly under their distinct brand names as subsidiaries of the group and are both part of the Skyteam alliance.
KLM is the core of the KLM Group, which includes the wholly-owned subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper, Transavia.com and Martinair

As of June 2017, the KLM fleet (excluding all subsidiaries) consists of the following aircraft: