Klm Royal Dutch History
Founded on October 7, 1919, KLM is one of the oldest carriers of the world still functioning with its actual name. On May 17, 1920, KLM made its maiden flight from London to Amsterdam. In 1921 KLM airlines began its scheduled services to many European destinations and by 1926 it expanded its services to Amsterdam, Brussels, Bremen, Copenhagen Malmo, London and Rotterdam. In the year 1929 KLM started its intercontinental service to the then Netherland East Indies (now called Republic of Indonesia). During World War II the airline stopped its operations, and on May 21, 1946 it became the first continental European airline to start scheduled service for New York. In June 2002, KLM announced that it would renew its intercontinental fleets by replacing the old Boeing family aircraft with McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft and Airbus aircraft. On September 30, 2003, KLM announced merger with Air France that came into effect in May 2004 and Air France-KLM Group came into existence. Despite merger both KLM and Air France operate with their old names.