KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will celebrate its 95th Anniversary on Tuesday, 7 October. To mark this milestone, KLM will unveil its special “KLM 95 Years” logo on one of its MD-11 aircraft, the first stone will be laid for a new KLM lounge at Schiphol, and the 95th KLM Delftware miniature house will be presented.
Lots of celebrating for KLM this month.
Not only the 95th anniversary, but the end of a wide body aviation era. The final KLM MD11 flight was on Saturday the 25th of October, YUL-AMS (Montreal to Amsterdam) PH-KCE (Audrey Hepburn). But, not only was this the final scheduled KLM MD11 flight, this was the last commercial flight for the MD11.
There has been some great airline media exposure on this, and if you are interested you might want to check out the excellent trip report from AirlineReporter.com.
In October of 1934, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) took delivery of their first Douglas aircraft: a DC-2. This DC-2 was entered into an air race from London to Melbourne. It placed second. Not only did it place second, but it did so carrying a full passenger load. Fast forward to 1993. KLM took delivery of their last, now, McDonnell Douglas aircraft type – the MD-11. Unfortunately for us enthusiasts, October 25th (when KLM’s summer timetable ended) would not only mark the end of the MD-11, but the end of KLM’s eighty-year history of commercially operating McDonnell Douglas aircraft.
All of KLM’s MD-11s were named after women renown for their charitable or humanitarian efforts. The aircraft I was to fly on, PH-KCE, is named after Audrey Hepburn.
One of my favorite bloggers, Wandering Aramean also had a very nice report and video. Be sure to check it out.
