John Nicolaas Block

Johan Nicolaas Block (May 18, 1929, Amsterdam – April 11, 1994) was a Dutch aviation pioneer.

John Block was born as the son of a schoolteacher in Amsterdam.

After World War II he applied for a job with KLM but wasn't hired.

he built up the airline from scratch and ten years later Transavia had a marketshare of 45% of the Dutch holiday market.

He sold the company soon after to an investment holding and went back to the larger scheme: in 1984 he founded the airline Air Holland that went public in 1989.