[11] The flight was flown using a leased Aircraft Transport and Travel de Havilland DH-16,[11] registration G-EALU, which was carrying two British journalists and some newspapers.

[11] The final destination was Jakarta (then called 'Batavia'), Java, in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia); the flight used a Fokker F.VII[11] with registration H-NACC and was piloted by Jan Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop.

European routes were limited to services to Scandinavia, Belgium and the UK, with flights to Lisbon (bypassing both British and French airspace) starting in April 1940.

[citation needed][20] On 3 March 1942, Douglas DC-3 PH-ALP "Pelikaan", then registered as PK-AFV, was shot down over Western Australia by Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Mitsubishi A6M Zeros during the attack on Broome while carrying a package of diamonds.

Douglas DC-3 PH-ALI "Ibis", then registered as G-AGBB, was attacked by the Luftwaffe on 15 November 1942, 19 April 1943, and finally shot down on 1 June 1943 as BOAC Flight 777, killing all passengers and crew.

Some KLM aircraft and their crews ended up in the Australia-Dutch East Indies region, where they helped transport refugees from Japanese aggression in that area.

[10] On 25 July 1957, the airline introduced its flight simulator for the Douglas DC-7C – the last KLM aircraft with piston engines – which opened the transpolar route from Amsterdam via Anchorage to Tokyo on 1 November 1958.

[35][36][37] Despite showing initial interest in the prototype 747-100 variant, KLM instead acquired the higher-gross-weight 747-200B powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, becoming the first airline to put the type into service on 14 February 1971.

Orlandini proposed to convert KLM 747s to "combis" that could carry a combination of passengers and freight in a mixed configuration on the main deck of the aircraft.

The 1973 oil crisis, which caused difficult economic conditions, led KLM to seek government assistance in arranging debt refinancing.

[11] With the liberalization of the European market, KLM started developing its hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol by feeding its network with traffic from affiliated airlines.

[11] In January 1993 the United States Department of Transportation granted KLM and Northwest Airlines anti-trust immunity, which allowed them to intensify their partnership.

[28] KLM Asia (Chinese: 荷蘭亞洲航空公司; pinyin: Hélán Yàzhōu Hángkōng Gōngsī) is a wholly owned subsidiary registered in Taiwan.

Originally a wide, dark blue cheatline covered the windows and was separated from the light grey lower fuselage by a thin white stripe.

[125][126] The airline's use of social media platforms to reach customers peaked when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in April 2010, causing widespread disruption to air traffic.

CEO Ben Smith announced at Air France's Investor Day (5 November 2019) in Paris that "in the near future", KLM will only use the 777 and 787 as their long-haul fleet, retiring their thirteen A330's.

Seats are equipped with a 10.4-inch (26 cm) personal entertainment system with audio and video on demand in the armrest, privacy canopy, massage function and laptop power ports.

The new seats lie fully flat, with a 1-2-1 layout so every passenger has direct aisle access, a large side-storage area and 16-inch (41 cm) HD video screen.

[165][176] All seats are equipped with adjustable winged headrests, a 9-inch (23 cm) PTV with AVOD, and a personal handset satellite telephone that can be used with a credit card.

[187] All chicken served in World and Europe Business Class meets the standards of the Dutch Beter Leven Keurmerk (Better Life Quality Mark).

[199] The impetus for these houses was a rule aimed at curtailing a previously widespread practise of offering incentives to passengers by limiting the value of gifts given by airlines to US$0.75.

[205] KLM is the first airline to offer self-service transfer kiosks on its European and intercontinental routes for passengers connecting through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

[207] Air France-KLM's frequent flyer program, Flying Blue, awards miles based on the distance travelled, ticket fare and class of service.

[208] Experience Points are used to determine membership level and remain valid until the end of the qualification period, which lasts for 1 year from counting from the member's first flight.

[210] Award Miles are redeemable for free tickets, upgrades to a more expensive seating class, extra baggage allowance, wifi on board, and lounge access.

[214] In 2024, it was ruled that 15 of 19 claims submitted by KLM, including being on their way to "a more sustainable future" were based on vague and general statements, and overexaggerated the potential effects of the measures put in place.

[215] Meanwhile, Air France-KLM have been heavily involved in lobbying against European climate policy, and have actively opposed measures such as a kerosine tax and a flight cap at Schipol Airport.

KLM offers customers the option to pay extra to contribute to the SAF programme, stating that the fuel will be added to the system at Schipol.

[217] The report by Breda University stated that KLM's target for SAF share by 2030 was not realistic given the scarcity of the fuel and the expected global availability.

However in 2022, the Dutch agency RCC (Advertising Code Committee) indicated to KLM that this claim was not sufficiently substantiated and that it was wrong to state that it was possible to fly CO2 neutral.