KLM (in full: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, in English: Royal Dutch Airlines) is an airline from the Netherlands. KLM is the Netherlands' main air carrier and operates from Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam.
KLM was founded on October 7, 1919, making it the oldest carrier still operating under its current name. The first KLM flight was on May 17, 1920, with a flight from London to Amsterdam carrying two English journalists and a number of newspapers.
KLM has subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper and KLM exel. KLM uk was a KLM subsidiary until KLM Cityhopper merged with it.
In September 2003, KLM was taken over by Air France. Its independent identity is guaranteed for the coming five years, but eventually it is anticipated that its operations will be merged into the French company. In the meantime, it does not seem that KLM's decade-long alliance with Northwest Airlines will be affected.
