KLM’s 100^th Delftware miniature

In keeping with tradition, today KLM marked its anniversary with the presentation of a new Delftware miniature house; a moment eagerly awaited by faithful collectors all over the world. This year’s miniature is a replica of Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, the home of King Willem-Alexander and his family. Today the first copy of KLM’s 100^th Delftware miniature house was presented to Finance Minister Wopke Hoestra by KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers.

Huis ten Bosch Palace was built in the mid-17^th century at the behest of Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange and his wife Amalia van Solms. It was extended in the first half of the 18^th century by Prince Willem IV. After Willem I was crowned King of the Netherlands in 1815, the palace was regularly home to members of the Dutch royal family. Since January 2019, Huis ten Bosch Palace has been the residence of King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and their three daughters. The palace also serves as a ceremonial venue.

Since the 1950s, KLM has presented specially designed Delftware miniature houses to World Business Class passengers on intercontinental flights. The houses are replicas of monumental buildings throughout the Netherlands. The number of houses in the collection has kept pace with KLM’s anniversary since 1994, with new miniatures added to the collection on or around KLM’s anniversary on 7 October.

KLM book

KLM will also mark its centenary with a special book titled Welcome Aboard – 100 years of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The first copy was presented by KLM’s current Board of Managing Directors, Pieter Elbers, René de Groot and Erik Swelheim, to three former KLM presidents, Pieter Bouw, Leo van Wijk and Peter Hartman.

KLM festivities everywhere

Today, KLM staff worldwide shared special treats in honour of our 100^th anniversary. There was cake and a special message from Pieter Elbers. In addition, all KLM staff will receive the coveted 100^th KLM Delftware miniature house and have been invited to attend the “KLM Experience”. Over the past weekend, KLM staff in their thousands were immersed in 100 years of KLM history. Many thousands more will gather this weekend, to undergo an unforgettable experience, featuring a wide array of events, shows, and activities.

Throughout the years, KLM has brought the wonder of air travel to generations. The new film tells the story of three generations of the same family who worked with KLM from the early days to the present, serving and caring for passengers. The first two featured women are inspired to fly and become flight attendants. However, the film closes with the granddaughter of the original woman, who ends up in the cockpit, taking off, as captain of KLM’s newest airplane, the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.

Recreating history

The film tracks KLM’s evolution from 1919 to the present day and features classic airplanes such as the Fokker F.II in 1934, the Douglas DC-4 in 1949, Boeing 747 in 1975 and ending with the brand-new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. All brought to life with the authentic uniforms, props and details from each decade.

The picture-perfect period detail was created by using some of the original airplanes, building historically accurate sets and by blending archive footage with cutting edge film techniques. The film is conceived and created by KLM’s creative partner, DDB Unlimited. The team at DDB Unlimited worked closely with historians working at the KLM Heritage Centre to ensure historical accuracy - paying minute attention to detail.

There are countless real examples of entire families who have worked with KLM, careers spanning multiple generations. [DDB/KLM: add line with names of the families, links to photos, social posts with family stories]

Fly Responsibly

One of the other ways that KLM is marking its centenary is by looking to the future. Earlier this year, the airline recently launched a global call to action on sustainable travel under the name ‘Fly Responsibly’. KLM has stepped forward to ask the aviation industry as a whole to join forces to create a more sustainable future for aviation.

You can watch the Brand Movie here

A musical story

The concert took place in the KLM Non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Schiphol, where the hustle and bustle of the location stood in stark contrast to the tranquillity that the Bach Society brought to the audience. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is known worldwide. By offering this performance, the Bach Society hoped to give KLM’s passengers a musical story by creating a sense of wonder and emotion that the music brings its listeners.

Start of the tour

The Bach Society members left the same day for Osaka on a tour of Japan. Their main aim is to tell musical stories, of which the concert at the KLM Crown Lounge was the just start.

KLM and Hearst Create, which handles the concept and realisation of Holland Herald, arranged special cover project together with Dutch Design Week. Design studio RiveRoshan, artist Paco Raphael and graphic designer Suzanne Bakkum each created their own cover with their own unique interpretation of KLM’s anniversary, our home base Amsterdam, and “Dutchness and Aviation”. And of course it’s not just the covers of this special edition of Holland Herald that are festive, but also the contents, which include a historical short story by leading Dutch author Ronald Giphart, about the first KLM flight to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia).

“We really wanted to make a big splash with Holland Herald in celebration of KLM’s centenary,” says KLM Media Manager Daphne Hoogenboom. “I think we’ve truly succeeded in terms of the superb content we’ve created. This is a wonderful gift for our passengers on board. The fact that we’ve hooked up with leading Dutch artists to create the three covers makes it all the more festive.”

Content Director Alexandra de Jong of Hearst Create said the following about the jumbo centenary edition of Holland Herald: “We really wanted to create something special for KLM’s 100^th anniversary. Because the festivities coincide with Dutch Design Week in October, it seemed like a good idea to commission a KLM cover design from three talented Dutch artists whose work will also be on show at Dutch Design Week. And of course we hope that all 2.9 million passengers who fly KLM every month will get a lot of enjoyment and travel inspiration from this special edition of Holland Herald.”

Runners completed a course of 5 or 10 kilometres in the woodlands of the Amsterdamse Bos, ending at the KLM Head Office in Amstelveen. More than 1,500 KLM employees and around 1,000 of their local and international aviation colleagues took part in the run.

KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers, who is a great fan of running, also took part in the event, proudly wearing No. 100. He completed the run on his special-edition ASICS KLM100 running shoes, which were recently launched.

Passengers who wish to make use of the KLM Bus can book their air ticket from Enschede, Hengelo or Apeldoorn to one of the 165 destinations served by KLM. Their air ticket will also be valid aboard the KLM Bus. This service is already available for travellers heading to and from Schiphol out of Maastricht, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Arnhem and the surrounding areas.

Schedule

The free bus service is available seven days a week, twice daily on the Enschede-Hengelo-Apeldoorn-Schiphol line. The buses are clearly recognisable in the familiar KLM livery, which also features the KLM100 logo, marking KLM’s centenary on 7 October this year. The bus will pick up passengers at the main station in all three cities, bringing them to Departure Hall 2 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The bus is also suitable for passengers with disabilities or restricted mobility, and young children can make the trip without a special seat. You will find the timetable here: KLM.nl/busservice. All services are operated by Munckhof.

Sustainable and comfortable

The KLM Bus service is free of charge and will be powered with advanced GoodFuels biofuel from 10 July, which is made from 100% certified waste and rest materials. This means it has no negative impact on food production, land use and deforestation. By using the climate neutral KLM Bus, passengers save themselves the cost of a train ticket or petrol for their car, as well as the additional cost of parking at the airport. There is also free Wi-Fi aboard the bus, as well as coffee, tea, water and KLM’s Holland Herald magazine to make the trip complete. If the bus is delayed on route, KLM will rebook passengers to alternative transport free of charge.

KLM Bus timetable

Passengers have 20 minutes to board the KLM Bus at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Enschede. At the intermediate stops in Apeldoorn and Hengelo, passengers will have several minutes to get on or off the bus.

This special moment 100 days before KLM 100^th anniversary was planned to coincide with the arrival of KLM’s first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. While having already 13 B787-9 Dreamliners in operation, KLM now starts adding B787-10’s, growing to a total of 28 Dreamliners. The fleet renewal program is an important element to achieve ambitious sustainability targets.

The arrival of this aircraft from the Boeing factory in the USA is facing some small delays. It’s expected though to arrive in the next few days. The delivery process sometimes runs into minor issues or other small holdups which is the case now.

More information about KLM’s Fly Responsibly initiative, please click here. And for more information and inspiration please visit the KLM100-site.