Pictorial History of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Very few airlines in the world can match the prestige and historic background of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Almost the first operator to start regular scheduled air services for passengers, it continues today under its original name and title, one of the few pioneer airlines to do so. KLM was largely the realisation of one man's dream. Albert Plesman saw the opportunities and potential of Dutch commercial air services in the early 1920s, and he also obtained an official seal of recognition from HRH the Queen of the Netherlands.
The whole KLM story is charted here by Roy Allen, from the early days of doubtful starts and dubious continuity, through the middle years where travellers came to expect comfortable and punctual operations, on to the present day, when Jumbos and DC-10s span the globe on routes embracing five continents with a regularity factor of 95%.
This book details the history of an airline with an unbroken record of operations and service to the public, both in the field of passenger travel, passenger comfort, and freight carriage. Illustrated by over 230 photographs and route maps, many of which cover the less well known, historic, exploratory years, it will find a place on the bookshelf of the aviation historian, the enthusiast and the modeller alike.


by Roy Allen
Published by Ian Allan 1978 1st edition. 192pp profusely illustrated. 16x24 very good, d/j spine faded.






Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.