KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded on 7 October 1919, which makes it the oldest airline still flying under its original name. It's based in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam, and is part of Air France-KLM, alongside its regional arm KLM Cityhopper and the low-cost airline Transavia. Its hub is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and for winter 2025/26 it served about 160 destinations in some 70 countries, with more reached through SkyTeam partners such as Delta and Kenya Airways.
For UK travellers, KLM's big draw is its regional network. As well as London Heathrow and London City, it flies to Amsterdam from airports including Aberdeen, Belfast City, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Humberside, Inverness, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Southampton and Teesside. That means many people can start a long-haul trip from their local airport and change once at Schiphol, rather than travelling to London first.
KLM's loyalty scheme is Flying Blue, shared with Air France, where you earn Miles on flights and with partners and work up through status levels. Economy fares come in several types with different bag allowances and change rules, so the cheapest ticket on a short hop may be hand luggage only. The KLM app handles booking, check-in, boarding passes and flight updates.