KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Dutch King Willem-Alexander as pilot on his flight to Norway for a State visit?

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“This is your Royal Highness speaking”, the airline KLM wrote to this photo which they published on Twitter in 2017. King Willem-Alexander (right) is a pilot at KLM next to being king of the Netherlands. Picture © Natascha Libbert – KLM

Dutch King Willem-Alexander has an unusual part-time job. He is a full-time monarch and flies passenger aircraft in his spare time. Now he is heading to Norway for a State visit.

When the plane with the Dutch royal couple onboard lands at Oslo Gardermoen tomorrow morning, it is not unlikely that it is King Willem-Alexander himself who is behind the controls.

King Willem-Alexander told Norwegian media NRK that the plan is that he will fly himself and Queen Maxima for a state visit to Norway. The visit lasts from Tuesday to Thursday.

Also for previous state visits, King Willem-Alexander has taken a seat in the cockpit and steered the plane himself.

The 54-year-old king is a trained pilot and has a part-time job. In addition to being the full-time monarch of the Netherlands, he has for several years been a pilot in the Dutch airline KLM on fixed days every month. For King Willem-Alexander, flying provides an opportunity to think of something completely different from royal duties.

The king is extremely interested in flying,” the Dutch royal family writes on its website. It appears that the king received a licence for commercial flights in 1987.

Source: NRK

This post was published on 8 November 2021 23:33

André Orban

M. Sc. Engineering

Published by
André Orban

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