KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is celebrating 80 years of continuous service between Amsterdam and New York City, a route first launched on 21 May 1946 as the first scheduled post-war European service to the United States.
The inaugural flight with a Douglas C-54 Skymaster took more than 25 hours and included stops in Prestwick, Scotland, and Gander, Canada, carrying 32 passengers. It marked a major milestone in transatlantic aviation and established KLM as a pioneer in long-haul connectivity between Europe and North America.
Today, the route has grown into a high-frequency operation jointly run with Delta Air Lines, offering four daily flights. Last year alone, it carried nearly 500,000 passengers and transported significant cargo volumes, including pharmaceuticals, high-tech goods, and e-commerce shipments.
KLM highlights the route’s continued importance for business, tourism, and logistics, as well as its role as a gateway to broader North American destinations via New York. The airline also emphasised its long-term fleet evolution from early propeller aircraft to modern Boeing 787 Dreamliners, reflecting ongoing investment in efficiency and sustainability.
To mark the anniversary, KLM is hosting events in New York and the Netherlands, including exhibitions at The New York Historical and the Dutch aviation museum Aviodrome, showcasing the history of the route and its pioneering first flight.