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The Dutch national carrier KLM celebrated its birthday recently – the oldest airline in the world is now 101! Last year there were a lot of festivities because of the 100th birthday. This year is unlike any other due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, KLM introduced its newest KLM house no. 101 as a gift for World Business Class passengers.

Special present

Every year on October 7th, the birthday of KLM, the airline presents the newest KLM house. The KLM house is a decorative Delft Blue porcelain mini version of an actual historical Dutch building. The mini house is filled with Dutch Bols Gin. Every passenger making an intercontinental business class trip with KLM will receive such a house.

Last year, the new KLM house represented “Huis ten Bosch”. This is the Dutch King’s residence. The Dutch national carrier selected the royal residence because of KLM’s special ties with the royal family. Did you know that the Dutch King sometimes pilots one of KLM’s aircraft to maintain his flying hours?

House 101

The newest KLM house, house 101, is “De Moriaan”. The real building can still be found in the city centre of Den Bosch and it is one of the oldest brick buildings in the Netherlands. Nowadays, De Moriaan houses the city’s Tourist Information Office.

In the early days of De Moriaan, the building was used as a trade centre. At that time there was a canal at the back of the site where ships could deliver their goods to the warehouse. Traders would then use the building to sell their goods.

KLM House 101 in real life vs. the miniature house (Source: KLM)

KLM Houses app

KLM has a special KLM Houses app for people who collect the houses. You can find it in the App Store or Google Play Store. In the app you can find all the houses with some background information, a picture of the KLM house and a picture of the real building.

The CEO of KLM, Pieter Elbers said the following about the new house:

“It is important that we hold on to our KLM traditions in times of crisis. For our loyal customers, our miniature houses symbolise their ties with KLM, which we want to cherish and preserve. This is why we didn’t hesitate to produce house number 101. “Die Mariaen” symbolises the importance of international entrepreneurship for the Netherlands, especially in times of economic adversity. KLM’s job is to ensure that people can come together through our extensive route network. We will continue to fulfil this role. KLM President-directeur & CEO Pieter Elbers