KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Light blue fuselage, white tail, a small crown: KLM is one of those airlines you can identify from a long way off. It gets interesting on a second look. Behind the familiar livery is a fleet in transition – from Boeing to Airbus, from the 737 to the A321neo, from the 777-200ER to the A350. Add a regional subsidiary with its own codes, aircraft with names and a history that goes back to 1919. This page shows you how to place KLM cleanly and which sightings are especially worthwhile right now.

KLM at a glance

KLM is the network airline of the Netherlands. The full name is Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, meaning “Royal Aviation Company.” KLM was founded on October 7, 1919; Queen Wilhelmina had granted the title “Koninklijke” just a few weeks earlier. The first flight followed on May 17, 1920 between London and Amsterdam, in a small Airco D.H.16 biplane. KLM sees itself as the world’s oldest airline still flying under its original name.

Today KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, only a few kilometers from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Schiphol is the only hub. The principle is classic: feeder flights from all over Europe bring connecting passengers to Amsterdam, and from there it’s on to long-haul destinations in North and South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. For the winter 2026/27 schedule KLM lists 164 destinations.

In 2004, KLM and Air France joined forces under the umbrella of Air France-KLM. Both airlines kept their brands, their hubs and their own liveries. In the same year KLM joined the SkyTeam alliance, which also includes Air France and Delta Air Lines.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code KL: appears in the flight number, on the departure board and on the ticket.
• ICAO code KLM: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign KLM: on the radio, the crew identifies as “KLM” plus the flight number.

With KLM it’s pleasantly simple: brand, ICAO code and callsign are identical. Unlike SWISS, where LX and SWR come from two different predecessor companies, you don’t have to translate anything here. Only the flight number differs – KL 1234 on the ticket becomes KLM1234 on the tracker. Why that is so is explained in the article on the difference between callsign and flight number, and how IATA and ICAO codes work in general is covered in IATA and ICAO codes explained.

KLM and its subsidiaries

KLM is not just one airline but a small group within the corporation. For spotters this matters because two of the subsidiaries fly in a very similar look, while others look completely different.

Company	Role	Codes	Fleet (selection)	Look
KLM	Network airline	KL / KLM	737, A321neo, A330, 777, 787, A350	Light blue with crown
KLM Cityhopper	Regional flying in Europe	WA / KLC, flies with KL flight numbers	Embraer 175, 190 and 195-E2	Same as KLM
Transavia	Low-cost and leisure flying	HV / TRA	Boeing 737, increasingly A320neo family	Green and white, own brand
Martinair	Cargo	MP / MPH	Boeing 747-400 freighters	Partly in KLM Cargo livery with “Operated by Martinair”

KLM Cityhopper is the partner for the small routes. According to the fleet overview, as of autumn 2026 the subsidiary flies around 58 Embraer jets: the Embraer 175, the Embraer 190 and the newer Embraer 195-E2. Because Cityhopper flies under KL flight numbers and in KLM colors, the jets look like part of the main fleet. The registration and the type still tell you who is flying.

Transavia, by contrast, operates as its own green-and-white brand and is easy to tell apart. Martinair operates the group’s freighters, currently Boeing 747-400s – partly in KLM Cargo colors with the addition “Operated by Martinair.”

The fleet: in the middle of a changeover

Hardly any large network airline in Europe is renewing its fleet as visibly as KLM right now. According to the fleet overview in the standard reference works (as of October 2026), KLM operates around 125 passenger aircraft without its subsidiaries. The following table shows the types; numbers keep changing during the transition phase.

Type	Approx. in service	Use	Spotter tip
Boeing 737-700	6–7	Europe	Shortest 737 in the fleet, being replaced
Boeing 737-800	26	Europe	Most common 737 at KLM
Boeing 737-900	5	Europe	Longest 737 in the KLM fleet
Airbus A321neo	18, more on order	Europe	Successor to the 737, in a slightly adapted livery
Airbus A330-200 / -300	5 each	Long-haul	Being phased out over the next few years
Boeing 777-200ER	15	Long-haul	To be replaced by the A350 from 2026
Boeing 777-300ER	16	Long-haul	Largest passenger aircraft in the fleet
Boeing 787-9	13	Long-haul	Dreamliner, also in special livery
Boeing 787-10	15	Long-haul	Stretched Dreamliner
Airbus A350-900	1, more on order	Long-haul	New to the fleet since October 2026

On short- and medium-haul routes the Boeing 737 is still the backbone, especially the 737-800. Alongside it fly the smaller 737-700 and the stretched 737-900, which is described in more detail on the page for the 737-900ER. Their successors come from Airbus: in late 2021, Air France-KLM ordered a large number of A320neo-family aircraft for KLM and Transavia. At KLM it is mainly A321neos that are in service.

On long-haul, Boeing types still dominate: the 777-200ER, the large 777-300ER and the Dreamliners 787-9 and 787-10. The 787-10 joined the fleet from June 2019 – the first one on the airline’s hundredth birthday, with anniversary titles. In addition there are the A330-200 and A330-300, which will leave in the medium term.

New arrival A350: the rewarding target of 2026

On October 2, 2026, KLM’s first Airbus A350-900 landed in Schiphol. KLM thus flies the modern Airbus long-haul jet for the first time, which its sister airline Air France has used for years. According to KLM, the A350 offers 331 seats in three cabins: 34 in World Business Class, 26 in Premium Comfort and 271 in Economy. KLM names Toronto as the first destination, followed by Montreal and several destinations in East Africa, including Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.

For spotters this is the most interesting phase: as long as only a few A350s fly in KLM colors, every sighting is something special. The aircraft of the new type also carry names with a Dutch connection – KLM draws on well-known works of Dutch painting for this. How many A350s exactly come to KLM and when depends on the distribution within the group; the order covers A350-900s and A350-1000s for Air France and KLM together.

At KLM the A350 mainly replaces the 777-200ER and the A330. If you still want to collect these older types in KLM colors, it’s best not to wait too long.

Farewell to the 747 and the MD-11

For many spotters, KLM was the airline of the Boeing 747 for decades. The Jumbo flew for KLM from 1971, most recently as the 747-400 and as a combi version that carried passengers and cargo on the same aircraft. In March 2020, KLM took the passenger 747 out of service during the COVID crisis, earlier than planned. Only the freighters operated by Martinair keep the 747 alive in KLM’s orbit; A350Fs are on order as successors.

As early as 2014, KLM said goodbye to the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. KLM is considered the last airline to use the three-engine jet in regular passenger service. Both types are sought-after targets for photo archives today – but at KLM they are history.

How to recognize KLM

At its core the livery has been the same since the early 1970s: upper fuselage in light blue, below it a dark blue stripe, a light gray belly and a white tail with a light blue logo. The logo shows a stylized crown above the “KLM” lettering; it was designed in 1961 and revised in 1991. At the end of 2014 the livery got a newly shaped blue area at the nose, and since then “Royal Dutch Airlines” has appeared next to the emblem. With the A321neos, a slightly revised variant was added in 2024.

Typical of KLM are also the aircraft names. Each type has its own theme: the 737s carry bird names, the A330s names of famous places, the 787s flower names and the A321neos names of butterflies. The 777s were first named after UNESCO World Heritage sites, later mostly after national parks. The former 747 fleet was named after cities. You’ll usually find the name on the forward fuselage – a nice detail for close-ups on the apron.

How registrations are built and why the Netherlands uses PH- is explained in the articles on aircraft registrations and on country prefixes.

Special liveries

KLM regularly uses special liveries. Particularly well known is a 777-300ER with the registration PH-BVA, whose forward fuselage is painted in bright orange – the national color of the Netherlands. The first 787-10 wore anniversary titles for the hundredth birthday. Such aircraft often change destinations; how to find them deliberately is shown in the guide to special liveries.

The Delft houses

A detail you don’t see on the aircraft but which belongs to KLM as much as the crown: since 1952, passengers in the top travel class on long-haul flights have received small houses made of Delft blue, filled with genever. Every year on October 7, the founding day, a new design is added, and the number of the latest house matches the age of the airline. Among collectors the series has long been a cult item – a hobby that accompanies some spotters beyond the fence, too.

Spotting KLM: Schiphol and Germany

You have the widest selection in Amsterdam, of course. With its six runways, Schiphol is a special airport because the runway direction in use depends heavily on the wind and some runways lie far out. A well-known legal spot is the spotting spot at the Polderbaan. Before you set off, it’s worth checking the current runway usage – basics are in the guide to the runway direction in use at an airport. You’ll find more destinations for a spotting trip in the best spotting spots in Europe.

In Germany you see KLM mainly with feeder flights to Amsterdam. Large airports such as Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg or Düsseldorf get regular KLM traffic, mostly with 737s, A321neos or Cityhopper Embraer jets. Long-haul jets in KLM colors, on the other hand, you hardly see in Germany – for those the trip to Amsterdam is worth it.

Good spots for feeder traffic include the observation deck at Düsseldorf Airport or the observation deck at Hamburg Airport. Plan your light with the guide to the sun position: KLM’s light blue looks much better in frontal sunlight than in backlight.

KLM compared with Lufthansa

For German spotters the comparison with Lufthansa is obvious. Both are classic network airlines with a great history, and both are part of large groups. The differences are still clear: Lufthansa works with two large hubs and belongs to the Star Alliance, while KLM bundles everything in Schiphol and is part of SkyTeam. In its fleet, Lufthansa has long relied on Airbus for short-haul, whereas KLM is only now switching from the Boeing 737. How the three big alliances relate to each other is explained in the overview of Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

Common mix-ups

• Logging Cityhopper Embraers as KLM main fleet – Embraers in KLM colors belong to KLM Cityhopper, even if the flight number starts with KL.
• Equating a KL flight number with the operating airline – on codeshares, Air France, Delta or another partner often flies.
• Logging a 737-900 as a 737-800 – the -900 is visibly longer; when in doubt, the registration settles the type.
• Confusing the A350 with the 777 – curved wingtips and the dark cockpit mask give away the Airbus.
• Thinking KLM is a Star Alliance member – KLM belongs to SkyTeam, not Lufthansa’s alliance.
• Expecting Transavia as a KLM offshoot in KLM colors – Transavia flies under its own green-and-white brand.

Conclusion

KLM is one of the most traditional airlines in the world and at the same time one whose fleet is changing a lot right now. The light blue livery makes identification easy, and the details make the sighting valuable: type, registration, name on the nose and the question of whether KLM itself or Cityhopper is flying. If you’re still logging 737s and 777-200ERs while hunting the first A350s, you’re documenting a genuine generational change.