KLM marks 50th anniversary of first flight to Dubai

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) has marked the 50th anniversary of the airline’s first passenger flight to Dubai, which arrived on April 5, 1972. The anniversary flight was greeted on arrival at Dubai International Airport by airport representatives and KLM staff, who joined a ceremony to mark the milestone.

KLM started services to Dubai on April 5, 1972 with a once-a-week connection via Athens and Dhahran, operating an extended Douglas DC-8 jet aircraft. The flight returned from Dubai on April 6th. At that time, Dubai International airport handled around 500,000 passengers per year (1970 figures) and Schiphol Airport more than 5 million. In 2021, Schiphol welcomed 25.5 million passengers (in 2019 pre-Covid the total was almost 72 million); Dubai International welcomed 29.1 million people in 2021, and 86.4 million in 2019 (pre-Covid).

Speaking about the 50th anniversary of KLM’s first flight to Dubai, Simon Scholte, General Manager Middle East, Air France KLM said: “This is a very special occasion marking the amazing milestone of KLM’s first passenger service to Dubai. We have the additional honour of celebrating this anniversary during the UAE’s ‘Year of the 50th’ and at the conclusion of this extraordinary global event, Expo 2020 Dubai.

“It’s a time to pause briefly and reflect on Dubai’s remarkable progress over the last 50 years and to express our gratitude to Dubai government and the airport authorities for their tremendous support. It’s also a time to look ahead at the strong and growing relationship between Dubai and KLM, and our shared commitment to innovation and sustainability.”

Air France KLM offers flights from various cities in the Middle East to the airline’s two hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol, connecting passengers to the global network of destinations in Europe, Canada and the Americas.

The KLM Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Program was launched in 2012 and now includes 16 partners, including ABN AMRO, Royal Schiphol Group and Arcadis. Through the program, KLM ensures that the fuel it buys is manufactured sustainably, using raw materials that do not cause deforestation, impede food production or harm the environment in any other way. KLM is also part of the Clean Skies for Tomorrow (CST) coalition, which was established within the World Economic Forum to ensure the availability of sufficient SAF to be able to fly CO2-neutral by the middle of this century. In addition to KLM, the coalition consists of other leading players in the airline industry such as Airbus Group, the Boeing Company, Schiphol, Neste, Shell, SkyNRG and Heathrow Airport.

Recently, KLM has announced that it will start adding 0.5% Sustainable Aviation Fuel for flights departing from Amsterdam. In addition, KLM will offer customers the option of purchasing an extra amount of SAF. In this manner, KLM aims to stimulate the market for SAF.

The face of travel is set to change in the future and SAF will play an essential role in this regard. In addition to fleet renewal and further innovation within the company and sector, KLM is committed to bringing about an energy transition.