NLM CityHopper

Founded in 1966 as a subsidiary of KLM ^{[2] [3]} . The name was decoded as Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Netherlands Aviation Society). The flights began on August 29, 1966 on two Fokker F27 turboprop aircraft ^[3] taken for a two-year lease from the Royal Netherlands Air Forces ^[3] , which had to be converted for civilian use. In 1978 , the company received the Fokker F28 aircraft ^{[4] [5]} .

Initially, the route network included the cities of Amsterdam , Eindhoven , Enschede , Groningen , Maastricht and Rotterdam ^[3] . The first international destination was the Eindhoven- Hamburg flight, organized in 1974 together with Philips to transport its employees, but in April 1975 it became accessible to everyone ^[6] . In the same year, a flight was organized by Groningen- Bremen ^[2] . In 1975, flights to London Gatwick began . In 1976, the company name was changed to "NLM CityHopper".

In the 1970s and 1980s, NLM CityHopper significantly expanded the European route network, effectively becoming a feeder for the Schiphol air hub. In 1988, KLM acquired a competing regional company NetherLines, merging it with NLM ^[7] . Despite the joint operating structure, companies formally remained separate enterprises until April 1, 1991, when KLM Cityhopper was formed as a result of their merger ^[8] .

At various times, the airline used aircraft Fokker F27-200 ^[7] , Fokker F27-300 ^[9] , Fokker F27-400 ^[7] , Fokker F27-500 ^[7] , Fokker F-28-3000 ^[10] , Fokker F -28-4000 ^[7] , Jetstream 31 ^[7] and Saab 340 ^[7] .

•  

  Fokker F27-200

•  

  Fokker F27-300 in early livery

•  

  Fokker F27-400

•  

  Fokker F27-500

•  

  Fokker F28-4000

Regular flights were operated to the following cities: ^[7]

• October 6, 1981 Fokker F28 a few minutes after departure from Rotterdam hit a tornado , collapsed in the air and crashed. 17 people died ^[11] .