NLM Fokker F.27 Friendship wearing the initial titles without CityHopper at Groningen in 1967
The carrier was formed as NLM Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij in 1966.[2] Starting operations on 29 August 1966 using leasedFokker F27 aircraft from the Royal Dutch Air Force, it was set up as a KLM subsidiary under a two-year contract to operate domestic services within the Netherlands.[2] The airline saw the incorporation of the Fokker F28 in 1978.[3]: 1790 [4]
Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Enschede, Groningen, Maastricht, and Rotterdam comprised the airline's network at the beginning.[2] The Eindhoven–Hamburg route was the first international service flown by the airline; it was initially aimed at providing a scheduled executive service for Philips, and was made public in April 1974 (1974-04).[5]London-Gatwick was added to the network in early 1975.[6]
The airline changed its name to NLM CityHopper, following the acquisition of Netherlines by its parent company KLM in April 1988 (1988-04); operations of both subsidiaries were subsequently merged.[7] Despite sharing their operational structure, both companies were separate entities until 1 April 1991, when they were absorbed into the newly created KLM Cityhopper.[8]
Destinations
An NLM CityHopper Fokker F-27-200 at Jersey Airport (1983)An NLM CityHopper Fokker F-28-4000 at Charles de Gaulle Airport (1980)
The airline served the following destinations throughout its history:
6 October 1981: A Fokker F-28-4000, registration PH-CHI, that was operating the first leg of an international scheduled Rotterdam–Eindhoven–Hamburg passenger service as NLM CityHopper Flight 431, entered a tornado that caused the starboard wing to separate from the fuselage. The aircraft dived into the ground from 3,000 ft (910 m) and crashed near Moerdijk, killing all 17 people aboard.[10]
^"COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD – Fokker-VFW International"(PDF). Flight International: 1789 – , 1791. 11 November 1978. Retrieved 14 November 2011. The Mk 4000 is now operating with a number of European internal airlines. NLM CityHopper and Air Anglia have both introduced the aircraft this year...
^"Air transport"(PDF). Flight International: 1361. 6 May 1978. Retrieved 14 November 2011. Above First F.28 in NLM CityHopper livery.
^"KLM orders the F.100". Flight International. 127 (3963): 20. 8 June 1985. ISSN0015-3710. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015. The Dutch carrier was one of Fokker's first customers for the F.27. Its subsidiary airline NLM CityHopper currently flies four F.28-3000s and three F.27-500s.
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