KLM says goodbye to Fokker planes

By Janene Pieters on October 30, 2017 - 12:50
Last KLM flight with a Fokker 70 lands at Schiphol, 28 Oct 2017
Last KLM flight with a Fokker 70 lands at Schiphol, 28 Oct 2017Photo: @KLM / Tiwtter

With a flight from London to Amsterdam, Dutch airline KLM said its final goodbyes to the Fokker 70 plane. The last KLM flight with a Fokker 70 landed on Schiphol airport around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. And on Sunday a Fokker monument was unveiled at Schiphol Oost. 

KLM decided to part with the Fokker planes because their maintenance became too expensive, NOS reports. The planes were discontinued in 1996, making it difficult to find parts. Over the past years, KLM still flew with seven Fokker planes. 

The unveiling of the Fokker Monument - consisting of a Fokker 70 plane tail on top of an anvil, to symbolize that the Fokker planes were the work horses of KLM - was rather more exciting than planned, Het Parool reports. The Schiphol fire brigade sprayed an arc of water to celebrate the unveiling. But due to the strong wind on Sunday, the celebratory water arc ended up soaking the guests, which included KLM CEO Pieter Elbers and departing Cityhopper director Boet Kreiken. 

The Schiphol fire department also welcomed the last Fokker to land at the airport on Saturday night with a water arc, but this one did not end up soaking any of the crew or passengers. 

After the monument was revealed, the final four Fokker planes flew over Schiphol - without passengers - in their KLM colors for the last time. They headed to Norwich in England, where they will be stripped of the white and blue colors and transferred to their new owners.

According to NOS, each of the remaining KLM Fokker planes were sold and are now heading to Asia, South America and Africa. 

KLM is switching to Embraers, because they make less noise and are more sustainable.

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