Marc Europe was scarred by what the war had brought in even a for people then imaginable destruction and most countries involved in the war. Jonathan This is Marc Dierikx a historian at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the author of “Blue in the Sky”, a history of KLM. Marc Dierikx Well, Europe in the first year after the first world war, 1918 to 1920 a was a place that was scarred. Indeed, airplanes had found their purpose. And airplanes had advanced tremendously since the Wright Brothers took their first flight in just the previous decade. Railways could now take you anywhere across the continent and beyond. Horses and carriages were quickly being replaced by cars and trucks.

But it was a time where you could feel the world changing, both socially and technologically. 100 years ago, Europe was still recovering from the horrors of World War 1. And, now, finally, the moment had come: a KLM-airplane would transport passengers to another part of the world - faster than ever before! This happens nearly every minute nowadays, but that wasn’t the case in 1920. The flight was the culmination of months of preparation. Let me take you back to that dreary May morning in 1920. But in this special edition, we celebrate 100 years of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Usually we meet people whose lives are transformed by travel. The Journey is an original podcast by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. This show is not just the trip that changed everything, but the flight that changed everything! Hi, I'm Jonathan Groubert and this is The Journey. This was to be a pioneering moment that helped lay the foundation for the entire industry of passenger aviation as we know it today. Jonathan This a KLM bi-plane is straining against the wind to take off and complete its first passenger crossing to London. This is how a journalist, KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines’ very first Dutch passenger, described Tuesday the 18th of May 1920, as a rented single-engine biplane takes on its passengers on a wet, grassy field just outside Amsterdam. Jonathan Groubert This is how a journalist, KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines’ very first Dutch passenger, described Tuesday the 18th of May 1920, as a rented single-engine biplane takes on its passengers on a wet, grassy field just outside Amsterdam.

We would therefore have headwind all the way.

The rain was falling in buckets from the blackened sky in which billowing clouds were being driven along by the punishing west wind. van den Biggelaar It was a dreary morning.

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