KNILM history - very brief

Alles aangaande de KNILM operatie in Nederlands Indië
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Jos Heyman
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Lid geworden op: 15-03-2008 21:20

KNILM history - very brief

Bericht door Jos Heyman » 18-03-2008 09:27

The Koninklijke Nederlands Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM) was the NEI national airline. The company, which was independent from aand had no corporate ties with the KLM, was established on 16 July 1928 when it opened the Batavia – Bandoeng route on 1 November 1928. The company gradually expanded its network across the NEI and added international services to Singapore (in 1932), Saigon (1938) and Sydney via Darwin (on 3 July 1938) .

In 1941 KNILM operated a Koepang to Dilli service on behalf of the Portuguese Timor airline Servico Area da Colonia de Timur. This service was considered important from a political and military perspective and continued even after the Portuguese government failed to pay for it. (During the same period the Japanese Dai Nippon airways made six test flights between Palau and Dilli).

After the occupation of The Netherlands in May 1940 and recognizing that the KLM management in The Hague was no longer effective, the Netherlands government in exile in London, transferred the responsibility for what was left of the KLM operations to the KNILM in Batavia. This included the route from Lydda to Batavia, that was operated until 15 February 1942, as well as the KLM operations in the West Indies (Caribbean) area.

On the outbreak of the war in the NEI the KNILM decided to move its operations to Australia and on 19 and 20 February 1942 the aircraft, which included some former KLM aircraft, were flown to Australia. KNILM established a head office in Sydney but, as there were no operations, this office was relocated to New York in March 1943.

In September 1943, and in anticipation of the post-war developments, the Netherlands government in London decided to separate the management of KLM and KNILM again and KNILM responsibility for KLM operations ceased on 15 September 1943 with the establishment of a new KLM management .

After the war the domestic network was re-established by a quasi government organisation known as the Netherlands Indies Government Air Transport (NIGAT), using essentially military aircraft with a quasi civilian registration. This organisation had an equivalent in The Netherlands as Netherlands Government Air Transport (NGAT).

The KNILM failed to re-emerge except for the operation of a weekly trans-pacific flight from Batavia to Los Angeles from 16 November 1946, where essentially military personnel flew NIGAT owned aircraft under the guise of KNILM. This service was abandoned after a few months.

On 1 August 1947 all NIGAT operations were taken over by the KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf (KLM-IIB) and the KNILM ceased to exist.
In 1948 KLM entered into negotiations to link Batavia to Shanghai and other destinations in China. These services did not materialize .

TheFlyingDutchman
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Lid geworden op: 02-03-2008 14:56

Bericht door TheFlyingDutchman » 18-03-2008 19:42

Hello Jos,

Thanks for your interesting summary of the KNILM's history!

I believe many facts are still not widely known, so any more interesting things you might want to share are most welcome.

Best wishes,
Ronald.

fam. Kraay
Berichten: 1
Lid geworden op: 22-04-2008 11:21

Re: KNILM

Bericht door fam. Kraay » 22-04-2008 12:31

interesting topic - I'm new to this forum and I'm not quite sure how to reply. My grandfather Frederic Jan Kraay worked at KLM from about 1926? After the War he moved with his family to Indonesia for KLM. I believe he held an executive position but I'm not sure what. I have photos and stories and would welcome any other information about him in Holland or Indonesia. I have contacted Aviodome who say there is no record of him which is nonsense.




TheFlyingDutchman schreef:Hello Jos,

Thanks for your interesting summary of the KNILM's history!

I believe many facts are still not widely known, so any more interesting things you might want to share are most welcome.

Best wishes,
Ronald.

TheFlyingDutchman
Site Admin
Berichten: 292
Lid geworden op: 02-03-2008 14:56

Bericht door TheFlyingDutchman » 22-04-2008 20:29

Did your Grandfather work for KNILM / IBB or KLM after the war in Indonesia? I'll be happy to try and find some more information, but I don't know if my own archive will provide any.

If you have some more information on his work, function, department, same would be helpful.

Best wishes,
Ronald.

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