It is KLM’s 99th anniversary and the carrier is celebrating with 99 hours of special flight offers (deals end October 9) and a new miniature Delft Blue house in the airline’s series of collectible miniature houses.
This year’s Delftware miniature house represents the first store of Douwe Egberts in Joure, Holland.
The house was chosen, in part, becase at the end of October, 2018 KLM will begin serving Douwe Egberts’ sustainable UTZ-certified coffee on all its European and intercontinental flights.
The shop is now part of a museum and was where grocer Egbert Douwe laid the foundation for the well-known Douwe Egberts brand of today.
“Choosing the first store of Douwe Egberts in beautiful Joure serves to highlight the excellent cooperative relationship shared by our two established brands,” said KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers. “Good coffee is important to our customers,” he added, “And KLM also considers it crucial to serve sustainable coffee. Two typically Dutch brands with a rich history, both placing quality first, can only serve to strengthen one another.”
KLM’s tradition of presenting Delftware miniatures to passengers traveling in the business class cabin on intercontinental flights began in the 1950s. The houses are replicas of notable buildings in the Netherlands and the number of houses in the collection has corresponded with KLM’s age since 1994.
The carrier now adds a new house to the collection each year on or around October 7.
So we’re already anxious to see which house will be honored on October 7, 2019 when KLM celebrates its 100th anniversary.
While we wait, take a look at this short video that tells the story of KLM’s Delft Blue House #99:
You can also read my stories about being on hand for the festivities surrounding the reveal of KLM’s Delft Blue miniature houses #98 and #97.
House #98 depicts the family home of aviation pioneer Antony Fokker in Haarlem (near Amsterdam) and was presented at an event in Haarlem’s historic St. Bavo Church.
KLM’s mininature Delft House #97 depicts the Hotel New York in Rotterdam, which occupies the grand structure built in 1901 to house the headquarters of the Holland America line.
Do you have a collection of KLM’s Delft Blue miniature houses (gin-filled or not)? Feel free to boast about it in the comments section below.