Dutch King Willem-Alexander has revealed he flies twice a month as co-pilot on Government and KLM Cityhopper flights- and has being doing so for 21 years.
He says he is ‘rarely recognised in the KLM uniform and cap’, but some passengers recognise his voice. He dosen’t give his name, instead opting just to 'welcome passengers onboard on behalf of the cabin crew and captain. Crafty.
One problem is that KLM are now retiring the Fokker 70 aircraft- so he is retraining on the 737s. He is enthusiastic about having ‘more passengers and greater distances’
Well it is the “Royal Dutch Airlines” 😂 (sorry I’ll stop)
But in all seriousness that is amazing to hear, because that means that he has to be at least an ATPL holder and go through all that stuff pilots do every so and so by KLM and still do his duties… makes you wonder if you were on his fight at all 😂
Actually, there are many royals that are pilots. I know the King of Brunei flies his own 747, both Prince William and Harry both fly helicopters, among others.
All of the British royal family have served in a military organisation at some point in their lives. It is part of their duties as monarchy. I am ,however, not sure if women have the same obligation…
Other royals with pilot licences include the Most members of the royal family of GB served in RAF
Brunei sultan flies his own 747
Jordanian King is a certified pilot.
I know this for a while, it was a secret of KLM. My mom is stewardess and has flown twice with him. The thing is: it isn’t really positive. We (KLM) accepted him to fly on our aircraft, but he said he is mainly travelling on Emirates, which is our direct competitor. He should be loyal to KLM and just fly them, as we give him a opportunity to fly on our airline and because it’s our National Flag Carrier.
Let’s not make sweeping generalizations about people’s feeling on monarchy, considering I’m a staunch royalist from a family of monarchists who’s friends are also monarchists.