KLM and KNILM, nine days to Sydney
In 1938, KLM and KNILM coordinated a London to Sydney service that summed up Dutch aviation ambition: link Europe, the Dutch East Indies and Australia in nine days.
Michel Lagneau calls this route A Mother and her Daughter: European KLM and colonial KNILM work together before World War II and Indonesian independence permanently change that world.
Europe reaches Australia through Asia in nine days.
Each day is a chapter with scenery, stops and fatigue.
A period aircraft makes the duration credible.
Two seasonal departure variants, then one major common route.
Understanding the flight
The brochure sells exotic travel as much as performance. Nine days is fast for 1938, but still slow enough to watch the world pass by.
The winter variant goes through Marseille and Naples; the summer variant through Leipzig and Budapest. Both join Athens and Alexandria.
Before departure
- Choose the seasonal variant from the start or fly both first days separately.
- Prepare the trip as nine distinct days, with fatigue and changing weather.
- Keep notes on scenic points: Corsica, Vesuvius, Acropolis, Dead Sea, Ganges, Bangkok and inland Australia.
- On long Asian branches, favour engine regularity and fuel management.
Suggested route
Winter or summer departure
Winter goes through Amsterdam, Marseille and Naples; summer through Amsterdam, Leipzig and Budapest.
EGLL → EHAM → LFML → LIRN → EDDP → LHBP
Mediterranean and Middle East
Athens, Alexandria, Lod, Baghdad and Basra establish the great eastbound corridor.
LIRN → LHBP → LGAV → HEAX → LLBG → ORBS → ORMM
India, Burma and Malaya
Jask, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Calcutta, Rangoon, Bangkok, Penang, Medan and Singapore create the Asian core.
ORMM → OIZJ → OPKC → VIJO → VIAL → VECC → VYYY → VTBD → WMKP → WIMM → WSSS
Indonesia and Australia
Palembang, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Kupang, Darwin, Cloncurry, Longreach, Brisbane and Sydney close the long journey.
WSSS → WIPP → WIII → WRSJ → WRRR → WRKK → YPDN → YCCY → YLRE → YBBN → YSSY
Experience tips
This is a rhythm page: do not compress nine days into one straight line.
The two seasonal first days are an excellent reason to replay the departure with different weather.
Copyright Michel Lagneau 2014