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Unusual part-time job for the Dutch royalKing Willem-Alexander has been piloting scheduled flights incognito for years
With sunglasses and a big grin – that's exactly how you imagine the monarch in the cockpit.
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Royal splendor meets everyday airline life.
King Willem-Alexander has regularly sat behind the wheel of a KLM plane for almost 30 years: not as a guest of honor, but as a co-pilot. And the undercover! But now it's over for the flying-loving monarch.
Nobody knew who was really sitting in the cockpit
King Willem-Alexander is not only ruler of the Netherlands, but also a passionate pilot. The now 58-year-old has been flying since 1985, first privately and later professionally, reports Bunte. Most recently, he supported the Dutch airline KLM on scheduled flights around three times a month. Under the pseudonym “Meneer van Buren”, he piloted football fans to Prague or holidaymakers to Ibiza in a Boeing 737, usually without anyone on board having any idea who was really sitting in the cockpit. The aviation platform “Theaviationcircle” writes this in a post on Instagram. But now that's over.
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The Monarch was in the 737 cockpit for the last time
Last week (March 11th) Willem-Alexander sat in the cockpit of a KLM Boeing 737 for the last time. As the aviation platform confirms, the airline has now retired this type of aircraft. For the monarch this means: time for something new.
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KLM is replacing its Boeing 737 fleet with the modern Airbus A321neo and Willem-Alexander is of course joining in. The king will undergo retraining to qualify for the new type of aircraft, according to theaviationcircle. No problem for the experienced pilot: he has held several licenses for decades, including the airline pilot's license. In addition, Bunte writes, he is said to have piloted the Dutch government aircraft, a Fokker 70, with his Queen Máxima and himself on board on a state visit to the USA.
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He always wanted to be a pilot
Even though he is about to switch to the A321neo, his passion for flying remains. If Willem-Alexander had not been born into the royal family, he once said, according to Bunte, probably became a professional pilot. And even as a monarch, he finds ways to combine both: as king and co-pilot.
Sources used: Instagram/theaviationcircle, Colorful
