provision for a fine for anti-
competitive practices.
Another 120 staff left voluntarily,
their positions vanishing as the car-
rier’s loss-making European services
ended in November 2007. Martinair’s
small A320 fleet was also withdrawn.
The last of the MD-11s then flew their
final passenger flights in 2008, as
changing travel habits made it impos-
sible to fill all their seats.
During 2007, Danish shipping com-
pany Maersk – now the owners of
Nedlloyd – again notified Martinair
of its intention to sell its stake to KLM.
This time it had more success, and
the European Commission rubber-
stamped the deal on December 31,
2008, with Air France-KLM taking full
control the next day.
A saviour?
It had been hoped that Air France-
KLM would be Martinair’s saviour by
making much needed investments in
the fleet and – more importantly – in
its computer and booking systems.
Martinair’s new CEO, Paul
Gregorowitsch (now with Oman Air),
drafted a plan called ‘Tulp’ (Tulip) that
would merge it with Transavia to form
a low-cost airline. The carrier’s existing
767s would be replaced by four A330-
200s (plus two options) from Air Europa
and an unnamed source in the US.
The idea had the blessing of KLM’s
CEO, Peter Hartman, and its board, but
it was blocked at the final hurdle by Air
France which wanted KLM to pay for
the jets themselves – but it didn’t have
the money at the time. The plan was
scrapped and the new aircraft
not delivered.
Losses continued to mount and, in
September 2010, Gregorowitsch and
Martin Schröder told assembled staff
in the Martinair hangar of the compa-
ny’s intention to stop passenger flights
during the fourth quarter of 2011. The
fateful day arrived and the final pas-
senger service, the delayed MP640
from Cancun, landed at Amsterdam/
Schiphol on October 31.
That afternoon one of the carrier’s767s made a farewell flypast over the
Netherlands, marking the end of 53
years of passenger carrying by the
airline.
The period following the end of
passenger flights has been described
by one former employee as the “ugly
years”, during which Martinair was
fully integrated into the Air France-
KLM Group, a painful process resulting
in numerous court cases.
Meanwhile, the MD-11 fleet retired,
the first jet to stop flying being
PH-MCT (c/n 48629), in February 2013.
From March 2015 seven more followed
(MCR, MCS, MCU, MCW, MCY), the last,
PH-MCP, going on July 8, 2016.Martinair’s hangar at
Amsterdam/Schiphol
is where the company
maintains its fleet of air-
craft. Here a Boeing 767
is undergoing a nightly
check by company engi-
neers. AIRTEAMIMAGES.
COM/CHRIS GOODWINhttp://www.airlinerworld.com 57...one of the carrier’s
767s made a farewell
flypast over the
Netherlands, marking
the end of 53 years of
passenger carrying by
the airline.To celebrate its 50th
birthday on May 24,
2008, Martinair painted
Boeing 767-31AER,
PH-MCL (c/n 26469) in
this 1960s retro livery.
This aircraft also had
the honour of flying the
carrier’s final passenger
service three years
later. AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
EUROPIX