It has been 65 years since airline giant KLM touched down as part of a revolutionary transatlantic flight.

And to celebrate this, the retro DC3 – the same aircraft that operated in 1946 and arguably the greatest aeroplane of its time – is being flown into Glasgow Airport today.

As history is relived, the Evening Times delved back in time to find out about the golden age of aviation.

The first KLM flight to fly into the west of Scotland took place on May 21, 1946. It came from Amsterdam and was the first stage of the first ever scheduled transatlantic flight by any European airline to New York.

The DC3 jetted into Prestwick Airport, the only passenger airport for transatlantic flights serving the West of Scotland at the time.

This inaugural flight – the first European airline after the Second World War to start a service to New York – helped to open Scotland up to a host of European destinations and KLM bosses say the legacy has continued to this day.

Travelling in a DC3 at this time meant luxury. This was in the year after the Second World War and before travelling by air had hit the mass market. Passengers tended to be wealthy and it was still a novelty to climb aboard an aircraft like the DC3.

Vincent Kas, commercial director for UK and Ireland of the now amalgamated KLM and Air France, said the planes were entirely different to the present day too.

He said: "Back in the old days, aircraft were much smaller – between 18 and 44 seats.

"They flew at a lower altitude, around 15,000 ft, and at lower speeds of around 137mph.

"We operate a range of modern aircraft to Glasgow now, seating between 100 and 170 persons, flying at 35,000ft and hitting speeds of 528mph."

The first scheduled flights from Amsterdam to Glasgow took place on July 29,1946.

Scottish Aviation Ltd at Prestwick was a technical assistance co-operation partner in those days for KLM and the flight took twice the journey time it does now at three and a half hours long.

From May 21 that year a twice weekly service to New York started with a Douglas DC-4 aircraft.

And from September the Lockheed Constellation L-49 on the route Amsterdam – Glasgow – Gander – New York was introduced. It took 12 hours to cover the route.

In January 1947 already more than 10,000 passengers had crossed the Atlantic Ocean with KLM aircraft – and many of them via Prestwick.

In 1948, the route was entirely flown via the north. On board of the aircraft with destination New York for 43 passengers and 10 crew members, including cabin crew.

KLM took 300kg food and beverages.

In 1948, tragedy struck when a KLM Lockheed crashed near Prestwick in bad weather, killing all 34 passengers and crew.

After the Second World War, the Douglas DC-4 was introduced on European destinations, followed in 1948 by the Convair 240 and in 1953 by the Convair CV 340.

In 1957, KLM introduced its first turboprop engined aircraft: the Vickers Viscount 800.

In 1966, Douglas DC-9-15 and DC-9-30 turbofan engined aircraft followed.

Later on the Boeing 737 aircraft was introduced as well as Fokker and Embraer aircraft.

Early DC-8s still stopped at Prestwick as it couldn't always make it to New York when it was fully loaded or with adverse winds.

Although Glasgow Airport replaced Renfrew Airport in 1966 Prestwick remained the only Scottish transatlantic airport.

Only a campaign for an open skies policy in the late 1980s saw that change and when the policy was agreed in 1990 as expected all transatlantic operators switched to Glasgow leaving Prestwick to fight for an uncertain future.

And KLM still used Prestwick for training various aircrafts. Even the modern B777 has been there in the period shortly after its introduction for crew-training.

Today more than a quarter – 26% – of all of KLM's UK passengers are from Scotland.

Pieter Elbers, chief operating officer for KLM, will be on board the aircraft which harks back to luxury travel from a bygone era, to celebrate the anniversary.

He said: "Marking 65 years of flying to Scotland is a significant occasion for KLM as it underlines the continued importance the airline places on having a presence in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. From its first flight to Glasgow in 1946, KLM helped to further open Scotland up to the world.

"From April this year, KLM increased its frequencies to Amsterdam from all three Scottish airports, which reflects the airline's investment in the Scottish regions."

He continued: "We also have further expanded our long-haul network to include Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Xiamen in China and Kigali in Rwanda, which all increases Scotland's connectivity. This benefits both business and tourism purposes.

"The success of any route is a three-way relationship between airline, airport and community. Without the commitment of the airport and the support of the community, no airline can sustain long term services successfully.

"It's therefore a real credit to Glasgow that we've reached our Sapphire Anniversary status and I have every confidence that KLM will still be here in another 65 years."

rachel.loxton@heraldandtimes.co.uk

THE DC3 AIRCRAFT

l KLM received its first DC3 in 1936 and it was called the Ibis.

l The first long-haul route using the DC3 was Amsterdam to Jakarta.

l Maximum speed of the DC3 is 237 mph and it flies at 1500ft altitude, which is about 500m above ground.

l The DC3 takes 3000ltr of fuel so can fly for almost 9 hours straight and has 18 Royal Class seats.

l KLM now uses its only existing DC3 to let the public experiences the great aircraft that she is.

l It's used for sight-seeing flights around the Netherlands and is a regular guest at airshows in Europe.