De Kroonduif

De Kroonduif
Founded	14 July 1955
Ceased operations	1 January 1963 (absorbed into GIA)
Hubs	Biak-Mokmer Airport
Fleet size	DC-3 and Twin Pioneer
Destinations	19 (in 1958)
Parent company	KLM
Headquarters	Biak, Netherlands New Guinea

De Kroonduif, a former subsidiary of Dutch airline KLM, was the national carrier of Netherlands New Guinea between 1955 and 1963. The name 'kroonduif' is the Dutch term for the crowned pigeon endemic to New Guinea, which was assumed as the logo of the company.

History

On 14 July 1955, the company Nederlands Nieuw Guinea Luchtvaart Maatschappij (NNGLM) was established as a subsidiary of Dutch airline KLM, to provide air services within the Dutch territory of Netherlands New Guinea. This new airline, operating under the name of De Kroonduif, was based at Biak, and operated several routes throughout the territory with two de Havilland Canada Beavers.

Later the fleet was also supplemented with Douglas DC-3 Dakotas and Twin Pioneers.

As Dutch New Guinea was being incorporated into Indonesian territory on 1 January 1963, the operations of De Kroonduif were absorbed by Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia, which shortly afterwards assigned them to Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a company that since 1978 was fully owned by Garuda.