KLM Cityhopper

The airline was established on 1 April 1991; it started operations the same year. It was formed from the merger of NLM CityHopper and NetherLines. Following the 1991 merger, KLM Cityhopper had Europe's largest fleet composition of Fokker-built aircraft: the Fokker 50, 70 and 100.

In 1998, KLM acquired AirUK, which was rebranded to KLM UK.

In November 2002, KLM merged its regional subsidiaries under the KLM Cityhopper name. It had 910 employees as of March 2007.

In 2008, the airline announced its fleet renewal programme, starting with an order of up to 17 Embraer 190 aircraft to replace its ageing and inefficient Fokker 50 aircraft and older Fokker 100 jets. Five Fokker 70 jets would also transfer over from Air France subsidiary Régional. Deliveries of the Embraer E-Jet aircraft began in 2009, and by March 2010, KLM Cityhopper had operated its last Fokker 50 flight. The carrier began to phase out its older Fokker 100 jets. Further Embraer jet orders came in 2012 and allowed KLM Cityhopper to remove the last five remaining Fokker 100 aircraft from its operation.

In October 2012, KLM reportedly presented a plan to its unions that foresaw splitting the airline into two separate units. According to a report by Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, KLM was considering splitting off its European operations that would operate with a lower cost base than today and include its subsidiary KLM Cityhopper. This would effectively mean an intercontinental operation to include only the wide-body fleet of KLM and a European fleet operating the short to medium-haul routes as a separate entity, including the current KLM Boeing 737 fleet and the entire KLM Cityhopper fleet.

The plan proved unpopular with unions and the CEO at the time and was parked. KLM then began the process of streamlining its operation, reducing costs and negotiating increased productivity from staff.

In 2013, KLM Cityhopper installed brand new slim-line leather seats from British company Acro on its Fokker 70 fleet. At the same time, the seat pitch was adjusted on all Fokker & Embraer aircraft to offer a three-tier cabin product with a Business Class, Premium Economy zone & Economy zone. Also announced in 2013 was a lease agreement with BOC to take another six Embraer 190 jets, delivery from the end of the year up to April 2014. In turn, the early retirement of 7 Fokker 70 aircraft was announced. On 30 April 2014, KLM Cityhopper took delivery of its 28th Embraer 190 making it the largest operator of the type in Europe. A brand new livery was also launched on the same day with the aircraft arriving into Amsterdam sporting a new drooped cheat line and revised titles. Fondly referred to as "the smiling Dolphin design", the adapted livery was commissioned to better suit the nose profile of modern aircraft such as the Embraer. The new look was created in-house by KLM designers and would be painted on all KLM Cityhopper aircraft and KLM aircraft in time.

Since 2014, KLM started to add new "niche" short-haul destinations to its network, with the majority served by KLM Cityhopper. The new routes were Bilbao, Turin, Zagreb, Montpellier, Kraków and Belfast. KLM Cityhopper also increased capacity from Bristol and Leeds-Bradford – upgrading the destinations to an Embraer 190 operation instead of the Fokker 70. On 9 December 2015, KLM announced new KLM Cityhopper services to Southampton, Inverness, Dresden and Genoa. The new flights commenced in spring 2016.

In 2015, following a long tendering process with several manufacturers, KLM Cityhopper announced that the Embraer 175 would replace the Fokker 70 fleet. The last Fokker 70 was scheduled to leave on 29 October 2017. The deal with Embraer saw an acceleration of the Fokker 70 withdrawal, starting in December 2015, and the arrival of two more Embraer 190 aircraft, bringing that fleet to 30 in total. 7 Fokker 70s were sold to Air Niugini, with four going to Cypriot carrier Tus Airways and two to Peruvian start-up Wayraperú. On 20 March 2016, the first Embraer 175 was delivered, operating in tandem on Fokker 70 routes and the Embraer 190 network when required. Its dual-type rating and commonality would allow overnight introduction of the Embraer 175 as both flight deck & cabin staff trained on the Embraer 190 will be able to operate on the Embraer 175 after a brief "differences" session.

On 13 January 2016, KLM Cityhopper confirmed two out of 17 options for additional aircraft from Embraer – bringing the order total for the Embraer 175 to 17. The first Embraer 175 was delivered on 20 March 2016. In March 2016, KLM Cityhopper became the largest European operator of the Embraer E-Jet family, with 30 Embraer 190s in service as of December 2015 and an order for 17 Embraer 175 jets. KLM Cityhopper now operates one of the youngest regional jet fleets in the world after the Fokker 70 was retired from operation.

On 23 February 2021, KLM Cityhopper received its first Embraer 195-E2.