Inroads into Civil Aviation
1919-1945 'Inroads into civil aviation'
As from 1919 Anthony Fokker started making inroads into civil aviation with the four-seat F.II; Fokker's first plane specifically built for passenger transport.
Other passenger aircraft followed. Particularly the eleven-seat F.IV was very successful in achieving many spectacular world records at that time. Fokker's best selling aircraft in this period between the two World Wars was the three-engined F.VII; a three-engined passenger plane with the world's first air-cooled engine of which 230 were built.
By 1930, 172 out of the 596 aircraft operated by European airlines were Fokkers, worldwide 54 airlines had Fokker planes and in 22 countries Fokker aircraft were manufactured under license.
Many of today's global airlines started or expanded their air transport with Fokker aircraft in their early years, like KLM but also Lufthansa which started its first (and international) flight with a Fokker-Grulich F.ll on April 6, 1926. Other known airlines in those days operating Fokker aircraft are PanAm, TWA, Mexicana, and Alitalia amongst many other known airlines.