4 January 2012 at 16:00 CET – The Hague / Amstelveen – PostNL today introduced its first Personal Stamps for the destinations Europe and World, featuring KLM’s coveted miniature Delftware houses. Ger Jacobs, PostNL’s Commercial Director, today presented these unique stamps to Harm Kreulen, Director of KLM Netherlands, at the “Lane of KLM Houses” at the airline’s headquarters in Amstelveen. PostNL launched its Personal Stamps eight years ago, but until now they could only be used for addresses in the Netherlands.
The Personal Stamps enable consumers and businesses to design and order their own stamps. From now on they can also use special Personal Stamps to send mail to destinations in Europe or beyond (“World”). PostNL is issuing two sheetlets featuring KLM’s miniature Delftware houses for collectors and other enthusiasts. Each sheetlet contains ten stamps with a replica of a typical 17th-century heritage building in the Netherlands. The stamp for Europe shows the “Three Herrings” house in Deventer (number 92 in the series) and that for World destinations the “Rembrandt House” in Amsterdam (number 48).
“We chose The Netherlands’ national airline KLM because it is so well known around the world. And, just like stamps, KLM’s miniature Delftware houses are very popular among collectors,” said Jacobs.
Each stamp bears a special code that can be scanned using an app downloaded from postnl.nl/apps to call up online information about the two KLM miniature Delftware houses on the stamps. Alongside the two stamp sheetlets with ten identical stamps, a stamp booklet and first day cover will also be available. Personal Stamps for Europe and World can be designed and ordered from 1 February 2012 at persoonlijkepostzegel.nl. The stamps will be available while stocks last from Bruna bookshops, the Collect Club in Groningen, and online at www.postnl.nl/collectclub. They will be valid until further notice.
KLM miniature houses
Since the 1950s, KLM has been presenting World Business Class passengers with a gin-filled Delftware miniature of a traditional Dutch house on all its intercontinental flights. Each miniature is modelled on a house in the Netherlands, many of which still exist today. Collectors can use the Android and iPhone app “KLM houses” with its fun features to manage all 92 KLM houses in the series.
About PostNL
Annually PostNL processes 8.8 billion addressed postal items (including 100 million parcels) and delivers to more than 88 million addresses in the Benelux, Germany, the UK and Italy. PostNL’s main business is mail, parcels and e-commerce. The company also provides services in the area of data and document management, direct marketing and fulfilment. PostNL employs some 77,000 people. In 2010 the company generated a turnover of nearly 4.3 billion euros. More information about PostNL can be found on its website www.postnl.com.
About KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded in 1919, making it the world’s oldest airline operating under its original name. In 2004, Air France and KLM merged to form AIR FRANCE KLM. The merger produced the strongest European airline group based on two powerful brand names and hubs —Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The two airlines collaborate on three core activities while maintaining their own identities — passenger transport, cargo, transport, and aircraft maintenance.
In the Netherlands, KLM comprises the core of the KLM Group which further includes KLM cityhopper and transavia.com. KLM serves 135 destinations using a modern fleet of 157 aircraft and employs over 33,000 people around the world. KLM is a leader in the airline industry, which offers reliable operations and customer-oriented products resulting from its policy of enthusiasm and sustainable innovation.
KLM is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance offering a network of 926 destinations in 173 countries. The KLM network connects the Netherlands to every important economic region around the world and, as such, serves as a powerful driver for the Dutch economy.
