Aviation pioneer Martin Schröder passed away on Wednesday at the age of 93 in his hometown of Noordwijk. The founder of Martinair had been struggling with fragile health for some time, which had been deteriorating more and more recently.
“We are grateful and proud of what Martin has meant for Dutch aviation,” his family said. “With the passing of our dear husband, father and grandfather, we say goodbye to a true Dutch aviation pioneer. Martin was the man who made flying accessible to a broad Dutch audience.”
With Martin’s Air Charter, Schröder was the first to fly a Dakota to Mallorca in Spain and made it possible for the general public to go on holiday by plane, later also outside Europe.
In 1998, Schröder was also called “one of the greatest aviation pioneers in the Netherlands” by then KLM CEO Leo van Wijk. He made this statement when the Martinair founder gave up his position as chairman of the board.
Martinair then began to work more closely with KLM, which already had a large stake in its industry peer. Air France-KLM eventually took over Martinair completely in 2008. Martinair stopped transporting passengers in October 2011.
Schröder has always emphasized that he was very grateful to his employees for their dedication and commitment to making Martinair successful. He was married to Tineke for 62 years, with whom he built Martinair together.
