In 1919, a young aviator lieutenant named Albert Plesman sponsored the ELTA aviation exhibition in Amsterdam. This aviation exhibition was a great success, and, after closure, several Dutch commercial interests had the intention to establish a Dutch airline. Plesman was nominated to head this new airline. In September 1919, Queen Wilhelmina awarded the yet to be founded KLM its "Royal" predicate.On October 7, 1919, KLM (which is the abbreviation for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij which literally means Royal Airlines in English) was founded by Albert Plesman in The Hague as one of the world's first commercial airline companies.