“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking.”

We’re all used to this announcement from the cockpit (how long until pilots get in trouble for assuming our genders, though?), but how about “this is your king speaking”?

It’s less common, but for the best part of 21 years Dutch King Willem-Alexander has been ferrying passengers all over the world.

The Guardian reports:

King Willem-Alexander said that he recently ended his role as a regular “guest pilot” after 21 years on KLM’s fleet of Fokker 70 planes and before that on Dutch carrier Martinair.

As a guest flier, the king worked about twice a month, always as co-pilot. He will now retrain to fly Boeing 737s as the Fokkers are being phased out of service. The 50-year-old father of three and monarch to 17 million Dutch citizens calls flying a “hobby” that lets him leave his royal duties on the ground and fully focus on something else.

“You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them,” the king told De Telegraaf. “You can’t take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying.”

I suppose as the King you have both the time and the funds to pursue such a passion, but props to Willem for flying those Fokkers around.

Side note – remember that time Zuma and Atul Gupta piloted a plane (HERE)?

Sorry not sorry.

[source:guardian]