At the Curacao Museum it's possible to see the forward fuselage section of a KLM Fokker F.XVIII, registration PH-AIS and called Snip (Snipe) that flew the Christmas mail run from Amsterdam in 1934 in just short of 56 hours. Another F.XVIII, registration PH-AIP, Pelikaan, had flown the Christmas mail to Batavia the previous year in 73 hours, 34 minutes.


Snip remained at Curacao; the extra fuel tanks were removed and passenger seats replaced, for the beginning of KLM passenger service in the region, with service to Aruba and Bonaire. A second F.XVIII was added and service expanded to Venezuela and Suriname. The second, PH-AIO, was adapted for maritime patrol and anti-submarine bombing in 1940 and used in that capacity until the U.S. began patrols in the area in 1942.