In 1926 KLM regularly added new destinations to its network.

The more northerly cities were not forgotten.
Services to Malmo were also started in 1926. A heated cabin helped to make the journey more comfortable.

Shortly after construction in 1925 of the first F.VIIa had begun, a second one was laid down. There was no customer for it at the time but everybody involved was confident that the design was sound and a customer would be forthcoming.

As it turned out, this second ship was never completed as an F.VIIa, but as an F.VIIa-3m, a three-engined F.VIIa. Modifying the aircraft to a three-engined version of the F.VIIa required six weeks and its first take-off from Schiphol was on 4 September 1925.

Fokker had returned from the United States, and was himself at the controls during this maiden flight. The machine carried no registration, Fokker had never flown a three-engined aircraft before, and on this first flight there were four passengers onboard.

Today, airworthiness authorities would regard this as three valid reasons to veto the flight, but in those days nobody cared.

And Fokker did not care either.
He really tested his new-born baby. Alternatively, he switched off one or other of the engines, and when this caused no problems, he switched off two power units and flew on just one engine. All continued to go well.