This is a report of a business trip I took from Bath in the UK to Johannesburg and Cape Town, SA flying from Bristol via Amsterdam with KLM and between Johannesburg and Cape Town with Mango. The route is as follows:
BRS-AMS KL1046
AMS-JNB KL591
JNB-CPT JE161
CPT-JNB JE168
JNB-AMS KL592
AMS-BRS KL1051
My journey began by taking the 4:00 A4 Airdecker bus service between Bath and Bristol from my local stop in Bath, which almost didn't stop to pick me up as he driver didn't see me in the early morning darkness.
The journey from Bath to Bristol airport takes around an hour so I arrived around 5:00. The bus drops passengers off directly outside the check-in area. I waked straight up to the KLM check-in as there was no queue. The friendly check-in staff tagged my luggage and I was swiftly off to security. Despite the early morning passenger volume this also proceeded quickly, the whole process from bus to departure lounge took only 10 mins.
Entering the departure lounge I was surprised to see it had expanded since my last visit to the airport in June.
The old lounge area
When my gate was called I proceeded to Gate 10 waiting area
Access to the aircraft was from the tarmac affording some (blurry) views
Inside we were glad to get out of the rain
Boarding proceeded smoothly and we were greeted onboard by the flight attendants.
Leg room was ok
The safety card and magazines
Off we go
Finally seeing some blue sky
We were provided with a small breakfast - a cheese sandwich and cup of tea
Decent commenced over the North Sea with a view of many boats.
Arrived into Amsterdam early. Landed on the furthest runway and had a 10 min taxi to the terminal. We were transported to the terminal by bus.
The number of routes from UK regional airports to AMS with KLM have turned KLM and AMS into a bit of a UK hub airport for many British people who don't live in London due to the lack of UK airports served by BA.
Keep tuned in for the next leg of the journey!
Thank you for this report !
The new waiting lounge in Bristol is definitely an improvement, with nice sofas, though the area looks already packed.
Overall, a good service for this short haul flight.
Looking forward to the rest of the trip !
Thank you! It certainly is an improvement, previously it was rather cramped. This area has increased the lounge by about 50%, so much better. Still busy, but this is the early morning peak.
Thanks for this FR.
I agree that KL's presence in UK secondary airports is impressive, and it's more than useful with the lack of BA flights to LHR from them to enable connections.
Does KL take advantage of it and usually offer high prices or are there often good deals to catch?
Pretty good service and certainly nicely presented (I love the cup).
Yes, the cup was nice!
In this instance my flights were around £500 return from BRS to JNB via AMS, which I thought was pretty good. Other people on this trip were flying BA directly from LHR to JNB and if I recall these flights were more expensive. I imagine it benefits KLM to fill their seats with connecting UK passengers and therefore offe competitive prices.
Thanks for sharing this first report in the series. KLM is really good about serving regional airports from the UK and Scandivavia--they have found a good niche for themselves. Decent service for a morning flight with sufficient catering. Connecting through AMS is always pleasant and hassle free. Certainly much easier than LHR in my experience. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I think I agree with you on everything there. I have some more flights coming up from BRS-AMS, you guys are going to get sick of reading that route :P