I recently made an interesting trip in two days: Brussels-Orléans-Frankfurt-Amsterdam-Brussels Not all legs are worth reporting (or flown by an aircraft alltogether), but the FRA-AMS was interesting since it was in the KLM Fokker 70, due to be retired in the next two years, so I was excited to fly it one more time while I still had the chance, even though it was a very short flight.
This is my second FR but also the first flight I made specifically with creating a FR afterwards. So let me know what you guys think! :-)
Before I start, I did OLCI and was given an 'offer' by KLM For a 45 minute flight, this price is ridiculous. I mean, it's a normal economy seat and a marginal better meal. Come on KLM, what did you think?
I left my hotel around 7.00 and turned in my rental car at Frankfurt around 9am. So enough time to explore the airport and do some spotting. Frankfurt is definitely LH-country (surprise, surprise) but the Air France / KLM / Alitalia check-in counters are quite numerous. I quickly checked in and decided to check my bag as well since I did not take the effort to separate the liquids and was afraid it might not fit in the overhead bins of the F70 (happened to me once onboard a RJ-85). So, how hard can it be to pick it up, right? Wrong. More on that later.
I did not make a lot of pictures inside the terminal (T2) although it's quite large. It's I would say typical German; efficient and clean. I headed strange for the Air France / KLM lounge since I still had some work to do.
So first thing I did in the lounge was set-up my laptop, get online and make the traditional photo's of the site in English and French (who knows, if I'm up to it I might make a copy of this report in French):
The Air France/KLM lounge is quite large, spacious and well-equipped. Only minus is the slow WiFi. Here some pictures of their offerings:
Soft drinks and spirits: Coffee station Seating area (view is not great, not towards the tarmac so no spotting) Overview of the buffet
My selection for today:
My aircraft on it's way from AMS, just crossing the NLD/GER border.
The lounge also had a great lunch menu but I didn't photograph it.
After eating, I did a little spotting before heading out to the gate. Limited camera, shaky hands, thick glass….. sorry for the quality!
American A330
Lufthansa's flagship: The A380
Tarom A318. Personally I'd never heard of this carrier so I was overjoyed to see it.
CX B777. It was pulled to a gate from a parking stand.
After that, I headed for the gate (D21)
Flight: KL1766 Aircraft: Fokker 70 First flight: 15th May, 1995 Seat: 11A, Emergency exit seat
Boarding was announced on time but no priorities. I also did not see the plane at the gate, so you guessed it:
I did give me the opportunity to take some more pictures:
TUIFly B737
We boarded the plane. I'd found a very friendly flight crew today. Warm welcome by both FAs and friends words were exchanged. Plane was clean and I quickly found my seat. The plane was about full. I had tried to get on an earlier flight but it was way overbooked, so I guess a lot of those people found themselves on our flight. Oh well.
Interior view:
Seat pitch was excellent:
Take-off:
Surprisingly enough, there was catering. I received this cute little box:
Which contained a slice of cake, some water and a napkin. Great service!
Another exterior view
Some coffee after that:
More exterior views:
KLM's fleet. Needs update. PH-BHA was just delivered as the second B787 for KLM. On top of that, I miss the MD-11 ;-)
Our approach into Amsterdam. A lot of fog, so I tried to photograph the port of Amsterdam, little luck I guess…
Polderbaan landing. For those of you that don't know Amsterdam: This runway requires a 20min taxi to the gate. On a 45 minute flight, that's a significant long taxi!
The dislocation of the runway required an additional tower specifically for that runway, which you see here:
KLM city here
Deplaning and again taking a bus
Now for the unfortunate end of the story: It took KLM 23 minutes to offload my bag! I so regretted my choice to check it in because I now missed my train!
NOTE: The preview button didn't work so I'm going to publish straight away. So if there are some obvious errors, sorry for that.
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Verdict
KLM Cityhopper
8.0/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering8.5
Air France Lounge
7.0/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi4.0
Services8.0
Frankfurt - FRA
9.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness10.0
Amsterdam - AMS
9.8/10
Efficiency9.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
FRA: Great airport, smooth flow, good lounge. Only minus is the slow WiFi. Food and drinks are great Flight: KLM has a great product on such a short ride. Fokker 70 is comfortable and nice. Only minus is the wait for your luggage. 21st century problems? :-D AMS: Great airport.
I prefer KLM over low-cost airlines on these short hops when I fly for work. Why? Because you get the extra's you need (Wifi, a good chair, food in a lounge), the departure time you want and a good experience onboard. Since I had to work that day until 8pm and train back to Brussels, I was glad I had a good experience instead of a low-cost one. I hope this service doesn't die out with the growth of the low-cost airlines because it's worth the money imho.
1 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Thank you for sharing this FR with us! I thought it was fairly complete, nothing seemed obviously missing.
Before I start, I did OLCI and was given an 'offer' by KLM - Yikes, outrageously priced for an upgrade on this short route, especially since you already have lounge access.
the traditional photo's of the site in English - Look at that fantastic report on the front page of the English site, a masterpiece ;)
The Air France/KLM lounge is quite large, spacious and well-equipped - Looks a little on the small size, but I guess the number of SkyTeam flights ex-FRA is low. Fridge looks well stocked with beer as per required in Germany. No hot food options?
Tarom A318. Personally I'd never heard of this carrier so I was overjoyed to see it. - They are in SkyTeam, but you haven't heard of them? The second largest A318 operator in Europe with 4 :)
The cabin of the Fokker 70 looks well maintained, newer seats although the overhead obviously shows the age of the plane with all of those square features. A very nice catering offer on a flight of this length. I wonder if this is specific catering for morning flights.
Thanks for your kind reply. Glad to take a picture of your great FR ;-) The lounge is actually quite a lot bigger than what you see; I just didn't photograph everything. Thanks for explaining Tarom too!
It is funny how for a long time there are no reports on KLM Cityhopper, and in one day there were 2 reports on KLM Fokker 70s. Yikes, that is a ridiculous price to upgrade on such a short flight--a better meal is not worth 140 Euros. I like that KLM offers last minute upgrades for purchase and often the prices are reasonable, but not in this case. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kévin, yeah the upgrade price is ridiculous. I once paid €80 for a one-way upgrade Munich-Amsterdam on a B737 and that too was not worth the money, especially if you already have lounge access. -CS
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4 Comments
Before I start, I did OLCI and was given an 'offer' by KLM
- Yikes, outrageously priced for an upgrade on this short route, especially since you already have lounge access.
the traditional photo's of the site in English
- Look at that fantastic report on the front page of the English site, a masterpiece ;)
The Air France/KLM lounge is quite large, spacious and well-equipped
- Looks a little on the small size, but I guess the number of SkyTeam flights ex-FRA is low. Fridge looks well stocked with beer as per required in Germany. No hot food options?
Tarom A318. Personally I'd never heard of this carrier so I was overjoyed to see it.
- They are in SkyTeam, but you haven't heard of them? The second largest A318 operator in Europe with 4 :)
The cabin of the Fokker 70 looks well maintained, newer seats although the overhead obviously shows the age of the plane with all of those square features. A very nice catering offer on a flight of this length. I wonder if this is specific catering for morning flights.
Thanks for your kind reply. Glad to take a picture of your great FR ;-) The lounge is actually quite a lot bigger than what you see; I just didn't photograph everything. Thanks for explaining Tarom too!
-CS
-CS
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