Review of KLM flight London → Amsterdam in Business

Airline KLM
Flight KL1028
Class Business
Seat 1A
Aircraft Embraer E-190
Flight time 00:50
Take-off 27 May 17, 20:00
Arrival at 27 May 17, 21:50
KL   #41 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1054 reviews
Rewardflying
By 1437
Published on 18th July 2017
photo klm1028 cover

Virgin Atlantic 301 touched down at Heathrow and proceeded to Terminal 3. KLM was departing out of Terminal 4. This gave me the opportunity to see why LHR is such a disaster. I certainly got my daily exercise just walking from the gate in T3 to transit security screening.

Upon arrival the Virgin Atlantic pilot announced that British Airways cancelled all its flights due to a computer issue and of course everyone who flew Virgin Atlantic were smart for doing so. Apparently Terminal 5 was the real disaster on this day and I was lucky to avoid it. In fact the trip through transit security in the bowels of Terminal 3 and the bus ride to Terminal 4, via Terminal 2, were void of passengers sans a handful. Even Terminal 4 wasn't crazy.

I spent some time in Delta's lounge. No photos. It was nice. I just wanted to get on KLM.

Boarding began right on time. This short trip was on an Embraer 190 and operated by KLM CityHopper.

photo klm1028 cabin 2

For short hops these E-190's are really nice aircraft. While there was no chance my bag would fit in the overhead, this cabin had a large closet (shown here with the door closed) that easily fit my bag and many more. Also note the legroom in row one and lucky me as my boarding pass flashed 1A.

photo klm1028 cabin legroom

Some seat photos as well as legroom.

photo klm1028 cabin seat 1photo klm1028 cabin seat 2photo klm1028 cabin seat 3

Flying time is a mere 40 minutes.

photo klm1028 flight path

I expected nothing in the way of food service, maybe just a bottle of water or a coffee. Within minutes of being airborne I was handed a box. I thought it might be something like a box of chocolates where I'd pick one. I had no idea it was dinner!

photo klm1028 food pres-1

And a printed menu.



Call me impressed.
photo klm1028 food 1

Fresh ingredients.
photo klm1028 food 4photo klm1028 food 2

Call me even more impressed as I preferred the salad over Virgin Atlantic's herbed fish.

An Emirates A380 on roll.

photo klm1028 scenic lhr 5

Followed by an Etihad A380. (That little spec above EY's tail is the EK A380 that just departed.

photo klm1028 scenic lhr 6

It was a beautiful day in London. This departure was after 9PM and the sun was just setting.

photo klm1028 scenic sunset 1photo klm1028 scenic sunset 2

We landed in Amsterdam on one of their runways that's in another country. Seemed like the taxi to the gate was longer than the flight itself. But this flight was a pleasant surprise. The weather was to be beautiful in Amsterdam. While tired, I was looking forward to seeing the sights before heading home on American's 787 that I've tried to fly 4 different times.

Then it all fell apart.

For a full recap on the trip around the world and no fresh along with more ratings on this flight visit Reward Flying
See more

Verdict

KLM

6.3/10
Cabin6.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.0

SkyTeam Lounge - 4

5.5/10
Comfort6.0
Meal/catering6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Services5.0

London - LHR

4.3/10
Efficiency3.5
Access3.5
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Amsterdam - AMS

7.0/10
Efficiency4.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

This 40 minute hop has me keen to fly KLM long haul someday. Now about that award space.....

Information on the route London (LHR) → Amsterdam (AMS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 15 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Amsterdam (AMS).

Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est KLM avec 7.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 8 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 404699 by
    socalnow 976 Comments
    Thanks for the latest installment, Rewardflying. Dare I say the meal on the 45 min. segment looked more appitizing than the VS meal on the 540 minute segment with VS? I know things didn't go to plan on this trip but it could have been worse. The BA IT meltdown was avoided... Thanks again and happy flying.
  • Comment 404700 by
    Rewardflying AUTHOR 493 Comments
    "Dare I say the meal on the 45 min. segment looked more appitizing than the VS meal on the 540 minute segment with VS?"
    -Spot on!

    Except I'm on BA441 AMS-LHR the next day....Stay tuned.
  • Comment 405368 by
    hometoyyz 539 Comments
    Thanks for a great report on this short segment, RF! As unimpressed as I am by the seat (why must Euro-J suck when there are so many great J seats on Embraers elsewhere in the world), I'm also very impressed by the catering of this little hop.

    "I certainly got my daily exercise just walking from the gate in T3 to transit security screening. "
    - London Heathrow: Going the extra mile to keep you in shape. (That's YOU going the extra mile. Not us.) Even a T2B to T2B connect involves quite an "invigorating" walk to T2A and back again....

    "Upon arrival the Virgin Atlantic pilot announced that British Airways cancelled all its flights due to a computer issue and of course everyone who flew Virgin Atlantic were smart for doing so."
    - Stick that knife in, man. :-) If this Captain had gone on to say the IT meltdown probably wouldn't matter, since BA flies so many Boeings and therefore would likely have to cancel the flight anyways, I'd wonder if it were a certain podcast co-host captaining your flight.... but then, he only flies the Airbuses, needless to say, not the (as he would say) "Binliners."

    Thank again! Looking forward to seeing if there are any "adventures" in the post-meltdown BA flight coming up.

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