Review of KLM flight Amsterdam Abu Dhabi in Economy

Airline KLM
Flight KL451
Class Economy
Seat 31A
Aircraft Airbus A330-200
Flight time 06:30
Take-off 08 Sep 19, 11:35
Arrival at 08 Sep 19, 20:05
KL   #43 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1049 reviews
Triple7lover
Published on 20th February 2020

Hello everyone and welcome to another flight report. This time its on the worlds oldest operating airline , KLM , from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi. For those interested a video version of this flight report is available on my YouTube channel , the link for that is attached above.


Anyways to commence my journey , hopped on a train bound for Schiphol Airport. After a quick 30 minute ride made it to the airport. Train journeys  in The Netherlands can be very scenic especially when passing through the countryside.


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At the check in desks for KLM there were no  lines for  specific flights hence it was quite crowded during that morning. But many  people like me had already checked in online so i  only had to drop my bag hence it speeded up the entire process.


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After check in , immigration and security  time to head to my gate. Schiphol is quite a huge airport with decent number of  duty free shops and restaurants.


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Another cool thing is that Schiphol has these huge windows which make up for some really good plane spotting.  Here are some  pictures i took of a KLM Boeing 777-200ER and a Boeing 747-400.


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After making it to my gate got a good view of the A330 that would be flying me out to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft in question is an Airbus A330-200 with the registration of PH-AON that was delivered to KLM in April 2008.


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After some time it was time to board the aircraft. Got another picture of the a330 through the jet bridge .


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My seat for the flight was 31A  that was a little behind the wing in the aft economy cabin. 


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The seat features included a decent sized IFE screen and a USB port. The legroom in my opinion was  ok although i have travelled on a330s with many airlines and this one can get abit cramped on a very long flight. Also an ife box present under the seat obstructs a little of the leg space available.


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On the seat present were a comfortable pillow and blanket. The cabin crew then distributed some earphones. Nothing special about them just basic earphone that do the job.


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The seat pocket  contents consisted of a KLM A330 safety card , "Holland Herald" inflight magazine and a waste bag.


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About 30 minutes behind schedule departure time we pushed back from our gate. An Air Europa Boeing 787-8 at one of  the gates getting prepared for its flight to Madrid.


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Taxing past an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER get†ing prepped for its flight to Dubai. Its pretty amazing how extensive there flight network is.No matter what airport you visit , small or big, you will always see an Emirates aircraft


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Today we are not take off from Polderbaan so luckily not a long taxi. We took off from Runway 18L.After lining up on the Runway we are off on our way to Abu Dhabi.


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For those  interested the take off from Amsterdam is linked above


We climb to our cruising altitude while flying over the ever so green Dutch countryside.


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Shortly after we reached cruising altitude , the cabin crew distributed a bottle of water and a refreshing towel. This i felt was a good touch as water keeps you hydrated while the refreshing towel just overall keeps you fresh.


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Meanwhile some awesome views outside my window as we cruise at 36000 feet.


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Shortly the lunch service commenced. For the main meal there was a choice of either chicken or pasta for which i opted for the pasta option.. It consisted of pasta in a white cream sauce with black olives and Gouda cheese. Along with it came a nice serving of fresh salad  with a dressing , a soft muffin , bun and some other condiments like cheese, butter and crackers. There was also a wide selection of drinks for which i opted for a glass of coke. The meal overall was hearty and fresh , definitely one of the best pasta dishes  i have had on an aircraft.


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A little after lunch a tea and coffee service was done for which i opted for a cup of coffee.


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The cabin overall was pretty basic but it did  have this really nice blue mood lighting.


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The IFE that KLM has to offer in my opinion is pretty good. It has good selection of TV shows , movies and other things to do. However this can't be comparable to the likes of Emirates or Qatar Airways IFEs.


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Some more nice views as we cruise to our destination


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After glancing through  the inflight duty free decided to get my self this KLM Boeing 787-10  model in 1:250 scale for my collection. This model is quite special as this livery commemorates the 100th Birthday of the airline.


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After purchasing the model aircraft, i fell asleep and woke around 2 hours before landing in Abu Dhabi. It was  slowly getting dark outside.


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The cabin crew shortly served the pre landing snack accompanied with a choice of drink. The snack consisted of a delicious cheese  pizza and  i got myself a glass of coke. Overall the catering on this flight was really good.


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After some time we commenced our descent into Abu Dhabi in complete darkness.


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I have to say Abu Dhabi really looked amazing at night from the sky with all the lights illuminating the city.


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We touched down in Abu Dhabi International Airport at 8:05 pm local time . Good job the the pilots for the extremely smooth touchdown ,   KLM pilots are known for them.


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A quick taxi from the runway and we make it to our gate bringing us to the end of the flight report.


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Verdict

KLM

7.5/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering8.0

Amsterdam - AMS

6.8/10
Efficiency7.0
Access6.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.0

Abu Dhabi - AUH

6.8/10
Efficiency6.5
Access6.5
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Overall it was a pleasant first flight experience for me onboard KLM.The seat was comfortable enough for the 6 hour flight, i guess considering i travelled with Qatar Airways recently still thinking of the super comfortable economy class Boeing 777 seat. The IFE had a really good selection of movies,, TV shows etc although not as extensive as the middle eastern big boys. The catering on this flight , i really enjoyed it .The meals were fresh and tasty.The cabin crew on this flight were really one of the cheerful crews i have flown with , always smiling and doing a professional job . To conclude it was a pleasure flying onboard a airline has been around for more than 100 years now and wouldnt mind to fly with them again in the near future.

Information on the route Amsterdam (AMS) Abu Dhabi (AUH)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 9 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Amsterdam (AMS) → Abu Dhabi (AUH).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Etihad Airways avec 8.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 6 heures et 33 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 542886 by
    fiftytwo GOLD 1418 Comments
    Hi

    Thanks for the report

    I see they still send non retrofitted planes to AUH , it is sad

    The new seats with modern IFE are quite nice but you were not lucky that day

    How much did you paid for the replica ???

    By the way , your statement is not correct . You need to say "No matter what airport....you will always see a Turkish airlines aircraft" . This is more accurate
    • Comment 543304 by
      Triple7lover AUTHOR 27 Comments
      Hi thanks for your comment . Ya was abit disappointed didn’t get a retrofitted a330 but still I didn’t have any issue . The model aircraft if IRemember correctly costed me 20 US dollars . And ya I quite agree with your statement as TK do operate to more destinations than EK ?
  • Comment 543049 by
    ThomasDutch SILVER 633 Comments
    Thanks for sharing your report. You departed from RWY 36C btw and not 18L :)

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