Review of KLM flight from Munich to Amsterdam in Economy

Hi all,

After finishing my last rotation at 6.30 am after a week of night rotations, I was booked by my company on the second flight of KLM to be back home well in time to celebrate new year's eve with a small possibility to have somewhat of a rest. Unfortunately the first (7 am) flight was too early to catch for us given that we were not allowed to land in Munich before 6 am local due to regulations.

While we finished our duty by tidying our aircraft, the handling picked us up to bring us over to the general aviation terminal rather than the terminal for our departure with KLM as we still had to clear customs. We also asked if we could stay in their office for a while to have a chance to relax somewhat and grab a coffee, which they kindly approved.

About 90 minutes prior to departure, the kind handling brought us over to Terminal 1 section D which was being used by KLM for their flights to Amsterdam. Transport was somewhat done with a luxurious van.

He dropped us off in front of the main entrance to a somewhat minor and old terminal. Terminal 1 is nowhere near as good as Terminal 2, which is being used by Lufthansa obviously. 

Unlike my previous flight where I could check-in online without any verification, this flight required us to do so and the waiting line took about 30 minutes for me to clear. It went very slow for the first 15 minutes, but when all Sky Priority passengers were checked in, the pace went up.

Security took another solid 15 minutes with little possibilities for any distancing as they had a major clutter of people waiting in line for all four security lines. The D section of the terminal consisted of a few duty free shops and coffeeshops with only two shops being open in which you needed to wear a FFP2 mask, show your vaccination certificate and passport and only one bar to grab a drink and somewhat of food.

Seating availability was sufficient for the amount of passengers at this time of the day with little action other than a Boeing 737-800 of Air Europa.

View from the window. No aircraft yet.

It took about 15 minutes or so for our aircraft to appear. Our flight was going to be PH-BXZ, which is a 13,9 year old Boeing 737-800 who has solely been in service 

By the time I positioned myself into my seat, this Boeing 737-800 of Air Europa took an available stand after arriving from Madrid.

It was the same old cabin as my flight to Munich, though the actual load was better on this flight with J class being full and Y class around 55 to 60% load. The lady in front of my seat told one of the flight attendants that she was afraid of flying due to an emergency she used to have in Costa Rica and I must say props to him, because the entire cabin crew did their best to calm her throughout the flight and to check in with her from time to time.

Captain checked in with us to thank us for once again a speedy boarding and that flight time would approximately be 1 hour and 20 minutes from the moment we were airborne. Pushback was performed about 5 minutes prior to our scheduled departure and gave us a view of this Turkish A330 who'se being prepped for a return flight back to Istanbul.

Ready for departure after a landing Airbus A350 of Lufthansa. I'm longing for some longhaul flights again when my time permits me to do so.

We were airborne about 8 minutes past our scheduled departure time in westerly direction.

Legroom in the back was definitely tighter than in the front, but it was sufficient for the length of this flight. Legroom today wasn't going to be an issue to me anyway as I had no passenger sitting next to me. The aft cabin was mostly free due to the fact that KLM made a last-minute change from a -700 version to a -800 version.

A lovely day to fly.

I must say that this cabin crew was doing an excellent job to provide us with the best service they possibly can. A sandwich was provided to us with a spread of Beemster cheese, eggs and some more items I couldn't memorize. A bit dry, but it will do for the flight.

Though KLM does not provide a full drink service on the earlier morning flights, they did offer tea, coffee, a short selection of softdrinks and juices. I took a coffee. 

The cabin crew did an extra round of food service for those who were hungry when they finished serving our drinks.  

While the ride to Amsterdam was nothing but smooth, it would change in our approach as Amsterdam was very rainy and windy.

Landing would be on 18C today and luckily not the infamous 18R.

Another 737-800 of AirEuropa departing from RWY 24 to Madrid.

Blue Air's new livery looks much better than their older one, while the one from PLAY is definitely one that stands out.

No checks were performed and we could walk immediately to our baggage belt, but it would not take more than five minutes for our baggage to arrive on the belt.

Done with the flight, it was now time for me to return home by public transport only to find out that all trains to Utrecht were canceled due to a train blocking the path for all trains. The only option was to proceed to Amsterdam itself and take a train to Utrecht from there as those trains took a different path to Utrecht. In the end the tighter connections did not delay my arrival time to home.

Happy new year and the best wishes to everyone!