This morning it was time to fly to Nairobi, my first flight visiting Kenya. Always exciting to tick off a new country on my FR24 map.
KLM would be doing the honours of flying me from Edinburgh to Amsterdam first on the Boeing 737-800, PH-BGC, 13 years old. This aircraft has been refitted with the new Boeing Sky Interior and seats; also had wifi installed.
View from seat 4A.
Takeoff was scheduled at 0600. Slot time of 15mins and began the takeoff roll at 0615 for a flying time of 1hr 10mins at a cruising altitude of 39,000ft.
At check in, I was offered an ‘upgrade’ to Europe Business class for £48 due to my FB Platinum status. This was also offered on my flight to NBO for ~£750; I opted to remain in Economy for the AMS-NBO sector.
Breakfast was presented lovely in the KLM box however was rather disappointing (in my opinion). Lots of bread and some tomatoes; some cold meats etc would have been nice. Yes, I had a white wine for breakfast to compensate for the dull offering!
Crew were very friendly and attentive as usual on my KLM flights.
We were treated to some stunning views on the way to Amsterdam and generally clear, smooth skies.
We landed smoothly and on time on the Schiphol Polderbaan and made our long taxi journey to the terminal.
I had a few hours connection to enjoy the KLM Crown Lounge before the flight to Nairobi.
I really like the look of the new KLM narrowbody cabins...it's like it's a whole new cooler airline haha. The old interiors were really looking drab. Based on how often new cabins pop up in Flight-Reports it looks like the rollout is going rather quickly.
While KLM have maintained a decent level of service in Y through most of the pandemic, keeping free sandwiches and alcoholic drinks while many carriers have either dropped service or gone to buy-on-board, the intra-European J catering has looked to be lacklustre...still serving meals in boxes in April 2022...yikes! (Wow that was a long sentence...haha)
Thanks for a very nice report as always!
Thanks Kevin! Yeah, I think lots of the 737s have had the cabin refresh which I agree, was long due....shame the A320neos will be coming on line soon! I'm told the 737 will be around for another 6 years possibly though.
In respect of long haul, I have noticed some changes too - no spirits; only beer and wine, no butter served with the bread rolls and the small cake rather than a desert in economy. I guess we should still be thankful in current circumstances while everyone tries to claw back some money from the pandemic.
Great review, looks like you had a really nice experience with KLM!
They're one of my favourite airlines!
Thanks Jett, one of my top favourites too!