Hello everyone and welcome to another flight report. Today I will be flying onboard a KLM Airbus A330-300 on a flight from Amsterdam to Riyadh. For those interested, a video version of this flight report is available on my YouTube channel. It is linked above.
My journey begins at Hengelo Train station located in the eastern part of the country. The train journey to Schiphol Airport was 2 hours long and it was quite a picturesque one considering how beautiful the country is.
After reaching the airport, I made my way to the KLM desks assigned for my flight. Because I had already check-in online I only had to drop off my bag and get my boarding pass so the procedure was fairly simple.
With the current staff shortage in Europe , the security and immigration procedures easily took around 2 hours to be completed. But i am finally in the departure hall now. Its so good to see busy travelers in airports and not like something that looks like a scene from an apocalypse movie.
Schiphol Airport is a very spotter friendly airport so i decided to pass some time by spotting my aircrafts.
I then made my way to my assigned gate and my aircraft was already being loaded with catering. The aircraft for today is a 10.6 year old Airbus A330-300 with the registration of PH-AKD. After landing in Riyadh this flight will continue onwards to Dubai.
It was time to then board the Airbus A330.
Made my way to 33J that would be my home for the next 6 hours.
The seat consisted of a decently sized IFE screen along with a USB port. The legroom on this older A330 was surprisingly quite ample and something I didn't expect considering i flew on a KLM A330-200 before and the legroom that time was slightly cramped up.
The seat pocket contents consisted of an air sickness bag and a safety card. Sadly still no Inflight magazine. Blankets were on each seat with pillows available on request.
We pushed back from our gate around 30 minutes late. The flight crew informed us that this was due to some passengers arriving late and loading of the last pieces of luggage.
We then made our way to the active runway. Schiphol Airport has 6 runways and Runway for us today will be Runway 36C also known as "Zwanenburgbaan"
After lining up on the runway , we take off on our way to Riyadh.
Some beautiful sites of this stunning country as we climb to our cruising altitude
Shortly after reaching cruising altitude, the cabin crew distributed a bottle of water and a small "hygiene kit". This was followed by the earphones for the IFE system.
Around an hour into the flight the lunch service commenced. For the main meal there was an option of either vegetarian or chicken for which I opted for the later option. For the starter it was a quinoa and feta salad .The main meal was stir fired chicken with beans and rice. Along with a fresh roll and cheese was served and I opted for a glass of coke as my drink of choice.
Decided to watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine with my meal. Are there any fans of this show out here like me ?
30 minutes after the lunch service , a lemon tart was served with which I opted for a cup of coffee.
The view of the cabin from my seat. I love the blue mood lighting as it matches KLM theme.
Meanwhile we cruise high above the Greek Islands at 35000 feet.
The IFE system onboard KLM has a good selection of movies, TV shows etc to keep you busy throughout the flight. My only critic is if there were entire seasons for TV shoes rather then individual episodes it would have been much better.
Its always a stunning sight to capture a sunset at 36000 feet.
An hour before arrival into Riyadh , a pre landing snack was served. It consisted of a Margherita Panini with which i opted for a glass of orange juice that I forgot to take a picture of.
We then commenced our descent into King Khalid International airport in complete darkness.
On final approach for Runway 15R. And we touch down in Riyadh on time.
After a quick taxi we made our way to to the international terminal and to our gate , bringing us to the end of the flight report.
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Nice report! It's funny how the 333 Economy cabins were the newest in the fleet when they began updating the Business class cabins to fully flat so they didn't change out the Economy seats, but now these are definitely looking old school compared to the newer seats on 777/787. Nevertheless, they are very comfortable as you mention. I'd flown on KL A330s several times in the past and always found it a very comfortable experience for Economy. The main meal looks quite good, especially by Covid-era standards!
Thanks for sharing!