Review of KLM flight Singapore → Denpasar in Economy

Introduction

If I were to award a ‘Flight of the Year’ prize for my favourite flight taken in 2023, I bet this would be the winner. It’s a complete no-contest — flying the third and last major alliance for the first time, that too on an alliance-liveried aircraft, on the world’s oldest airline, belonging to a country in faraway Europe, taking me the furthest east I’d ever been, to an all-new country in the Southern Hemisphere, specifically the ‘Island of the Gods’ in the world’s largest archipelago, with the sun gorgeously making its descent, on the holy Buddhist holiday of Vesak… an airline that is as old as it is cool and lovably quirky.

Nothing else comes close. Not the two return flights to Singapore on Garuda Indonesia’s A330-300s, with pretty stickers of their own and lovely entrancing boarding/landing music, via the megalopolis of Jakarta, the largest city in Southeast Asia. Not the Vistara A321neo I had the pleasure of flying to Mumbai’s glamorous T2 in March, nor the battered little Air India A319 with outstanding crew and food. Not even my previous flight — indeed my first fifth-freedom flight, with this one being the second — on Ethiopian Airlines’ 787-8, on the birthday of the Star Alliance as well as the aircraft that flew me home, after a wild, wondrous weekend trip across Kuala Lumpur three weeks before. In fact, a week after the trip, I even went ahead and bought diecast models of both this (PH-BVD) and my next aircraft (PK-GHC) plus another (9V-STU, a now-retired Singapore Airlines A330 in white Star Alliance livery): pictures in the ‘Travelling Bonus’ at the end.

Presenting, dear ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a review of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KL835 from Singapore to Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia, operated by PH-BVD, a Boeing 777-300ER in the SkyTeam livery!!! (thunderous applause)

Note: My next two reports will be on Singapore Airlines to Bengaluru (June/July 2023) — which will be published in October — instead of the return from Denpasar on Garuda Indonesia, as for some reason I can’t find many of the pictures I’d taken of those two flights. I plan to publish them in November after I retrieve all the photos. Also, throughout this report I will refer to the airline only as KLM, not using its IATA code KL, since the latter may be mistaken for Kuala Lumpur, which forms a big part of my previous reports.

Details and background

Booking process and why I chose two SkyTeam airlines to Indonesia

For the longest time I’d wanted to go to Indonesia, specifically the paradise island of Bali — the ‘Love’ in Eat Pray Love — and I earmarked the Vesak (Buddhist New Year) weekend in early June for the purpose. So much the better, then, that not only is Indonesia home to one of the world’s most-awarded airlines for its cabin crew, but also gets service from the Dutch flag carrier due to the strong historic ties between the two countries. Best of all, they are both part of the SkyTeam alliance, which — despite not having as many high-ranked airlines as Oneworld and Star — I think has the best logo by far of the three alliances. Since I’d never flown on SkyTeam, it was obvious that Indonesia would be the best destination country to do so. (Who knew, though, that on Mother’s Day night at KLIA, a SkyTeam-liveried Xiamen Air 737 would be a sign of what was to come?!)

Not that this flight came cheap, and since KLM charges for carrying even one checked-in bag over and above the base fare, the final price shot up by much more than I would’ve liked to S$420, or around US$310. In contrast, Garuda’s one-stop hop via Jakarta on two A330-300s cost significantly less, at S$310 or US$225, also including two free checked bags. Either way, flying on two SkyTeam airlines (with one being from the home country) was absolutely the only way I would make my first trip to Indonesia, that too all on widebody aircraft — including two A330-300s, one of my favourite widebody aircraft ever. No expense would be too big for that, and I splurged the cash in mid-April, shortly after my return from India on another airline from a lush tropical island: SriLankan Airlines, also on two A330 flights — but both were operated by the same aircraft, a 23-year-old (very well-maintained) A330-200. Still, I don’t otherwise have any particular fondness for the A330-200, whereas the A330-300 is one of my favourite widebodies ever, so this was an easy no-brainer.

Avgeek trivia on KLM and Garuda’s exotic routes

KLM’s Asian fifth-freedom routes: KLM now operates the 777-300ER (PH-BV* series) on the AMS–SIN–DPS route year-round, instead of switching it up with the -200ER (PH-BQ* series), which despite being built in the early-to-mid-2000s still boast of a modern, cutting-edge onboard product — as with other European 777-200ER operators like Air France, Austrian and British Airways. (Which is more than can be said for Thai Airways’ horrible 777-200ERs, which are much newer but were never refurbished, as I had the misfortune of experiencing last year. Asian airlines in general do a horrible job with 777-200ERs, from Thai to Korean to Asiana. Fortunately Vietnam/Singapore/Malaysia/Japan Airlines have retired theirs.)

KLM is one of a handful of airlines, along with Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish Airlines, to operate a large variety of fifth-freedom flights in Asia* originating from Amsterdam: Seoul to Taipei (KL845/846), Seoul to Osaka (KL867/868), Kuala Lumpur to Manila (KL805/806), Singapore to Jakarta (KL837/838) and Singapore to Denpasar (KL835/836) which is what I’ll talk about here. Currently, in the northern summer season, KL835 from Singapore to Denpasar is served five times weekly and KL837 to Jakarta only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which probably reflects the strong demand to DPS during the summer. In any case, Singapore gets a daily flight to Amsterdam during the summer schedule. Come winter, however, and the Singapore to Jakarta flight is replaced by a Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta flight (KL809/810) while maintaining the SIN–DPS flight year-round. Here’s a report of the CGK–KUL service in early 2020, just before the world came to a standstill.

In fact, KLM also used to fly between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL833/834 and KL839/840) but these have been scrapped, and Ethiopian — as I flew the previous month — is now the only fifth-freedom operator on Southeast Asia’s busiest international route. Besides the above cities, KLM’s nonstop Asian destinations include Tokyo Narita in Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China; and Delhi, Mumbai and my current home city of Bengaluru in India. (Alliance and strategic partner Air France also serves Chennai, my former home city, in addition to the other three Indian cities.)

*There used to be more fifth-freedom flights from Bangkok — KL803/804 (AMS–BKK–MNL), KL819/820 (AMS–BKK–HKG) and KL843/844 (AMS–BKK–TPE) — but these have been replaced by a single KL875/876 flight to Bangkok. Hong Kong gets a direct flight; Taipei is now served via Seoul and Manila via Kuala Lumpur. Moreover, KLM operates many more fifth-freedom routes in South America like Buenos Aires (EZE) to Santiago (SCL), plus many triangular routes in the Caribbean and Africa. Who knew that it has a triangular flight to San José and Liberia in Costa Rica in Central America?!

Garuda’s domestic widebodies: Meanwhile, much as Garuda has shrunk its fleet and destinations, with its multi-award-winning first class almost vanishing into thin air, DPS–CGK and CGK–SIN are two routes where you’re assured of getting the A330-300 on at least some frequencies instead of its typical 737-800s. (It has just two 777-300ERs with first class (PK-GIG, in a Republik Indonesia/retro Garuda crossover livery, and PK-GIF) that fly from Jakarta to Amsterdam, and occasionally to Denpasar.) It would’ve been even nicer if I were to get its A330-900neo, of which it has only three (PK-GHE/GHF/GHG) — it having cancelled its remaining A330-900neo orders — plus two more (PK-GYA/GYC) which are in an all-economy layout and have subsidiary Citilink’s livery. (Astonishingly, however, it still has the deeply unpopular A330-800neo on order, despite slashing or cancelling all its other orders, which would mean that Garuda may become the world’s only airline to have operated all variants of the A330!)

Nevertheless, as someone who seeks to avoid any and all 737s, the GA407/836 pairing was the obvious choice to bag the A330-300, on top of which GA407 is often operated by one of the two 777-300ERs with first class, though I’d rather take an A330-300 over another 777. However, even if you do get a 737 on Garuda, you’re unlikely to be disappointed — they are perhaps the best 737-800s in Southeast Asia, seatback IFE and all, with only Singapore Airlines’ next-level 737 MAXes with flat beds beating them soundly. (Note that GA retired its sole 737 MAX after the global groundings and pandemic, never bringing it back to service. In general, GA isn’t going to order any new aircraft any time soon, other than perhaps the A330-800neos.)

Enough with the overview, and on with my most memorable flight of 2023! 

Pre-departure

Friday, 2 June. It was a public holiday on account of Vesak, the Buddhist New Year, and I very leisurely proceeded to print the boarding pass — which KLM has designed in the form of a foldable card to be printed on an A4 sheet! Something I had never seen before. What I definitely had seen before, however, was the fact that my flight would be operated by the SkyTeam-liveried 777-300ER — in fact, it was listed on the schedule the previous day itself. That’s never the case for Singapore Airlines’ ex-Changi flights, where the aircraft is always a surprise until you reach the gate, and in fact 9V-SMF (the 10,000th Airbus ever built) was perhaps the most pleasant surprise I have ever received in this way!

No, this isn’t Changi, though it’s close. This is Bedok Mall, one of the largest near the eastern end of Singapore, and a major bus interchange — aside from being the closest station to my new home on Marine Parade Road beside the sea, where I moved in mid-June. From here it was one stop away to Tanah Merah on the MRT train system, from where those bound for Changi Airport switch trains.

This was Changi Airport’s MRT station, the easternmost in Singapore. By the late 2030s, Terminal 5 — the biggest by far — will be up and running, and the existing MRT lines will be reworked to accommodate it.

Presently, Singapore does not have an ‘airport express’ train, unlike Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and many other cities, as it is not as far from the city centre as the others. Therefore one must interchange at Expo or Tanah Merah before proceeding to other stations.

The entrance to T3 was, well, entrancing — but I wouldn’t go here today. Instead I’d take the Skytrain (as they are called in Changi) to Terminal 1.

On going up the levels to T3, you are faced with the check-in counters for airlines like Etihad, Garuda and Asiana. You turn right, past the Crowne Plaza, and head to the Skytrains, where you wave your hand before a sensor to call one.

When I reached at three o’clock, there were, among others, a dad and three small kids: a girl and two boys, all around six or seven years old. The children chattered around their father well into the train ride, with the girl being the most animated of the lot. 

On reaching T1, a horde of passengers (many of them families) buzzed around. Another single parent — a mom this time — firmly led her little kids, a girl and a boy, by their hand into the Skytrains.

T1 plays host to a number of airlines from near and far, ranging from global carriers like Air France–KLM and JAL to small ones within the region like Myanmar Airways International and Bangkok Airways, neither of which operates anything bigger than an A320.

The check-in process was mostly automated by way of a kiosk, which a large number of third-party carriers (i.e., non-Singapore Airlines/Scoot) have here. In a matter of minutes, the boarding pass and the passport were scanned, and the physical (very, very un-designed and plain) boarding pass was spit out.

I, fortunately, had no trouble checking in my single suitcase and filling in the online customs declaration form. Which is more than could be said for a group of three women — one each Russian and Singaporean plus a Filipina maidservant — and a baby. The only male passenger in that group was strapped to his mother’s chest, blinking his tiny eyes, blissfully unaware of the fracas she had landed herself into with the check-in agent over not buying a return ticket from Denpasar.

After three years, T1 had opened its early check-in lounge, but only to six Mainland Chinese carriers: Air China and Shenzhen (both Star Alliance), Xiamen Air (SkyTeam) and its parent China Southern (ex-SkyTeam), and two little-known regional airlines, Chongqing Airlines and Hebei Airlines, which are themselves owned by Xiamen and China Southern.

Major international airlines like Singapore Airlines, Air France–KLM, Emirates, Qantas and Finnair are instead housed at the Jewel Changi’s equivalent (and much more luxurious) facility.

Awaiting the Argentum from Amsterdam

For the uninitiated, argentum is the Latin name of the chemical element silver, hence its symbol Ag. Similarly, gold’s symbol is Au, from aurum. There aren’t many gold planes out there, but there definitely are many silver ones from airlines like American, SAS, Jetstar and formerly Aeroflot — and above all those in the SkyTeam livery, including mine. (Qatar Airways uses grey, not silver.)

The lion’s share of the departures were on Scoot, as above, but there was astonishingly enough a one-off flight to Ulaanbaataar on MIAT Mongolian Airlines. I almost managed to click a picture of the airline’s sole 767 as it was landing, but couldn’t. Still, with the arrival of two brand-new 787-9s, this tiny all-Boeing Central Asian airline (which wants to join Oneworld Connect?!?!) will be better equipped to serve Europe, Southeast Asia and even the United States.

There was certainly no dearth of picturesque sights, but what was happening right now wasn’t so pretty. A man had gotten into an altercation with another, who was hollering ‘Go away!’ and ‘Don’t stand near me!’ over and over again. Before long, though, the fight subsided.

A much more fascinating sight awaited beyond the Vuitton and Prada boutiques, and outside the window. The typical yellow Scoot aircraft aside — not a pleasant memory — there were a Qantas A380 (QF1 en route to Heathrow) and a China Airlines Cargo 747 parked in the distance. A small child and his mother took in the view; they, like me, were spellbound.

Another kid was older and alone, and he preferred to scroll through Instagram or TikTok or whatever it is that people have fallen slave to nowadays.

I did not pass up the opportunity to stroll into the nearby WHSmith bookshop in search of a highlighter or other pen. All I found, however, was magazines (including a special on Priyanka Chopra) and souvenirs — not much stationery. Yet another little one stood alone, unaware of the village of books around him.

More Chinese-speaking planes in the distance: an EVA Air 777-300ER, a China Eastern A320 and an unidentified one from Cathay Pacific to join the China Airlines Cargo 747. Also, two FedEx 767s/777s.

I popped into Mango Tree Kitchen, an exquisitely decorated Thai bistro with on-the-go bites on sale, as I awaited the arrival of the silver stunner from the Orange Country, which took her own time to descend. (No, not Orange County in California, but Oraanje Country in Europe.)

It was only at 3:46pm that PH-BVD made her landing, and I recorded every second of it. It’s not often that I get to capture planes landing, all the more so for a special occasion like this.

As usual, I filled in my aviation-illiterate parents on the significance of this gorgeous beast, and of the importance of my first flight on the SkyTeam alliance being on an aircraft with the alliance livery. And, moreover, on what fifth-freedom flights were!

More families of all sorts ambled past the toy and souvenir shops, which seemed to beckon the starry-eyed young ones to their doors.

I, on my part, headed to a money changer run by local bank UOB, and exchanged S$90 for one million rupiah. A contrast between Southeast Asia’s joint-strongest currency (alongside the Brunei dollar, whose value is always equal to the SGD) and its second-weakest, with the weakest being the Vietnamese dong.

PH-BVD now stood at Gate C22, with some passengers from Amsterdam disembarking, and those bound for Denpasar (both continuing from AMS and originating at SIN) went through the security check. This aircraft remains one of the most splendid sights I have ever seen at a gate hosting my flight, with only 9V-SMF — the 10,000th Airbus ever built — sparking similar joy inside me. This is one of the airline’s older 777-300ERs, a ‘teenager’ built in 2009, with others like the latest PH-BVW being two-year-old ‘infants’.

People, both Asian and European, queued up to enter the holding pen, and this gave me a good opportunity to practise a goeienavond on an elderly Dutch woman and adult daughter who were chatting merrily.

Meanwhile, two yellow-and-blue aircraft passed us by: RP-C4158, a sunny A320neo of Cebu Pacific as 5J537, and D-ABYG, a stately 747-8 of Lufthansa from Frankfurt as LH778, barely minutes after A350 D-AIXQ from Munich as LH790.

If Lufthansa is the boss of the Star Alliance, Shenzhen Airlines is an unheard-of minnow, with very few non-Chinese ever having heard of this airline. However, as is the norm for so many unheralded Chinese airlines, it has well over 200 aircraft. One of its A320s, B-8409, had now turned up from its namesake city as ZH9023.

It’s a sharp contrast how China has three big state-owned airlines, each with their own subsidiaries like Xiamen Air and Shenzhen Airlines, plus countless regional carriers — all while India has almost turned into a duopoly of IndiGo and the Air India group (including Vistara and AirAsia India) with others, most recently Akasa Air, facing turbulence. The two most populous countries in the world could not be more different in terms of their airlines’ fleet sizes, with China having multiple airlines with over 200 aircraft and India having only one. China’s airlines were as booming before the pandemic as India’s were shrinking — but will the tables now turn?

At another gate stood A330-200 VH-EBP, having landed as QF81 from Sydney, which complements the QF1 A380 service — as seen above — that continues to London Heathrow.

Here were some of the other arrivals at this time, with more than half of the aircraft here NOT having 9V registrations — something I’ve done in order to show the diversity of foreign airlines at Changi. Especially Europeans and Down-Unders.

I promise this is the last Oneworld or Star airline I’ll be talking about in a report that’s supposed to be dedicated to SkyTeam. The local hero’s 787-10 9V-SCN had touched down as SQ671 from Nagoya’s Centrair Airport. Like Osaka–Kansai, Hong Kong and Seoul/Incheon airports, this is built on an artificial island — something that seems unique to Northeast Asia.

Here, at last, was Bravo Victor Delta (no pun intended) in all her breathtaking beauty. My captions minced no words, and I felt like I was creating a defining moment in my aviation history, one that I’d be proud to recount to my grandchildren!

KLM’s 777-300ERs are named for national parks, with this one being Amboseli, one of the quintessential East African jungle-safari parks, lying at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro — which is also the name of a KLM aircraft, 777-200ER PH-BQK. Amboseli and Maasai Mara are located in Kenya, and Serengeti in neighbouring Tanzania, which together account for most of the big jungle animals. The English name is on the right, the Dutch name (Nationaal Park Amboseli) on the left.

Note that SkyTeam-liveried aircraft do NOT have the alliance logo anywhere near the front of the aircraft, only on the tail, unlike Oneworld-liveried aircraft (which have a big alliance logo up front, instead of the tail) and the Star Alliance, where it’s business at usual with the alliance logo beside the cockpit, and a white Star tail for Singapore Airlines and black for everyone else.

This is in contrast to the regular liveries of SkyTeam airlines, where the alliance logo is not only behind the cockpit but also beside the passenger doors. Star Alliance airlines have only the cockpit logo, and Oneworld airlines only the door logo — that too only on the left side, with only a handful like Iberia, S7 and Malaysia Airlines (and formerly LATAM/LAN) also painting it on the right.

After some time, boarding was called, and this being a full-service carrier plus an alliance member, those with Flying Blue/SkyTeam Elite (Plus) status were called first alongside World Business Class passengers, followed by the hoi polloi in cattle class. I waved my raggedy boarding pass, the most uninspired I’ve ever seen, which directly conflicts with the airline’s slogan, Journeys of Inspiration!

I felt myself rising on a balloon into the clouds well before the wheels had lifted off the ground, and once I caught sight of the fuselage — although sans the words Royal Dutch Airlines, unlike other KLM aircraft — I turned it into ‘A HISTORIC MOMENT’, as the caption read.

As the sticker said, there was Wi-Fi on board, and while not totally free like SQ, at least messaging was free. The cheery man and woman in their bright blue uniform welcomed us on board one of the very few non-blue aircraft in the over 100-year history of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. And I would now be part of that history, of the oldest airline in the world, on the third and last major airline alliance.

The flight: Boarding and departure

Flight: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL835/KLM835
Date: Friday, 2 June 2023
Route: Singapore Changi (WSSS/SIN) to Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai (WADD/DPS)
Aircraft: PH-BVD, Boeing 777-300ER, named Amboseli National Park/Nationaal Park Amboseli (SkyTeam livery!!!)
Age: 13 years 9 months at the time (built: 11 August 2009, delivered: 24 August 2009)
Seat: 54K
Boarding: 5:00pm SGT/WITA, UTC +8
Departure: 5:35pm SGT/WITA
Arrival: 7:45pm SGT/WITA
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Notes:
• First flight to Indonesia (easternmost destination so far), on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines or on any SkyTeam airline — and also on any alliance-liveried aircraft. Interestingly, PH-BVD and KLM’s other SkyTeam-liveried aircraft — PH-BXO, a 737-900ER built in 2001, and PH-EZX, a much newer KLM Cityhopper Embraer 190 — are the airline’s only aircraft NOT to feature the words ‘Royal Dutch Airlines’ on the fuselage, which are otherwise a standard part of the livery.
• Third flight on the 777-300ER, after EK545 (A6-EPF) and EK546 (A6-ENJ) on Emirates Airline in June 2022 between Chennai and Dubai. Fourth overall on the 777, after the horrible TG338 (HS-TJW) on Thai Airways, also in June 2022.
• Second fifth-freedom flight taken, after ET639 in May 2023 on Ethiopian’s 787-8 (ET-AOV, named Taj Mahal), with another coming at the end of July on the same airline and route, but this time a 787-9 (ET-AUO, named Beijing). I have also booked Gulf Air’s GF166 in November from Bangkok to Singapore, which will be my first 787 outside the Star Alliance. This will also mean that all my fifth-freedom flights in 2023 have been/will be on Boeings, and all other flights on Airbuses!

This being a European airline, Premium Economy seats are a standard feature on all of KLM’s widebody aircraft, alongside the World Business Class in the pointy end which is probably most famous for the legendary Delft blue houses that are handed out, with a new one being released every 7 October on the airline’s birthday. On this ten-abreast 777-300ER, there was a sticker on the lavatory at the entrance pointing passengers to their seats: A–E on one side and F–K on the other.

Economy passengers settled into their squared-out navy-blue seats with aqua-blue headrests. There was quite the load factor, with Singaporeans and Hollanders alike setting out to explore the Island of the Gods.

Instead of the airline and alliance’s logo, seat 54K’s IFE screen showed a montage of pictures of the destination, one of the most coveted in the world. As many as twelve IFE languages were available for selection, including all three from Northeast Asia, which shows you how global KLM is.

Unlike the Maldives, which is strictly for influencers or those with daily four-figure dollar budgets, Bali caters to people of all budgets, dispositions and physical capabilities (read: trekking vs. lazing around — and I’m no trekker).

In the seat pocket were a safety card and, guess what, the Holland Herald magazine! The world’s oldest continuously published inflight magazine has lived on in post-COVID times, unlike those at US, Middle Eastern and (most) Southeast Asian carriers, which have been shown the door for good. India and Africa are two other regions where inflight magazines continue to be going strong. (Case in point: Ethiopian’s Selamta magazine, which I’d taken home the previous month, and would do so again in July.)

Holland Herald was refreshed in April 2022, swapping out the Circular sans-serif and FF Meta Serif fonts — which had been in place for most of the 2010s, including a copy my dad had brought home back in November 2014 — for the universally famous Gotham sans-serif and the little-known Abril serif. Oddly, you won’t find the SkyTeam logo anywhere on the cover, unlike most other members of alliances, which proudly feature the ‘A Star Alliance Member’ or SkyTeam/Oneworld logos on their magazines’ covers.

This being Pride month, the bottom bar had rainbow colours, while the man on the cover was Duncan Laurence, who won the 2019 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest — held in Tel Aviv — for the Netherlands. He has openly identified as bisexual, and lives with his gay partner in Stockholm, one of the world’s coolest and most progressive cities — much like Amsterdam. (After Eurovision 2020 was cancelled due to COVID, the 2021 edition was held in Rotterdam, with Italian hard-rock band Måneskin lifting the title.)

At first glance, the navy blue theme of the IFE isn’t very KLM-like, as it has a much brighter blue, like alliance partner Aerolíneas Argentinas — though not the pale sky blue of its other partner Korean Air, the airline which I love to hate the most because of its outdated livery. 

I couldn’t resist peering into what the IFE system — with its dark metal-blue theme, almost like Singapore Airlines — had written in the information section of the airline.

The world’s oldest continuously operating airline, may I add. It has been a pioneer and trendsetter for much of its existence, including the world’s first inflight magazine, as I mentioned. My heart swelled with pride when I saw the very same PH-BVD I was sitting on at that very moment, and a tear might have rolled down too.

There were several informative (and funny!) ‘day-in-the-life-of’ videos on flight operations and trivia, though probably the best-kept secret is that King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is himself a KLM pilot! (In 2016, the airline ran a humorous campaign for its American travellers that spelled out that those three consecutive letters actually spelled out the name of the world’s oldest airline, and not a radio station!)

The Europeans — especially the French and the Dutch — are big on sustainability, and it’s no surprise that these two governments have implemented the most aviation taxes and bans of any country. (Sweden is perhaps the other country with an aversion to aviation: Google the term flygskam to find out.) So of course KLM had to have a section on sustainability.

And finally connection information and a feedback form.

These, for the record, were the entertainment offerings — the most important part of an IFE system for most passengers, but the least important for me!

Pottery and ceramic: the ingredients of an authentic safety video

At five-twenty-two, KLM’s Royal Delft-pottery safety video was screened, which is as de(l)ft a tribute to its traditions as it is quirky. The illustrations go to show how much of a detail-oriented airline it is. Also, the entire video was in English, including the subtitles, with not a word of Dutch, compared to this trip report on the CGK–KUL route where the cover image itself has a Dutch subtitle. However, all onboard announcements were made in both languages.

At this point Dutch feels and sounds somewhat familiar to me, seeing as it is the closest major relative to English, even though I don’t actually know how to speak the language other than some scattered words — which is actually the case for most European languages. In any case, Amsterdam is a heavily westernised, anglicised city, so you will go much further without knowing the local language than, say, in Athens or Addis Ababa.

Meanwhile outside the window stood A6-EVN, an Emirates A380. Beside Singapore and Emirates, British Airways and Qantas fly their superjumbos here, and so did Lufthansa prepandemic — but never Qatar or the duo from Seoul (Korean and Asiana) which have sent them to Bangkok instead.

As the safety video drew to a close, the focus zoomed out from the intricate tiles to the woman in blue showing the passenger around the factory, while assuring them of total safety at all times.

I suppressed an inward chuckle when we passed 9V-SWI, one of three 777-300ERs (the others being 9V-SWJ and SWM) in white Star Alliance livery. On most days I am the biggest fan of the world’s oldest alliance, but not today, when I was on the world’s oldest airline, in the colours of the world’s youngest major alliance!

Today 9V-MBL — a 737 MAX which entered service in April 2023 after being parked for a year — is SQ’s only other aircraft in alliance livery, now that 9V-STU (whose model I bought a week later, along with PH-BVD itself) and all her A330-300 sisters have been retired.

Elsewhere in the terminal, a China Southern A321neo (B-30F6 — this weird alphanumeric registration series started in 2018) had pulled up alongside its countryman from Shenzhen, while a Qatar Airways A350 and British Airways 777 joined their Australian alliance partner. In the last picture you can also barely see a Bangkok Airways A319 (HS-PGN, facing directly forward) having landed as PG963 from Koh Samui, an airport that is operated by the airline itself.

Some more arrivals at this time: much fewer longhaul flights than previously, as we turned the corner onto the runway.

Two yellow A320s led the way for our giant 777: some Scoot A320 as TR468 to Kuala Lumpur, and RP-C4158 as 5J537 to Angeles City/Clark.

Here was a much better view of the yellow Philippine eagle, the bright yellow-blue-green being much more like the Brazilian football kit than the Philippine national colours.

Now I switched to the inflight map, and there were overviews of KLM’s destinations, like I’d seen on Thai Airways and Vistara. I peered in on Amsterdam and Singapore — there being no Denpasar — and also randomly chose Taipei. 

I don’t get why Taipei isn’t as well-known as Hong Kong or Seoul, despite being a global manufacturing hub, and despite being the world’s only airport that plays home to three renowned luxury-oriented carriers: the Star Alliance’s EVA Air, newcomer Starlux Airlines and SkyTeam partner China Airlines.

And then Kuala Lumpur, whose Batu Caves I’d visited the previous month. A trip I will never forget, much like this one.

At this point GA836 landed from Jakarta — the very same flight I’d take two days later to return to Changi. And, in fact, when my Garuda A330-300 touched down at Changi, we drove past a KLM 777-300ER (a regular one, not this special one) headed for Denpasar. What a way to bookend the trip — poetic justice indeed!

At length, it was time to soar up and away, heading the furthest east I’d ever been, south of the Equator at that. In moments PH-BVD had risen above the ships of Singapore, with the liquid-yellow sun directly over the water.

If my earphones were blasting Olé Olá (We are One) — the 2014 FIFA World Cup’s theme song — six months ago to Bangkok after the 2022 edition in Qatar ended, today it was Rita Ora’s Anywhere. ‘Over the hills and far away / A million miles from LA / Just anywhere away with you…’

Entertainment: magazine and Wi-Fi

The world’s oldest inflight magazine — on the world’s oldest airline

Now I opened the Holland Herald magazine and leafed through the interview of Duncan Laurence, the Netherlands’ first Eurovision-winner since 1975, whose Arcade won the 2019 edition held in Tel Aviv. His adopted home of Sweden is now the joint-most successful country in Eurovision history, tying Ireland (which last won back in 1996) at seven titles, after Loreen — who’d already won in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2012 with Euphoria — also won this year’s edition (held in Liverpool with war-stricken Ukraine technically being the host) with Tattoo.

Next came a photo feature on some of the world’s most picturesque cities: the riverine AMS and BKK, the seaside ATH and BCN and the piazzas of BER and MEX.

I was most excited to see my new Indian home city of Bengaluru featured as the culinary feature of the month!

The airline’s news pages had its fair share of Pride coverage, but the most touching story was that of Jennifer Niemeijer, whose husband succumbed to a heart attack. The widow embarked on a spiritual trip to Bali — exactly where I was headed — and underwent a healing meditation course. She was most astonished when a flight attendant on her return flight presented a garland bedecked with clouds, after knowing of how sad she was to leave the island!

Such heartwarming stories I otherwise see only on Indian airlines like IndiGo and Vistara, which make it a point to include them — especially Tweets (or should we now call them Xes?) from happy passengers — in their magazines.

The fleet page had a glaring error: while extolling the legacy of its PH-BQ* series of 777-200ERs, dating from 2003 to 2007, it had painted the registration PH-BVI on the fuselage, which is a 777-300ER. Now — and this is specific to the 777-200ERs — the name of the aircraft will begin with the final letter of the registration. So, taking the examples in the below picture, the airline’s founder Albert Plesman lends his name to PH-BQA, while Mount Kilimanjaro, Pont du Gard, Macchu Picchu and Hadrian’s Wall — UNESCO World Heritage Sites all — are the respective names of PH-BQK, BQP (the last 777-200ER), BQM and BQH. As 777-200ERs are named after UNESCO World Heritage Sites and -300ERs like this one after national parks, so KLM names its 787s (both -9s, PH-BH*, and -10s, PH-BK*) after flowers, its 737s (PH-BC*/BG*/BX*/HS*) after birds and its A330s (both -200s, PH-AO*, and -300s, PH-AK*) after plazas and squares.

All of these -200ERs remain in service after nearly two decades, and it is only in the late 2020s that these (and also the handful of A330s, currently KLM’s only Airbuses) will be replaced with A350s thanks to a new Air France–KLM order placed in September 2023. (All group A350s were previously destined for Air France, and some new ones have been delivered in the F-HUV* series with new premium products, alongside the existing F-HTY* series.) This, along with an A320neo and A220 order placed in December 2021 — the same month as Qantas — to replace KLM’s aging 737s, will transform this predominantly Boeing airline into a mostly-Airbus one.

In other airline-info pages towards the back, Holland Herald got in touch with some travellers and asked them how they felt special flying KLM to their dream destinations. There was also a page on Flying Blue, which is used by a bunch of airlines, but not by alliance partner Kenya Airways any longer, as it has launched its Asante Rewards programme. Then came the entertainment selection du mois.

And now the very reason why I’d decided to fly this airline and its Indonesian partner on this trip: ticking off the alliance that ‘cares more about you’, but one that is often ridiculed for its quality of airlines and mocked as a ‘leftovers’ alliance by many points-and-miles blogs. When one alliance has the industry-leading Qatar Airways and JAL, another has the acclaimed ANA and EVA Air and the best you can come up with is Garuda (which barely has first class left at all) and Korean Air, people are bound to say that — and the horror devaluation of Delta SkyMiles is another matter.

For now, however, I was beyond thrilled to fly the alliance with the best logo of all, a world away from that blue-circle monstrosity that tarnishes the image of top-class airlines like Cathay Pacific and Qantas. That too on an aircraft painted in that very livery!

Next came the ‘House Rules’ and maps of Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport, accompanied by an ad for jeweller Gassan, whose only outlets outside the Netherlands are all at Changi!

Eventually were the airline’s routemaps, which I feel were rather tacky, with an unnecessary glossy texture and too many lines denoting codeshare partners. Contrast that to the understated elegance and simplicity of Ethiopian’s version, which also felt very African due to its simple dots and green map on a yellow background.

All codeshare partners were listed below, but SkyTeam’s newest member Virgin Atlantic Airways — whose corporate font is the same Gotham that you see here, as is also the case for another codeshare partner, Malaysia Airlines from Oneworld — did not have the alliance logo next to it. I’m VS — very surprised! — that neither has VS painted any of its 40-odd aircraft in the SkyTeam livery nor has it applied the alliance logo to any of them.

Moving map and Wi-Fi

Not long after departure, wet wipes were handed out.

Now I explored the various functions of the moving map, with various avgeeky cockpit-y modes like outside the window or from the flight deck.

The Wi-Fi plans were quite reasonable, being duration-based instead of quantity-based. This time I decided against paying, contenting myself with the free WhatsApp (no images or media) which was the bare minimum to stay in touch with family.

The Wi-Fi portal had plenty of offline features, including information on the progress of the flight. As much as I’d expect from a full-service carrier.

Catering and cloud cruise: Indonesian or Indian?

At half-past six, halfway into the two-hour flight, a delectable meal was rolled out that tasted decidedly Indian: it had the appearance of basmati rice, rajma (kidney beans) and butter chicken — though I had no way of confirming — alongside a kimchi salad, a cheesecake and a cup of 7-Up to go wth it. I wonder if KLM was actually serving Indian food instead of local Indonesian fare, as we were flying to Denpasar and not Delhi. In any case, full marks for taste, quality and presentation — much better than the disappointments Singapore Airlines has been serving of late!

One of the best restaurant ambiences you can ask for: cruising at altitude on a glorious summer evening, with the sky as blue as KLM’s fleet — barring this one, of course — and going the furthest east I’d ever been, much like on Emirates to Dubai the previous year in June, which was the furthest west I’d been.

It was in fact what looked like a small plantation of clouds, small fluffy white things that I could only stare at and not touch.

Soon the sky turned dark, with the pale blue transforming into a dusky shade, and the clouds taking on a reddish-orange tint.

Words will only spoil the wonder, but I must say: extraordinary!

Rita Ora’s Anywhere was one of the songs I’d been playing, and it perfectly captured the wonder and wanderlust of escaping to somewhere new. My playlist also contained several by Clean Bandit (Rockabye, Solo, Symphony, etc.); Shawn Mendes (Treat You Better, If I Can’t Have You); Ariana Grande (breathin); Zayn and Sia (Dusk Till Dawn) and more Rita Ora (Let You Love Me) among several others — all of which I wrote down in my journal. These same words also accompanied me on my return to Changi two days later on PK-GPU:

Time flies by when the night is young / Daylight shines on an undisclosed location, location
Bloodshot eyes lookin’ for the sun / Paradise delivered and we call it a vacation, vacation

Over the hills and far away / A million miles from LA / Just anywhere away with you
I know we’ve got to get away / Someplace where no one knows our name
We’ll find the start of something new

Meanwhile I also texted my parents, who vicariously shared the joy of their only son’s journey to a place anew.

Delightful descent at dreamy Denpasar

At half-past seven — Singapore having the same time as Central Indonesia — PH-BVD circled around for a landing.

My journal was dedicated to the sheer historicness of KL835, ‘Indonesia × SkyTeam’ as I’d dubbed it, ‘A Moment Etched in History’.

Lights were dimmed for landing, with the sole blue glow coming from the seatback screens themselves.

At a quarter to eight, PH-BVD touched down at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport: my first journey east of Singapore was complete, and thus the world’s largest archipelago country entered my life.

Most of the aircraft were narrowbodies from Batik, Lion or Garuda, as you’d expect; there was also a Jetstar A320.

Not the Singaporean Jetstar, but the Australian one. Perth and Darwin are a hop, skip and jump away.

Thank-you ads: a first!

After the welcome-to-Denpasar-Indonesia announcement in both nederlands and engels, a series of ads was played which only served to widen my smile even more. First, a middle-aged woman in Premium Comfort class, her smile wider than mine.

Second, a flight to Edmonton, Canada, which underscored all of KLM’s sustainability initiatives — including even 3D-printed miniature Delft houses!

Third, a time-tested tear-jerking method: feature a little girl with round-eyed wonder as she grabs a teddy bear from the friendly flight attendant and runs through the cabin with it. ‘Bringing you to your next memories’ it said at the end — and this flight had most definitely done that!

Fourth, a more generic, less personalised promo for the airline’s premium-economy product.

Fifth, a generic thank-you ad, a typical touristy montage filled with (probably) stock videos inviting the traveller to ‘discover our destinations and services’.

Sixth and finally, a cuter ad for Premium Comfort class, with an Asian girl opening an adorable gift from the crew!

Among the passengers disembarking were a young pair of siblings: a girl on the verge of her teens and a little boy. Squabbling as siblings do, they and their parents followed the crowds through the emptying aisles and out of the plane.

No need for crew signatures or photos this time around: a simple ‘Enjoy your return trip!’ was all I needed to say while exiting. I did, however, share my passion and enthusiasm for (a) flying the world’s oldest airline, (b) on the SkyTeam alliance, © on a plane painted in the SkyTeam livery and (d) to Indonesia for the first time. They were more than kind enough to reciprocate my feelings, and I didn’t even need to know their names!

Next to us was PK-GPY, one of several A330s plying between Denpasar/Jakarta and Sydney/Melbourne, among other routes. While GA continues to reduce its international network, its Australian flights remain as important as ever.

Veel dank, Victor Delta — how perfectly that suits the initials! — and I’ll always be grateful to you for being the most memorable way to fly on a new alliance and airline to a new country south of the Equator.

Goodbye, Amboseli! One of the most memorable flights in the history of my life. Perfection personified.

I was only a few steps from stepping on Indonesian soil for the first time, and little did the other tourists know what I was going through!

The fragrance of incense sticks: Mystical Ngurah Rai Airport

No sooner did I step into the building than I was hit with the sweet fragrance of incense sticks or agarbattis, which is no surprise seeing that this was a Hindu-majority island.

Little did I know how magical an experience DPS was capable of providing to arriving and departing travellers alike, and the airport had not spared any expense in laying out the grandest welcome carpet possible.

Even the toilets were filled with pretty flowers and their sweet smell!

One final glance at PH-BVD: there could be no more fitting cover image for the report than that taken at night on Indonesian ground, the silver body and blue SkyTeam tail being the colours of the moonlit sky. An image I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Several international arrivals, with most being from Australia (Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin), some like ours being from Singapore — in addition to SQ, Scoot and Indonesia AirAsia — some from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok (DMK) and even Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. Garuda Indonesia, however, was nowhere to be found.

The low-ceilinged sculpture-filled arrival corridor was long as it was enchanting.

However, the airport Wi-Fi wasn’t much good, and nor could the Singtel data pack that I’d purchased beforehand be activated. I needed a connectivity solution, and fast, no matter what the expense.

Now the ceiling increased in height, and just as I was about to step on one of the travelators…

…the ad changed to one for the Emirates A380! It was only the previous day (1 June 2023) that EK had started Indonesia’s first daily A380 service; Jakarta doesn’t have one. A momentous moment!

Presently I encountered a Telkomsel kiosk where people had lined up, and I knew that I would be buying a +62-numbered SIM card then and there.

The prices were steep — IDR 400,000 for 25 GB (around S$40) being the starting price, and nothing below that — but it would have to do. The pretty Telkmosel branding and custom font, which were introduced in 2021 replacing the previous outdated logo from 1995, didn’t hurt either.

Before long, I had paid the amount to get a 5G SIM card from Telkomsel after registering my passport with the Indonesian telecom authorities.

There was a pretty purple display for Vesak Day above, flanked by curios and knick-knacks from Bali on either side.

Some Western (likely Australian) tourists gathered their Telkomsel SIM cards like I did and proceeded to the immigration counters. There was also a cute kiddie KLM Crew sticker on the ground, which I went ahead and put into my rucksack!

The main immigration hall was even more wondrous, if I say so, and the sweeping expanse of space with all manner of traditional decorations immediately reminded me of the spectacular Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport in Mumbai, where I’d landed in March.

Once again, Emirates Airline promoted its newest A380 destination, with the sunrise-to-sunset EK368 and late-evening 369 A380 service complementing the late-morning-to-evening EK398 and redeye EK399 sector on the 777-300ER.

That Telkomsel is Southeast Asia’s best-designed telecom operator was further reinforced by the grandeur of its ads in the immigration hall, coupled with a few more aspirational ads from Mastercard. Westerners, mostly Aussies, lined up at the visa-on-arrival counters, but since I’d paid for it in advance, I headed straight to passport control.

Having finally gotten a SIM card, I had a glance at the arrivals, most of which naturally had PK registrations and were flying from elsewhere in the country. There were several VHs from Australia and the odd 9V from Singapore, but our PH was one of the few longhaul arrivals — though technically a short hop from Singapore — with 787-9 TC-LLO as TK66 from Istanbul being the only true longhaul landing. However, my flesh crawled when I saw HS-TJW in the list: a disgusting 777-200ER that ranked as much at the bottom of my flight memories as PH-BVD was now at the top.

Immigration being done with, the next step was to walk past the pretty girl in Balinese attire in the Welcome to Bali sign, past the duty-free shops with all their liquor, to the baggage-claim area where all luggage from KL835 had been haphazardly, uncharitably placed in a corner. After which came the customs declaration form, and then I could officially claim to have entered the territory of Indonesia.

All the country’s biggest banks — Mandiri, BTN, BRI, BNI, BCA — lined the corridor with their money-changers, and thereafter all the telecom companies — Telkomsel, XL Axiata, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (using the IM3 and Tri brands) and Smartfren — had gleaming counters with friendly, eager salespeople touting their 4G/5G offerings. I skipped them, went straight past the WHSmith and the Starbucks, and headed to the pick-up area.

Here was my first taste of the orderly chaos of Indonesia: some held up placards to receive visitors, others went straight ahead to their vehicles. It was altogether a pretty sight, a reflection of the vibrancy and diversity of one of the world’s major tropical tourist destinations.

A couple of European youth were standing alone, probably in search of efficient transport, as other Western passengers moved past the locals with their placards. Beyond the Circle K mini-convenience store — my first time seeing one in Southeast Asia — and the Grab arrival lounge lay the car park.

What a rhyme, the perfect lyrics for a song: Hope wonderful memories will always linger / Because here, you can stay longer. Indeed!

No Grab today: now I would be using the Indonesian startup unicorn’s services in its home country, far more varied than in Singapore, where I am no stranger to Gojek but the offerings are confined to ride-hailing. In its home country Gojek is a true super-app, like Grab throughout ASEAN or the new airasia Super App in Malaysia.

A young, bespectacled European girl asked whether there was any free Wi-Fi, at which I gave her my mobile hotspot for a minute or two, so she could find the way to her hotel. The name on her rucksack, if I remember, started with Juna. How fitting for the sultry month of June!

A little Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback was soon on the way, an exception in a country dominated by the Astra Toyota–Daihatsu juggernaut, with their Avanzas and Xenias and locally-produced Sigras and Calyas.

At long last I was on the roads of Denpasar, going up the streets — which rapidly decreased in width — to a homely little stay (Bali Chaya Hotel) near the Legian beach. While the property itself was nice during the day, at night it turned rather haunted-looking due to the complete lack of proper lighting in all the rooms. Appearances are deceptive, but my poison may very well be another man’s meat, as the five-star TripAdvisor and Agoda reviews are proof of.

En route came the Mal Bali Galeria, one of the largest shopping malls in the city, and the girl in the swimsuit says ‘Summer looks good on you’ — which I can most definitely say is true of Bali and Indonesia as a whole. I may just have discovered my new favourite getaway in Asia, but I’m counting on Vietnam to beat that!

Bonus : Click here display hide

After so many words, I’m not going to leave you just like that — you must accept a present from me. This time it comes in the form of three model aircraft I bought the following Saturday (10 June) from a hobbyist store in the Aljunied region of eastern Singapore, not far from my home at the time. They require a reservation to be made, with in-store shopping only on weekend afternoons.

For the sum of S$144 (after a 10% discount from S$160) I found myself in possession of three model aircraft: PH-BVD, the focus of this report; PK-GHC, my next aircraft on this trip, a Garuda Indonesia A330-300 with a ‘Mask On’ sticker; and eventually 9V-STU, a now-retired Singapore Airlines A330-300 in the white Star Alliance livery.

When I returned after a brief nine-hour journey to Kuala Lumpur on 30 July — also on Ethiopian Airlines, as was the case in May — I took these pictures of my bookshelf and the airline memorabilia standing above and inside. Pictured here are the two Ethiopian Selamta magazines and the KLM Holland Herald, with a cute hand-fan courtesy of Asiana Airlines covering them up, which I’d got from a Korean tourism fair in May before my whirlwind weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Here stood my very own PH-BVD, perched atop a Christine’s bakery box from Sunway Geo Avenue in the western Subang Jaya area of Kuala Lumpur, with some Indian fiction books in the background that had caugh my fancy throughout the month.

Here, now, is PH-BVD in all her silver glory, and the best possible keepsake for a journey so wonderful, it will last me for all of this lifetime and many more!