#41 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
1057 reviews
Today I return to my home country of the Netherlands from visiting my family in Spain. I have booked a seat in Economy Comfort, which means sitting further ahead in the cabin, and more legroom.
As I'm dropped off in terminal T1, I get to see a departing Emirates B777. Years ago they used to fly the A380 into BCN…
Since I was unable to check in online, I try to do so at a kiosk. This fails too, and it prints this card. I believe it may be due to my late seat change, though I'm not very sure.
The Air France-KLM queue is a bit long. Does everyone else also have to check in in person or is it because there's only 1 Economy and 1 Priority counter? It's far from the longest I've experienced, though, and I have time before departure. After a short while, the Priority counter starts allowing other passengers to check in as well. The agent allows me to send my cabin bag to the hold, and is fluent in Catalan.
The B pier in BCN Terminal T1 (which serves most Schengen flights) always has good views of the tarmac. You can look to the right for departing aircraft, and to the left for the rest of the airport. The plane that will take us to Amsterdam today is a sibling of the previous one, a single letter away in the registration (BXC and BXD).
Registration: PH-BXC (Netherlands)
Type: Boeing 737-800
Age: 24 years (June 1999)
As mentioned before, today I fly an extra legroom seat, near the front: 05A. Since this is the last seat before Business Class, there is a curtain in front. The seat itself it not noticeably different from standard, though the legroom is. The last image in the gallery is a comparison with standard Economy legroom. Do note that perspective may play tricks in one's eyes, though.
I did not have the need to test the recline. The tray table is alright, and the seatback pockets have a Holland Herald magazine. There are also universal power outlets, but they did not work at any point during the flight.
We take off from 24L, as is routine in BCN. Departing the Catalan coast, I am once again treated to a view of the airport.
Not long after departure, a snack is served. Today we have the Beemster cheese sandwich. While the cheese is lovely, the sauce feels lacking, making the sandwich dryer than I'd wish for.
The lavatory is alright, though I'm not a big fan of faucets that you must hold down to get water.
The flight goes through some light turbulence at points, but nothing of note happens. The landing is especially rough. The runway today was 36C, the Zwanenburgbaan.
As we taxi towards our gate, we come across a Cathay Pacific Cargo B747.
Plus a nice view of the airport, with the panoramic terrasse in the back.
AMS has quite some baggage collection belts, and today we get one of the farther ones. It takes me 13 minutes from the jetbridge to the belt. After that, it is another 16 minutes until my bag arrives. When the bag was retrieved, I head towards the train station.
KLM remains an alright option for intra-European travel, though it really depends on the prices and competition. Economy Comfort seats may be worth the extra ~20 € (vs ~10 € for standard and 18 € for emergency exit seat reservations) for larger people, or if you need to leave the plane quickly.
BCN T1 is a good airport to depart from; with multiple services and glass walls for natural light and planespotting. Seating may be limited in peak times, though.
AMS is very well connected to the rest of the country and even abroad. It is very efficient for departing, and probably connections too, but for arrivals it is not as remarkable.
1 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
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