Hello everyone and welcome to another flight report. This time its on the worlds oldest operating airline , KLM , from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi. For those interested a video version of this flight report is available on my YouTube channel , the link for that is attached above.
Anyways to commence my journey , hopped on a train bound for Schiphol Airport. After a quick 30 minute ride made it to the airport. Train journeys in The Netherlands can be very scenic especially when passing through the countryside.
At the check in desks for KLM there were no lines for specific flights hence it was quite crowded during that morning. But many people like me had already checked in online so i only had to drop my bag hence it speeded up the entire process.
After check in , immigration and security time to head to my gate. Schiphol is quite a huge airport with decent number of duty free shops and restaurants.
Another cool thing is that Schiphol has these huge windows which make up for some really good plane spotting. Here are some pictures i took of a KLM Boeing 777-200ER and a Boeing 747-400.
After making it to my gate got a good view of the A330 that would be flying me out to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft in question is an Airbus A330-200 with the registration of PH-AON that was delivered to KLM in April 2008.
After some time it was time to board the aircraft. Got another picture of the a330 through the jet bridge .
My seat for the flight was 31A that was a little behind the wing in the aft economy cabin.
The seat features included a decent sized IFE screen and a USB port. The legroom in my opinion was ok although i have travelled on a330s with many airlines and this one can get abit cramped on a very long flight. Also an ife box present under the seat obstructs a little of the leg space available.
On the seat present were a comfortable pillow and blanket. The cabin crew then distributed some earphones. Nothing special about them just basic earphone that do the job.
The seat pocket contents consisted of a KLM A330 safety card , "Holland Herald" inflight magazine and a waste bag.
About 30 minutes behind schedule departure time we pushed back from our gate. An Air Europa Boeing 787-8 at one of the gates getting prepared for its flight to Madrid.
Taxing past an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER get†ing prepped for its flight to Dubai. Its pretty amazing how extensive there flight network is.No matter what airport you visit , small or big, you will always see an Emirates aircraft
Today we are not take off from Polderbaan so luckily not a long taxi. We took off from Runway 18L.After lining up on the Runway we are off on our way to Abu Dhabi.
For those interested the take off from Amsterdam is linked above
We climb to our cruising altitude while flying over the ever so green Dutch countryside.
Shortly after we reached cruising altitude , the cabin crew distributed a bottle of water and a refreshing towel. This i felt was a good touch as water keeps you hydrated while the refreshing towel just overall keeps you fresh.
Meanwhile some awesome views outside my window as we cruise at 36000 feet.
Shortly the lunch service commenced. For the main meal there was a choice of either chicken or pasta for which i opted for the pasta option.. It consisted of pasta in a white cream sauce with black olives and Gouda cheese. Along with it came a nice serving of fresh salad with a dressing , a soft muffin , bun and some other condiments like cheese, butter and crackers. There was also a wide selection of drinks for which i opted for a glass of coke. The meal overall was hearty and fresh , definitely one of the best pasta dishes i have had on an aircraft.
A little after lunch a tea and coffee service was done for which i opted for a cup of coffee.
The cabin overall was pretty basic but it did have this really nice blue mood lighting.
The IFE that KLM has to offer in my opinion is pretty good. It has good selection of TV shows , movies and other things to do. However this can't be comparable to the likes of Emirates or Qatar Airways IFEs.
Some more nice views as we cruise to our destination
After glancing through the inflight duty free decided to get my self this KLM Boeing 787-10 model in 1:250 scale for my collection. This model is quite special as this livery commemorates the 100th Birthday of the airline.
After purchasing the model aircraft, i fell asleep and woke around 2 hours before landing in Abu Dhabi. It was slowly getting dark outside.
The cabin crew shortly served the pre landing snack accompanied with a choice of drink. The snack consisted of a delicious cheese pizza and i got myself a glass of coke. Overall the catering on this flight was really good.
After some time we commenced our descent into Abu Dhabi in complete darkness.
I have to say Abu Dhabi really looked amazing at night from the sky with all the lights illuminating the city.
We touched down in Abu Dhabi International Airport at 8:05 pm local time . Good job the the pilots for the extremely smooth touchdown , KLM pilots are known for them.
A quick taxi from the runway and we make it to our gate bringing us to the end of the flight report.
Hi
Thanks for the report
I see they still send non retrofitted planes to AUH , it is sad
The new seats with modern IFE are quite nice but you were not lucky that day
How much did you paid for the replica ???
By the way , your statement is not correct . You need to say "No matter what airport....you will always see a Turkish airlines aircraft" . This is more accurate
Hi thanks for your comment . Ya was abit disappointed didn’t get a retrofitted a330 but still I didn’t have any issue . The model aircraft if IRemember correctly costed me 20 US dollars . And ya I quite agree with your statement as TK do operate to more destinations than EK ?
Thanks for sharing your report. You departed from RWY 36C btw and not 18L :)
Thank you for reading ? aah apologies for that Ams can get quite confusing for me with so many of its runways ??