KLM has always been a renowned name that I have trusted in the airline industry over many years. This is evident with the hustle of people trying to get bookings with this airline on long and short haul flights - the service and efficiency of operation is immaculate.
Recently, I was looking for a short-haul flight to Amsterdam and thought with such a short flight perhaps I may find something suitable with one of the budget airlines e.g. KLM’s own budget airline Buzz (see opinion) whom I have flown with previously, unfortunately Buzz do not fly to Amsterdam. After trying the other budget airlines e.g. EasyJet which turned out to be far too expensive (£106 return) I decided to try Holland’s own airline KLM and was pleasantly surprised at finding a much cheaper fare ….read on… _
KLM ___
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was formed in 1919 and operates flights throughout the world, covering European, North American and the InterContinental network (e.g. Africa, India, Australia etc). Its base is in Amsterdam. With a vast network of worldwide partners KLM provides a truly global network flying via Amsterdam to over 500 destinations worldwide. KLM’s European partners include KLM UK, KLM Cityhopper and KLM Exel. Other partners include NorthWest Airlines – (North America), JET Airways etc. The partner airlines fly on specific sectors in collaboration with KLM. I have flown
with KLM, JET airlines; one of the Asian partners based in India and more recently with KLM UK.
This opinion will be in two parts - relating to my most recent flying experiences with 1) KLM (UK) and previous flying experience with 2) KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Inter Continental Route – Asia).
1) KLM (UK)
KLM uk is owned by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, it operates both KLM uk and budget airline buzz. Its base is in London (Stanstead). KLM UK is also part of the frequent flyer program called Flying Dutchman. KLM UK’s fleet comprises mainly of Fokker aircraft, comprising of Fokker 100’s and 50’s.
My Flight: UK-Amsterdam June 2001 --------------------------------
I bought my ticket to Amsterdam just a few days before my departure date, very much a last minute thing and I was pleasantly happy with the fare price of £52 + taxes (26.50) = £78.50. It was also the last seat left unsold on the plane, so I was lucky! The fare is even cheaper (£42 + taxes) if you fly mid-week Mon-Thursday. My fare was not a mid-week fare I was flying at the weekend, but compared to EasyJet’s £106 for the same dates KLM was much cheaper!
The route I was flying was UK’s regional airportBirmingham to Amsterdam. There are about 5 flights per day to Amsterdam from Birmingham from 6.00 –19.10, even more flights are available from London Heathrow -at least 7 flights per day to Amsterdam!
CHECK-IN & GROUND SERVICE~
I arrived early at the airport there were no queues. Check-in was straightforward with no fuss. KLM’s baggage allowance on Tourist Class (Economy) is 20Kg and 10Kg for hand baggage (which is a little more generous compared to Buzz’s hand baggage allowance of 5kg). If you’re flying Business Class its 30Kg allowance. I didn’t have much baggage as I was just going for a long weekend. The staff were friendly and helpful. I requested a window seat and was allocated one.
THE FLIGHT~
The flight was called on time. The aircraft was a Fokker 100, which seats as the name suggests about 100 passengers. The aircraft comprised of about 20 rows of 2 seaters on one side and rows of 3 on the other. All KLM flights are non-smoking. Once inside the aircraft it was clean and had no unusual smells as was found on my return flight with buzz!
However, I was slightly disappointed to learn that the window seat I was allocated was near the end of the aircraft row 18! The seat was a 3 seater, whilst there was 2 of us travelling I would have thought it sensible if I was offered a 2 seater as I was one of the first to check-in. Despite the location of the seat the seats were clean and comfortable with plenty of legroom. The seats were more spacious than Buzz’s seats, which were a little narrow for some who may have broad shoulders.
The flight departed on time. With a flying time of 55 minutes I wasn’t expecting much in terms of refreshments and food. However, within 5 minutes we were served a piping hot ciabata filled with cheese, tomato, and herbs, a chocolate and vanilla moist sponge cake with a choice of drink, including alcoholic beverages, these were free of charge. The flight included free newspapers and in-flight magazine, called The Herald. This magazine was well written with high quality photography and interesting local facts about Amsterdam.
Flight landed on time at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport. Checked-in baggage also arrived within a few minutes of landing in good condition. It just takes ages walking through Schipol's long walk ways to get to it!
The return flight back to UK was also smooth and the flight left on time, this time I was offered a 2-seater window seat in the middle of the aircraft not at the end. The flight actually arrived back in UK 15 minutes early!
So overall, I had a smooth flying experience with KLM UK.
2) KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines
As mentioned earlier KLM flies to over 500 destinations worldwide using its fleet comprising of 21 Boeing 747-400’s, a few 747-300’s, Boeing 767’s and MD11’s. I had the experience of flying KLM on one of Asian routes, quite by chance as I didn't buy a ticket with them for that flight..
The Flight: Bombay-London -------------------------
You will appreciate how efficient KLM airline is worldwide after reading my following experience in Bombay where I was stranded after my flight booked with Air France was cancelled 4 times.
I was stuck at Bombay airport after travelling from Hyderabad on an internal flight to Bombay to take the return flight back to UK, but each time Air France cancelled the flight due to bad weather. Imagine the scene you arrived at 10pm at a busy airport for a midnight flight to London, there was total chaos at the airport with 100’s of passengers stranded. Air France was not able to communicate effectively with its passengers, and after midnight they started talking of offering Hotelaccommodation. Well this was not good enough for me as I had to be back at work on Monday and staying an extra day in Bombay was just not convenient.
So I took the initiative of going to various check-ins at the airport to see if there were any spare seats on the aircraft, Lufthansa full, BA- were not taking passengers, then I tried KLM and to my amazement they said the flight was leaving in 30 minutes and said if I ran I would catch it. I cannot thank the KLM ground staff at Bombay enough they were calm and hurried my check-in boarding etc so smoothly. All my baggage (and there was a lot of it-this is after a 5 week stay in India!) was checked in, I ran all the way to the gate, it was the fastest anyone or I must have cleared Immigration at Bombay! At 1.00am I was seated in KLM’s aircraft, ready for the flight departure at 1.10a.m.
You may be thinking I had a flexible ticket i.e. full fare - I hadn’t! It was the standard economy non-refundable/non-endorsable ticket. Thank you KLM.
The flight was on one of the large Boeing 747-400 aircraft which seats up to 400 passengers. My flight had 350 passengers. The flight was smooth, as with most night flights I slept most of the journey. There was as always a full dinner served with drinks and an early morning breakfast just as flying into London for 7.00am. There was a variety of in-flight entertainment but as you can imagine I was so tired to enjoy any of it, just relieved KLM took me and another 10 Air France passengers on board. As Amsterdam is KLM’s base I had to take a connecting flight from Amsterdam to London. All the baggage was automatically transferred.
This is not where it ended I had more communication with KLM. After landing at London Heathrow I noticed one suitcase of my family was badly damaged the base was broken and had got torn away and dented in. I made a damage report as soon as I saw it and was given a damage reference number to use to make a claim, and within a few days KLM sent me costs to replace the suitcase, as it was totally broken beyond repair. So not only did they let me fly with them even though I hadn’t bought a ticket with them they also sent me costs towards buying a new suitcase.
Overall KLM offered me an efficient service run smoothly. I have no hesitation flying with the Dutchman again either long haul or to one of the European destination, which surprisingly is a competitively priced option sometimes cheaper than the so – called budget airlines, so shop around and you may be pleasantly surprised. I am awarding KLM 4 stars, as I reserve the 5 stars for my favorite airline (Singapore Airlines) as their in flight service is unmatchable! But KLM is a very close second! Have a happy safe journey!
More information about KLM can be found at: http://www.klm.com http://www.klmuk.com/flight
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Advantages: Fly from regional airports; Provide a gateway to the world; Free sandwich and drink! Get a Demonstration on how to work the emergency exit doors! Disadvantages: More expensive than the standard budget options; pilots who think they are bike racers; get a demonstration on how to work the emergency exit doors
sue.51 13.04.2003 (14.04.2003)
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Review of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Advantages: High turnover of passengers, but doesnot feel as stress out as London or Paris airports Disadvantages: Lots of missing baggage lieing somewhere
Advantages: Great prices,Good range of services, Some destinations offer very advanced booking, Booking a single is HALF the return price Disadvantages: Most destinations are in (or very close to) France
davey 13.11.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Buzz
Jul 7th, 2001
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