Flight review: KLM Barcelona to Riyadh and back in Economy Class (B737 & A330)
Flight#: KL1512
From: Barcelona (BCN)
To: Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
Flight time: 2h
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Flight#: KL423
From: Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
To: Riyadh (RUH)
Flight time: 6h
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Flight#: KL1513
From: Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
To: Barcelona (BCN)
Flight time: 2h
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Flight#: KL423
From: Riyadh (RUH)
To: Dammam (DMM)/Amsterdam (AMS)
Time: 45’ (RUH-DMM)+6h (DMM-AMS)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
My attendance to the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, provided an opportunity to try out KLM, an airline that I hadn’t flown long haul in quite a while, on both narrow and wide-body aircraft.
This flight, as we shall soon see, had the extra interest of being a triangular route, with the aircraft operating Amsterdam-Riyadh-Dammam-Amsterdam, which was a first for me.
So, I thought that rather than doing separate flight reviews for each of the segments, I would do a single flight report detailing the whole experience.
Pre-Flight Experience
This, I must say, was the worst part of the whole journey. And it was bad!
For some reason (I suspect something to do with regulations concerning my final destination, Riyadh), I couldn’t get the boarding pass online, despite completing the online check-in.
This is already quite inconvenient when you are traveling light and without bags, because it forces to queue at the airport. Ok, I understand that for some destinations it may be a government requirement and the airline can’t do much about it, but, in such cases, a bit of transparency would be welcome, because you are left wondering whether it’s technical glitch or you have done something wrong during the process. At the very least it will save you time in trying several times to complete the process.
But the worse of it is if, as it was the case here, this is coupled with a subpar airport experience.
In my case, upon arrival to the airport and seeing there was a loooong queue to checkin wiht Air France-KLM, I headed to the self check-in machines. There was a long row of apparently identical machines, which are able to process self-check-ins for a number of airlines. However, despite being located next to the Air France-KLM + SkyTeam section of the check-in counters, only two of them were actually able to process KLM boarding passes, which generated a bit of confusion among fellow passengers. So far, minor issues, but adding up one by one.
In any case, the machines would not issue me a boarding pass either, so I had to head to the counters.
Problem: there was still a very long and growing queue. 99% of those standing there carrying large pieces of baggage and the queue was, therefore advancing slowly. The Air France-KLM counters were clearly insufficient in number to handle the volume of passengers. Barcelona is an airport that handles quite a few flights operated by these two airlines and partners and a lot of this traffic is long haul, so you got lots of baggage of all sorts and sizes to process.
I had come to the airport with plenty of time, but upon seeing this queue I was not even sure about this anymore. And this, despite traveling light and having completed all the steps of the check-in process on my own. Not ideal.
There was, however, the Sky Priority lane completely empty. Knowing that my procedure (printing the boarding pass) takes literally a few seconds, I went there to explain the situation and see whether, despite having a regular economy class ticket they would be able to assist.
The person at the counter however, sent me unceremoniously to the ticket machines. I told her that I would be very happy to print my own boarding pass but I had already tried that, been to the machines and that it was not my fault they were not working for me.
By that time the situation was getting a bit stressful, because there was a real chance of missing the flight if having to get to the back of the long queue. The person there, however, wouldn’t lift a finger and was actually border line rude (at some point she compared the regular Flying Blue card to the loyalty card of mid-low local supermarket chain, which is kind of true, but not a nice way to refer to the company you work for, even if a contractor).
I understand the airline has to keep some tiers of service, but this particular case it would have taken very little effort to solve the situation with no prejudice to anyone else, particularly when this situation was not of my own making. It possibly took more of their time to tell me off and create all this unnecessary friction than to just press the button to print the boarding pass.
Luckily another member of staff showed up in a nearby counter and I took the opportunity to ask him, explaining the situation and he handled the issue in a matter of seconds. Problem solved, it was not that difficult!
Having low empathy staff is possibly not the fault of KLM, but of the ground handling company, nevertheless it already made a dent on this particular travel experience and will certainly made me think twice the next time KLM is one of the options under consideration. Even if I really needed to check in bags, the prospect alone of facing such as undermanned check in area is not particularly enticing.
On the plus side, the Whatsapp notification service of KLM is quite something and was providing timely updates throughout, including late minute gate changes, updated itinerary times and the like.
BCN to AMS on a Boeing 737-800
The first leg of the trip was on a Boeing 737-800, KLM’s European workhorse (for now, at least).
The first impression is how everything onboard is so “KLM Blue”, which is a colour I like, even if the cloth upholstery is not a particular favourite of mine.
The seat pitch, at 30’ is good enough, even when the flexible lower seatback pocker bulges a bit.
On this type of European flights, KLM serves usually a sandwich and drinks on economy class.
The sandwich is often Dutch cheese with something. I like how KLM has taken a rather simple meal (a cheese sandwich) and given it a touch of premium-ness by highlighting the Dutch provenance of the cheese and adding a bit of story-telling in the packaging. Good enough for me, particularly because I am of the opinion that, when it comes to inflight meals, often simple is better.
Then the drink: water, tea or coffee or soft drink.
One thing that I always marvel at is the Hollamd Herald magazine, an absolute classic of the industry. It is not only that it has been survived so far (I guess one of the few inflight paper magazines left in the industry), but the fact that KLM has managed to preserve its quality.
The aircraft was also fitted with inflight internet connectivity.
The most basic package, which includes basic messaging and moving map, is free for all passengers, which is great even if the messages often are sent and arrive with some delay.
If you wish to get more broadband to access the internet or stream content, then you would need to purchase one of the packages. More on this in the next sections of this flight review.
Stopover in Amsterdam(AMS)
Amsterdam-Schiphol used to be one of my favourite airports, but in recent times I had heard (not experienced myself) some stories about chaos and general crowdedness, so I didn’t know what to expect.
It is, in fact, true, that some areas of the airport get really crowded, however the transfer experience was actually pretty smooth. There was a small queue at passport control to transition from the Schengen to the non-Schengen area, but for EU passport holders it was quite fast to go through the electronic passport gates.
In fact, the non-Schengen area was much less crowded and I was positively surprised to find some office-loft-style areas, where you can work, recharge your phone or simply rest in a rather nice (for a busy airport) environment. Also, wifi at Schiphol is free and of pretty good quality.
Amsterdam (AMS) to Riyadh (RUH)
So, now for the long-haul segment of the journey.
KLM uses both the A330-200 and -300 on the Riyadh run. In this case, the first leg was on an A330-200, the return one on a -300.
Economy class on KLM A330s is 2-4-2, BUT, the last few rows of the cabin have a 2-3-2 configuration, so if you are not able to get one of the window rows, it may be best to look for one of the back rows (this happens also on other long haul aircraft, as I already pointed out as well on this other Turkish Airlines B777 flight review).
The aircraft for this flight, PH-AOC, was not new (Airfleets shows an age of 18.6 years at the time of the trip), but had almost certainly gone through a recent cabin refit, since the seats and overall cabin looked pretty fresh.
The seats were rather slim, with adjustable head rests that had both, ears and a wide range of motion, upwards-downwards.
The seats looked rather new. I liked the two pockets, a hard, upper one for literature and a lower, flexible net-type one for other stuff.
Seat pitch at 31’ is pretty good and could stretch well the legs.
The seatback screens looked quite modern and were easy to use through the tactile screen (this was even more evident when comparing with the older system on the A330-300 of the return leg, more on this soon).
Note also that it is possible to recharge electronic devices via USB port below the screen. I didn’t see other dedicated in-seat power plugs.
Upon boarding economy class passengers get a pillow and a blanket, a bottle of water, a refreshing towel and a headset for the inflight entertainment (IFE) system
KLM has a rather original safety video which uses the aesthetics of the traditional Delft porcelain tiles.
There was internet onboard this flight (and all the others) along the same lines as in the short haul flight. Free basic messaging for everyone, then you need to pay to access more broadband. Posting some screenshots to give an idea of the prices (I didn’t use the paid option).
There is also a schematic moving map that tells you where you are and in which areas there is internet coverage.
You can also access updates information about your itinerary (this screen shot is from the return flight but I put it here for context).
Food and Drink
We had two servings of food during the 6h flight to Riyadh.
The first one, shortly after take off (early afternoon), was the main one, which you can see next.
Tbh, I was positively surprised, because KLM is not an airline that I usually associate with great food, but this was a pretty decent meal for economy class. The entrants were particularly tasty as was the rice (I didn’t like the chicken that much, but this is just out of personal taste, it is not criticism of the quality or quantity on offer. This was served with a choice of drinks as well (it was before entering Saudi airspace, so wine was served).
Interestingly, the dessert (this cake you see below) was not served at the same time as the main courses, but some 30’ or so later. It was pretty tasty, I must say.
We got another serving of food just before landing. A sort of late dinner, because it was already close to midnight. In this case it was a small pizza plus another drink.
Also, one aspect that I would like to highlight is that, unlike in the first experience with ground staff, the crew on all KLM flights I took during this itinerary were quite nice and attentive. They were also quite generous in the servings, doing an additional round to serve drinks and, in some cases, offering some additional snack or dessert.
Note the detail of the KLM blue table rim, matching the corporate colours that are also found on the seats, the blankets and other cabin elements. Nice!
More scenes from that flight, including the toilet and also the cabin atmosphere at night.
Flying a Triangular Route: stopover in Dammam without leaving the plane
This was my first experience flying a triangular route.
KLM flies Amsterdam-Riyadh-Dammam-Amsterdam, which means that if you are flying Amsterdam to Dammam, you don’t disembark in Riyadh, but stay on the plane and continue to Dammam on the same plane. It is the other way around on the flight back to Europe. Passengers departing Riyadh, have a 1h 15min stop in Dammam, during which they don’t disembark.
Those disembarking in Riyadh have their boarding passes checked right at the gate to make sure only those that have ticket to Riyadh get off the plane.
The Riyadh to Dammam segment is about 45 minutes.
Upon landing in Dammam, if you are continuing to Amsterdam, you must remain onboard. It is possible to move around the cabin, although it is strongly advised to remain on your seat to facilitate the work of ground staff that come onboard to clean the cabin (it’s a very late flight and you arrive at DMM at around 1am, so most people just sleep during this time).
Here there is a crew change as well. The KLM crew incoming from Europe, which has flown the AMS-RUH-DMM segment is replaced by the one that has overnighted in Dammam and will take the plane back to Amsterdam.
The aircraft is also refuelled during the stopover.
Passengers that stay onboard are required to remove their cabin bags from the overhead bins so that crew can then inspect them and check that every bag has its owner present.
Flight report: Riyadh-Dammam-Amsterdam
The first segment is really short, less than an hour, a small refreshment is served, though: water and a stroopwafel, the traditional Dutch caramel cookie.
Since I have covered the stopover component of the journey in the previous paragraph, let’s focus on the flight itself.
This time the flight was on an Airbus A330-300, which, at 292 seats, is slightly larger than the -200, which has 268 only.
Then first thing that stands out is that the seats are different too. The ones on the -300 looked a bit older generation. Note that they are thicker and heavier, the materials look also older generation and they have only a lower pouch.
Where this is most evident is in the IFE system. Although the content and functions available on the IFE system were the same as in the A330-200, the screen was notably older, more clunky and with the control console on the side of the seat.
Note also that there is an USB port on the right side of the screen.
In terms of food and drink, the time of this flight, which runs after midnight and during the early hours, I guess makes it a bit of a challenge to offer meals.
I think KLM has solved this quite well, though. It serves a snack, which is essentially a hot wrap with a hummus-like filling (pretty tasty, I must say!), plus drinks shortly after take off from Dammam for the final leg to Europe.
This is followed shortly before landing by a proper and quite substantious breakfast.
I must say that, as far as breakfast are concerned, this is one of the best I have had in an economy class.
Fruit, yogurt with more fruit, bread, butter and jam, plus a main, which in my cases were Dutch pancakes, with pineapple and a sort of cheese cream. Plus drinks, tea or coffee (as I said earlier, I found the coffee pretty good throughout all flights!).
Here below you can see the general look of the cabin, with its prevailing KLM-Blue tones.
Final leg: Amsterdam-Barcelona, on an old plane that looked like new
There is not much to add when it comes to the final leg of this itinerary, the AMS-BCN segment.
After a short and uneventful transit through Schiphol, I boarded again a KLM B737-800. This aircraft had a rather fresh-looking cabin. The seats were actually a bit different from the ones on the outbound trip on the same type of plane.
These one looked much slimmer and newer. Also, they don’t recline!
I thought this might have been a new plane, but actually it turned out to be a 16-year old aircraft, which must have been refitted recently.
Seat pitch, internet access and other “soft” features were the same as in the first flight. The difference was in the seat, you can see here some details, like the cup holder and the internet availability notice. The cabin was also fitted with ambient lighting.
We were given again a sandwich, drinks and coffee. Although, this time, I didn’t like the sandwich contents (egg on an inflight sandwich is usually a bad idea) and while it would have been nice to have some choice, it was water and coffee diet for me on this flight!
Our take
Overall, a pretty well rounded product. I wouldn’t say any particular element was particularly awesome, but all elements of the inflight experience were pretty good and they all fit together nicely.
The inflight crews were nice throughout the journey and digital communications and notifications worked well and in a timely manner.
Unfortunately I can’t say the same of the pre-flight experience and how it became unnecessarily stressful. Something to work on!