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In January I flew Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur on KLM's B777-300ER. It's a short flight - about 1.5hr flying time but the experience impressed me quite a lot.


Skyteam livery


Business Class cabin


Business Class cabin


Business Class cabin

And now the Economy.


Economy cabin

The seating arrangement is 3-4-3 and the seat pitch only 31" according to SeatGuru. I was expecting a very tight seat but to my surprise when I sat down the seat pitch felt as if it was 33"~34". I guess it's due to the slimness of the seat. I sat on a window-less window seat and my neighboring middle seat was lying empty so perhaps if someone was sitting next to me I may have felt the squeeze, but the comfort level wasn't bad at all.


Is it really 31"?

I love the interior design of KLM aircraft. The seat, the wall logo, and even the table with little KLM blue frames.


The seat


Nice blue-finishing touch!


Very-easy-to-navigate TV screen


Headphones


Variety of channels to keep out of boredom


Comfy leather (I think) adjustable headrest.

While the headrest looked really comfy, it was too high up for me - I'm 6'6" (167cms) so I'm a bit short for an average Dutch person


Safety video

I love their safety video. They use traditional Royal Delft Pottery paintings and turning that into an animation. Pretty amazing. I just love how KLM brings their home country element to their cabin.


Safety video animation


Economy cabin

On this flight, a snack consisting of hot veggie pie was served. Again, there is a Dutch element on the package! It was light and good.


Snack


Veggie Pie


The filling


Along with orange juice

The best part of the in-flight experience was the crew service. They were so polite and charming! While that'd be expected in Business Class I felt the same level was also presented in Economy (perhaps Business on KLM receives a step above that).


Getting close to destination

KLM's moving map is great. It's a touch screen, and you can even adjust it look from 2D to 3D like on Google Earth.

I was actually quite biased in thinking that Economy in European carriers would be "rough". Initially I was I having an image of tight squeezed seats with all low cost measures but I was blown away by how comfy the seat was. The simple cabin design also gives a relaxed environment and last but not the least the friendly crew.

I'd love to fly KLM again!

I totally agree with you. After hearing a lot of sob stories from posters here I also had the same stereotype of European carriers & their less than stellar experience, but KLM proved me wrong.

Since I often find that their fares from KUL-CGK are lower than Malaysia, Garuda and even AirAsia, they've become my preferred carrier of choice to travel to CGK. Heck, I might just chose KLM to fly to Europe soon!

TheFlyingDisk wrote:

I totally agree with you. After hearing a lot of sob stories from posters here I also had the same stereotype of European carriers & their less than stellar experience, but KLM proved me wrong.

Since I often find that their fares from KUL-CGK are lower than Malaysia, Garuda and even AirAsia, they've become my preferred carrier of choice to travel to CGK. Heck, I might just chose KLM to fly to Europe soon!

Their CGK-KUL fare was so low! Yes, lower than AirAsia. And Business Class was less than USD 200 which also was a great deal (though I felt due to the length of the flight Economy was sufficient). I think they serve full meal in J. KLM, along with Austrian J is my favorite airline in Europe! Now I just wish I could fly on AF one day...

Nice report, sir.

Today KLM is my 1st choice for KUL-CGK route, but not CGK-KUL as it arrives in KUL too late. It offers really cheap fare.

BTW you got the aircraft with Skyteam iivery. Interesting.

anaknegeri wrote:

Nice report, sir.

Today KLM is my 1st choice for KUL-CGK route, but not CGK-KUL as it arrives in KUL too late. It offers really cheap fare.

BTW you got the aircraft with Skyteam iivery. Interesting.

Thanks! I shall try their Business Class the next time I get the chance to fly with them on this sector.

Special livery aircraft 2, ah?

Short and sweet TR Hirofumi,
Like many other airline hard product may vary considerably. Here you have shown us the best of KLM which is nowhere what I'd last experienced with their A330
Their 747 is fine though and the hot veggie snack in your flight looks decent!

Thanks for sharing

eastafspot wrote:

Short and sweet TR Hirofumi,
Like many other airline hard product may vary considerably. Here you have shown us the best of KLM which is nowhere what I'd last experienced with their A330
Their 747 is fine though and the hot veggie snack in your flight looks decent!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for the comment eastafspot. I haven't flown on their A330 but have done 747, 777-200, and now-gone MD-11 and found the seats quite comfortable. Now I'm actually inclined to try out the A330 to compare!

Glad you had a very nice flight with KLM. I flew with them many times to AMS and most flights are fine. Like with any airline you sometimes get crew members that are a bit stiff, but overall they are very nice. My new fav is Swiss. Zurich airport especially in the morning lets you to transfer to an intra-European flight in less than 45 min.

[quote="hirofumi]Their CGK-KUL fare was so low! Yes, lower than AirAsia. And Business Class was less than USD 200 which also was a great deal (though I felt due to the length of the flight Economy was sufficient). I think they serve full meal in J. KLM, along with Austrian J is my favorite airline in Europe! Now I just wish I could fly on AF one day...[/quote]

I flew in C on that segment last year. Definitely great crew. As for the meal, it was not really a full meal, more like a nice single dish but that was perfectly adequate for this short flight and for sure much better than what you would get intra Europe for a similar length flight.

WROORD wrote:

Glad you had a very nice flight with KLM. I flew with them many times to AMS and most flights are fine. Like with any airline you sometimes get crew members that are a bit stiff, but overall they are very nice. My new fav is Swiss. Zurich airport especially in the morning lets you to transfer to an intra-European flight in less than 45 min.

Swiss is one of the major European airlines that I have never flown before, and I've always wanted to try it out! Haven't been to Zurich airport either. It's now on my list to fly with them and get a transit experience

blandy62 wrote:

I flew in C on that segment last year. Definitely great crew. As for the meal, it was not really a full meal, more like a nice single dish but that was perfectly adequate for this short flight and for sure much better than what you would get intra Europe for a similar length flight.

Just for curiosity - does single dish really mean single, or did it come with a side and dessert? I've read a couple of reviews online and saw really beautifully presented Indonesia-European fusion meal created by a celebrity chef. After experiencing great service in Y I now don't mind paying a bit more to test out business class if I'll have a chance to fly this sector given the fare remains attractive.

I meant that everything was coming on one tray. But yes it was like what you described from on the other reviews posted. Definitely impressive for a 1:30 hour flight. Definitely for fare, it is absolutely worth to fly C

blandy62 wrote:

I meant that everything was coming on one tray. But yes it was like what you described from on the other reviews posted. Definitely impressive for a 1:30 hour flight. Definitely for fare, it is absolutely worth to fly C

Thanks for the clarification