KLM B777-300ER Economy Comfort

This was my return flight from Singapore to Amsterdam after just two nights in the Lion City. I was hoping for a rather better experience than on the outbound (see http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/KLM-B777-300ER-Economy-Comfort ). I was dropped at Changi Terminal 1 quite early and was pleased to see that the check-in desks for KLM were open, well they were for the earlier Air France flight but the lady at the Sky Priority Desk processed me with a helpful smile. I was given an Invitation to the Sky View Lounge, a third party facility used by Air France KLM along with a number of other airlines including Cathay Pacific.

There were no queues at Immigration and I headed for this Lounge which is a somewhat odd place, over two levels, almost as if the area had not been designed as a lounge but, rather, was an amalgam of areas designated a lounge after other previous use. It is a perfectly fine area – somewhat odd catering available at three stations but excellent wifi which was a plus as the timing coincided with Saturday afternoon sport at home which I followed via various radio channels. Indeed, I was able to delay boarding until just after the final whistle in the game that mattered (to me) by switching to the free terminal wifi at the gate.

Security at Changi is at each gate so does delay the process there a bit. Many passengers appeared to be in transit from Bali and were still in holiday mood/ dress. Once aboard, I located my Economy Comfort seat – second row this time and a much better experience there for my knee. I did manage to sleep rather better than on the outbound but my sleep was frequently interupted. I was now sitting in the main 3-4-3 configuration which means very narrow aisles – the consequence of which is that anyone moving up and down the aisle inevitably barges passengers in aisle seats. As I was so close to the front, the main culprits were cabin crew who woke me twice in the night and never evinced so much as a muted apology whenever the ran into me.

Essentially, KLM’s 777-300 is configured for holiday flights with a very small business cabin up front – as Alex McWirter has noted, there are far more Economy/ Economy Comfort pax aboard KLM’s version of this aircraft than is the case with other airlines and this certainly shows. Given that virtually all the passengers were Dutch/ European, maybe they should brand the rear cabins of the aircraft ‘Transavia’ and have done with it!!

We pushed back on time at 01.25 and service commenced soon after take-off. The time of departure had absolutely no impact on speed and nature of service – the full lights stayed on for close to 2 hours after take off despite most passengers seeking sleep at this time. The catering was exactly the same poor quality offering as on the outbound flight and the same applied to breakfast before arrival – including my absolute bête noire, omelette soaked in tomato sauce!! Drinks runs during the night were few and far between compared to most airlines.

I thought that, similar to the outbound, service was remote and disinterested. Cabin crew did communicate more extensively with their fellow countrypersons but ignored the rest of us. Indeed, one particular member of crew talked loudly with a passenger in the row in front of me in the middle of the night so much so that he had to be asked to stop. The CSD was through the cabin quite a lot but, as before, there was absoloutely no recognition for Elite Plus passengers.

We arrived about 30 minutes early into Schipol and disembarked at one of the G gates, giving plenty of exercise before I arrived at the heaving KLM Lounge to wait for my onward flight.

Over the past 18 months, I have travelled long haul Economy with BA, CX, EK, MH, QF, VN and, now, KL – that is the nature of the work I do and the clients who pay for my travel. The hard product does not vary hugely except on the A380 (MH, QF), the KL experience has been by far the most cramped to date and was only saved by the Economy Comfort extra legroom. Sadly, for an airline which other posters wish to promote as the ‘best in Europe’, service was really poor and certainly no where close to some of the others experienced in Economy (CX, BA, EK (sometimes), QF). I had not used KLM longhaul for some while before these flights and would really need an excellent price or timing reason to try them again in the future.

EDITED TO ADD:

In light of my comments above about KLM’s holiday/ ‘Transavia’ flights to Singapore/ Bali, it is interesting to see that Lufthansa have just announced a down-grading of services to BKK, KUL and (a new addition) to Jakarta from 3 class to 2 class (http://airlineroute.net/2014/03/09/lh-bkkkul-s14update2/ ), suggesting a focus on leisure rather than business.