FIRST IMPRESSIONS I had checked in for the 1710 flight from London Heathrow Terminal 4 to Amsterdam the day before, selecting seat 15A in economy class. Arriving at 1500 on the day, I dropped off my bags and walked to security, where after a five minute delay I was through to airside. The flight was called at 1640 and by 1645 they were announcing final boarding, so many passengers were breathless from having run to the Gate (Gate 10). We had our boarding passes processed, then waited on the air bridge for five minute shuffling along to the door of the aircraft.
As we waited to board a backpacker with a large backpack was told by one of the ground staff that he would have to check in his bag. Onboard it was extremely warm. We waited for 10 minutes for the doors to close. The last passenger to arrive was the backpacker, still carrying his backpack.
THE SEAT KLM has some 21 B737-800 aircraft in its fleet. We have reviewed a flight on this type of aircraft previously.
I was seated in row 15 in seat A, a window seat. The emergency exits rows of 13 and 14 and these offer more leg room. There are a total of 171 passengers on the aircraft, and our flight was extremely full. The seatplan is here and on KLM’s own website, here.
WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? The emergency exit seats, in row 13 and 14 have more leg room.
THE FLIGHT We took off 10 minutes after our departure time (so on time) and when airborne for the 45-minute flight were served a chocolate biscuit and a choice of drinks, including alcohol. Our descent was uneventful apart from a little turbulence which woke up a few passengers.
ARRIVAL We landed on time and I walked out into the terminal to find my connecting flight onwards.
VERDICT Good value and efficient on a modern aircraft with plenty of leg room in economy.
Tom Otley
