There is nothing better than when you expect to fly in an aging plane’s interior only to find out that the airline has recently refurbished the bird that you will be taking. Such was the case with a recent flight from Seoul to Amsterdam on a KLM 777-200ER. While I have never actually flown the old layout, the business class seats were laid out in a 2-2-2 arrangement, which yes, means that though every seat has direct aisle access, you are probably not going to have the most private experience in your seat. Luckily the new KLM business class has private and comfortable seats that allowed for an extremely restful flight from Seoul to Amsterdam Schiphol.
The seat in KLM’s new Boeing 777-200ER business class
When you are a fairly tall individual and often get the feeling that business class seats are designed for individuals far shorter than you, it is not a bad idea to look to the flag carrier of the tallest country on earth, the Netherlands. This was the first thing I noticed when boarding, how much room, lengthwise, the seat had. I’m six feet tall (180 cm) and felt that there was plenty of room when upright, and more importantly, reclined.
I chose seat 1G and while I had hoped that as with Air France, there would be a bit extra width in the footwell for the bulkhead business class seats, this was not the case. Still, there was plenty of room for both my shoulders and my feet.
Although there was no added space at the bulkhead, there was definitely still a huge benefit of being in those seats. For some odd reason, the first row was the only row in the cabin with air vents. These were not the traditional plastic vents that you can adjust by screwing clockwise or counterclockwise, but rather slightly larger, aluminum vents with very wide nozzles. As someone who brings a baby fan with him on every trip, this was an extremely welcome revelation. Even away from the air vents, the cabin was kept at a very reasonable temperature. The lovely breeze and chilly sleeping conditions likely contributed to the longest I have ever slept on a plane. I woke up to look at my screen and saw that just three and a half hours of the fourteen-hour flight were remaining. This meant I had slept for more than nine hours and I was absolutely floored.
The seat is equipped with a wireless charging pad, noise cancelling headphones, and USB A, C and universal charging ports. The TV screen does not feel particularly updated, however, and a move to one of the swanky high definition screens you are seeing these days on airlines like Delta and Korean Air would have been a welcome upgrade.
There is also a sliding door which allows for a little more privacy. It feels a bit flimsy and closes with a magnet but it gets the job done to provide a bit of extra privacy, although anyone walking down the aisle who is older than a child could easily see what is going on inside.
The food and drink on KLM’s new 777 business class
Due to the 11:00 PM departure, I had already eaten dinner, so I can only weigh in on the breakfast offering, which was quite good. A shockingly good (crispy!) croissant with jam, a crepe with Nutella, bananas and nuts, a fruit plate and a cold cuts plate with ham, cheese and cornichons. I even managed to get a coffee refill.
As with most long-haul flights these days, there were some snacks in the galley for offer although I did not snap any photos and they were not quite as extensive as the offerings I have seen recently on Air France or Virgin Atlantic, for example.
The service on KLM’s new 777 business class
Although I skipped dinner, I thought that I might have a cheese plate and a glass of wine while watching a movie. I put my tray table out and waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Eventually someone came around to put a tablecloth down but after more than an hour post-takeoff, no one had come around to offer a beverage so I whipped the tablecloth off the tray table and just hit the hay. Perhaps it is unfair to make the comparison, but I just kept thinking about the middle eastern carriers and how the flight attendants come around for drink orders while the plane is taxiing and your beverage is at your seat seemingly as soon as the plane has taken off. However, the flight attendant took her time in presenting the famous KLM Delft house as a souvenir which I appreciated, because I was racking my brain trying to remember which ones I already had.
The bottom line
On a late night flight, all you really care about is getting a good night’s sleep. KLM’s new business class seat one-upped me and gave me a great night’s sleep. Sure, it would have been nice to have a glass of wine before bed, but I’d rather have slept for nearly ten hours than had the wine and slept for four.
The new KLM business class product on its fleet of Boeing 777-200ER planes is not a game changer. It’s not going to compete with Q-Suites, but it stacks up well even against other highly regards business class products such as Etihad and is an improvement on its own 787-9 business class.
