Review: KLM, World Business Class

The Air France KLM group presently offers a total of 34 flights per week from the UAE, with the majority from Dubai, to Europe, via its respective Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol hubs.

Lounging around

Dubai International Airport (DIA) is one of several locations around the globe which has its own dedicated KLM Crown Lounge. The lounge itself is quite compact but has quite a modern European feel to it and, importantly, it has plenty of seating.

Business executives can easily access the Internet via their laptops, while the lounge itself was quite sparsely populated when AME Info was visiting it, providing a calm and quiet environment for any urgent last minute work. Indeed, it is infinitely more pleasurable and far less frantic than Emirates' Marhaba lounge for example.

It goes without saying that the Crown Lounge offers all the usual refreshments one would expect, from pastries and club sandwiches to a selection of alcoholic beverages and hot drinks. But one of the most convenient aspects of the lounge is its location slap bang next to KLM's regular gate, meaning you have no tedious 15 minute walk to negotiate to get to your plane.

At KLM's Amsterdam hub, the airline's passengers have three lounges to choose from but, as you can imagine at one of the world's larger airports, these do get busy but KLM provides ample facilities to make your brief stay prior to your connecting flight very comfortable.

In Heathrow's Terminal 4, KLM has yet another dedicated lounge, the Holideck, and this is a far bigger affair than its offering at DIA. It provides a great 'Flight Deck' overlooking the comings and goings on the airport's apron below, while it also comprises a special quiet room and even a snooze area - perfect for an invigorating nap.

A row of work stations offers a speedy Internet connection, while there are plenty of other places to work. For AME Info, the PlayStation consoles, located in the children's play area, were a serious temptation.

Comforts on board

AME Info flew to Amsterdam on board a Boeing 777-200 and KLM's business class cabin has a standard 2-3-2 configuration. The seats provide more than adequate leg room and the whole cabin has a sense of space which a number of other airlines with similar seating plans somehow fail to achieve.

The business class seat itself does not recline a full 180 degrees but it does comes pretty close and it made for a very comfortable bed on which to sleep for several hours. Some seats that offer a very slight incline can sometimes cause you to start sliding downwards but this was not the case with KLM.

On board service was extremely professional with KLM's cabin crew both very reliable and friendly. An innovative and tasty breakfast of mushroom pancakes with mozzarella and pesto chicken was served on the way out from Dubai, which was certainly very filling, while the light meals served on the brief connecting flights to and from London Heathrow were most impressive, with goat's cheese and pumpkin kebabs making for a delightful snack.

From an entertainment point of view, KLM offers a very respectable audio/video on demand package (AVOD) on its flights from the UAE which will undoubtedly keep you occupied for hours.

AME Info counted almost 150 CDs in its jukebox, cutting across a whole host of musical genres, while there was a selection of at least 70 movies, ranging from new releases to world cinema titles. The AVOD system certainly holds its own when set against the latest in-flight entertainment packages offered by some of the Gulf region's newer airlines.

Personal touch

It must be said business class travellers are well accustomed to receiving a number of little perks and freebies, such as handy wash bags for example. KLM obliges on this score too of course, but the Dutch carrier also has its own unique way of marking your journey with them.

Every time you fly either business or first class with KLM you can select a charming Delftware porcelain reproduction of a Dutch canal house as a memento. The airline releases a new design every year and regular KLM passengers can accumulate the present collection of 88 houses.

This is a nice, little touch towards the end of the flight and frankly in keeping with the thoughtfulness and personal nature of the service.

There may be a plethora of direct and indirect flight options to Europe out of the Gulf's main cities these days but there is absolutely no question that, with regular connections from Amsterdam throughout the day and short flying times between most key European cities, KLM is a serious option for business travellers no matter where they are headed.

See also:
Review: British Airways, Club World
Review: Virgin Atlantic, Upper Class