Why this trip:
Welcome all to my 9th trip report that will cover my experience on board flight: KL1701 from Amsterdam towards Madrid, flight LA704 from Madrid to Frankfurt and flight KL1768 from Frankfurt to Amsterdam. KL1701 was operated by a Boeing 737-800, the LAN flight with a Boeing 787-8 and the final flight by a Fokker 70. The reason I made these flights is because I wanted to see what product LAN offers onboard their Dreamliners and during the time off booking the fares were really low in Business Class. When I was looking for flights to travel towards Madrid and from Frankfurt towards Amsterdam KLM offered the best schedule. KLM flights arrive at terminal 2 at Madrid and my LAN flight departed from terminal 4S so a 3 hour layover to see the airport and lounge were sufficient for me. I booked a flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam that departs at 14:20 the next day so I was able to visit the renewed spotting deck at Frankfurt Airport and fly the Fokker 70.
Before the flight:
Initially I had not planned to fly the AMS-MAD leg in C but KLM offered me a good priced paid upgrade during online check-in so I took it. I used the online check-in service for both LAN and KLM, all went smooth and received my boarding passes in my email. Most of the time I export the boarding passes towards my Passbook so I don’t have to drag the paper with me.
The airport:
I was dropped off at the airport with plenty of time to spent so I made my way towards security, I was travelling with hand luggage only so it all went quite fast. Since the 3rd of June the security area in departure hall 2 and 3 are completely renewed. The security checkpoints at the gates will disappear and will be replaced by 5 central locations throughout the airport. It will speed up the boarding process and as you all know Schiphol is a major transfer airport so it will also save time for connecting passengers. After clearing the security checkpoint I made my way to the KLM Crown Lounge located near the D gates.
1.
The Crown Lounge at the Schengen Area was not that busy so I settled down for a cup of coffee with a biscuit. The lounge at the Non-Schengen Area had been completely renewed, I'm looking forward visiting it one day. The Schengen Lounge offers a seating area and a separate smoking area, both areas have Wi-Fi and personal power outlets. There is also a small buffet including alcoholic beverages.
2.
Boarding of my flight would start at 09:00 so at 08:30 I made my way towards the exit of the lounge. Departure gate was B15, a 15 minute walk from the lounge. For an aviation enthusiast like me and many others on this forum you can better double that time because there a various spots throughout the terminal where you have a good view on the ramp. Schiphol offers shops of various brands and products so if you need to do some last minute shopping you’re good.
3.
4. During my walk I noticed the special colored Vueling aircraft popping around the corner and it happened to be parking right in front of me.
The flight, Seat, Entertainment, Cabins and Crew:
5. Getting closer to my departure gate I spotted the aircraft that would take me to Madrid, it just arrived from an early flight from Budapest. The aircraft is the PH-BXY a Boeing 737-8K2 named Grebe/Fuut. This aircraft is 7.6 years old and is powered by 2 CFMI CFM56-7B27 engines.
The seating for today’s flight was 12 in Business class (Middle seat blocked) and 162 in Economy. The Economy Class seats offer a 30in./76cm pitch and Business Class seats offer a 33in./84cm pitch. KLM also offers Economy Comfort on its short haul flights, it’s the same seat as the Business Class except the service.
The gate area was quite crowded when I reached it and moments later the crew arrived consisting of 2 cockpit crew and 4 cabin attendants. Boarding was called on time in the standard sequence. First passengers with children, elderly or passengers with special assistance. Thereafter it was time for the Skyteam Elite members followed by Business class and FlyingBlue members. Thereafter it was time for the Economy class passengers to board the aircraft.
When I arrived at the door of the aircraft I was greeted by 2 cabin crewmembers welcoming me on board the aircraft. I stored my bag in the overhead bin and settled down on seat 1A. Overall boarding process went quite smooth and during boarding the purser of today’s flight came by with some newspapers, I opted for the Dutch Telegraaf. The flight was quite full but the boarding was finished right on time. The Captain announced the flight time was going to be 2 hours and 10 minutes with a cloudy departure towards the south before making our way towards Madrid. Weather at Madrid was great with light clouds and a light wind from the North. Just prior to pushback a drink was offered with 2 options, fresh orange juice or water, I opted for the first one, which was quite tasty. Every time a crewmember asked me anything I was called by my surname.
6. Legroom photo from seat 1A.
7. Only 1D, 2C and 2A were occupied.
8. We were pushed back from the gate on time followed by a 10-minute taxi towards departure runway 18L.
9. View towards the E gates and D platform.
10. Crossing the 3450m/11320ft long runway 27-09.
11. There was no aircraft in front of us and the engines spoiled up once we were lined up on the runway. Here you can see one of the KLM maintenance hangars.
12. Some vortices leaving the wing during climb out.
13. Climb out was uneventful and I was able to see some nice cloud formations during our climb towards our cruise level of 37000ft/11277m.
14.
15. The KLM logo in the front part of the aircraft.
16. The middle seat is blocked in the Business Class rows.
17. Wing view just after the hot towel service.
18. A small breakfast menu was distributed.
19. There were two of options available for the breakfast service. The first was scrambled eggs with hash-brown potatoes, tomato compote and fried mushrooms. The second option was Cripes with Chocolate cream, vanilla sauce and hazelnuts. I opted for the first option and it was served with a roll served with jam and cold cuts featuring cucumber cream cheese and smoked salmon and flavored curd cheese. There was a variety of bread choices available and I opted for a croissant. The meal was served on a nice plate and good cutlery. I enjoyed the food and was sufficient for the flight.
The wine list consisted of sparkling Codorníu Clásico from Spain. White wine Corette – Chardonnay 2012 from French and Weltevrede With!t – Sauvignon Blanc 2013 from South Africa. Red wines were Añoranza – Cabernet & Shiraz 2012 from Spain and Cono Sur Bicileta – Pinot Noir 2012 from Chile.
20. During the flight I had a really nice chat with the purser onboard the flight, she operated all Boeing types and her favored aircraft was the Boeing 747. She asked why I was on this flight and I explained I was on my way to Frankfurt to travel on the LAN Boeing 787. She really showed her interest and during the various drink services we chatted some more. Before the descend started she returned once more and told me that I could make a photo from the cockpit once we were on the ground at Madrid, very kind of her. Descend started at 1 hour and 45 minutes into the flight.
21. The captain once again came over the PA to give some weather and arrival information for Madrid. He explained the taxi time towards the terminal was going to be quite long because we were landing on the 3500m/11482ft long runway 32R. The temperature was nice and there were few clouds above the airfield. During the approach I spotted the Embalse de Entrepeñas.
22. During final approach I spotted the city in the far distance.
23. Moments before touchdown on runway 32R you are able to see some stored aircraft at Madrid and trust me, there are plenty scattered around the airfield. In this photo you can see some MD-88’s, F27, G1’s and some A320’s.
24. We vacated the runway on the left, followed by a long taxi towards the arrival Terminal 2. During the taxi there was plenty to see, here you can see the large 290,000-m² Terminal 4S. Terminal 4 and 4S are 2.5km apart from each other and connected via a shuttle train.
25.
26. This picture is cropped badly but here you can see LOT 787-8, SP-LRF. It operates flights for Air Europa and it’s mainly dispatched on the Madrid-Miami-Madrid route.
27. Once the aircraft was on blocks I waited until most of the passengers were disembarked and proceeded towards the cockpit were the crew was awaiting my visit. I had a nice chat with the First Officer, I noticed that there was still a lot of fuel in the tanks and he explained that the fuel prices were quite high at Madrid and it was better to bring fuel from Amsterdam. Because of the full flight and high fuel load the landing weight was over 64 tons. I thanked the crew for their hospitality and kindness and wished them a nice return flight to Amsterdam.
28. One last look when I walked towards the Terminal building when I walked through the gate. In the background you can see AeroMexico Boeing 777-2Q8ER, registration N776AM wearing a special sticker to promote the Mexico City.
Impression:
The service onboard this flight from Amsterdam to Madrid was good and the purser was really personal and that gives a very welcome feeling. Although it was a short flight the upgrade option was a nice extra, and for the right price I would definitely consider it again. The food onboard the flight was sufficient for the duration and it was tasty as well. Overall I got a good flight and it made me look forward to my trip onboard the LAN 787.
Before the flight / The airport:
29. Because my LAN would depart from Terminal 4S I needed to find the busses that connects Terminal 1/2/3 with Terminal 4 and 4S. I used the bus from departure level 2, it’s free of charge and it takes around 10 minutes to reach the departure level at Terminal 4. Finding the bus was another thing, the signage wasn’t the best I’ve seen.
30. The bus ride went smooth and before I knew it I was walking inside Terminal 4, the design is quite interesting.
31. Although I used my mobile boarding pass I still wanted to have the paper boarding pass for my collection. The agent behind the counter was happy to print one out for me and wished me a pleasant flight. I was hoping there was a last minute window seat available but unfortunately there weren’t any.
32. I needed to follow the green sign S towards Terminal 4S.
33. As you can see the it takes some time to reach the Satellite building.
34. The APM (Automatic People Mover).
35.
36. I made my way towards the shopping area of the terminal and as a Business Class traveler with LAN you can also use the Iberia Velázquez located inside the terminal. It’s a really nice lounge that is opened 24 hours a day and offers wide variety of salads, sandwiches, paninis, coffees and other types of drinks. Varied pastries, sweet rolls and Swedish bread are also available.
37. Inside the lounge.
38. There weren’t much people at the time I was there.
39. Apart from being a really nice lounge, it also offers good views on the apron so I settled myself down for some spotting.
40. American Airlines N284AY, an Airbus A330-243.
41. The long Airbus A340-642 from Iberia, registration EC-JCY.
42. And the aircraft that was taking me towards Frankfurt showed up at the gate right next to the lounge. Boeing 787-8, CC-BBJ of LAN Airlines. It’s a young aircraft that made her first flight on 24-10-2014 and was delivered to LAN on 14-11-2014. This 787 is the last 787-8 that joined the fleet and makes number ten of the 787-8 in LAN’s fleet.
43. My lunch.
44. I wasn’t able to find the registration of this aircraft.
45. LAN Airlines operates a lot of flights to and from Madrid. LA1730 operates a direct flight from Guayaquil to Madrid on Monday, Wednesday and Friday using A Boeing 767-300ER. LA2706 operates a daily direct flight from Lima to Madrid, also using a Boeing 767-300ER. And then you have the LA704 that operates daily from Santiago to Madrid with an onward journey to Frankfurt using a Boeing 787. Here you can see CC-BJA a Boeing 767-316ER taxiing towards the gate.
46. Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 with registration A7-BCJ operating flight QR149 from Doha.
47.
48. Iberia Airbus A340-642, registration EC-IOB.
49. Nice surprise to spot this aircraft, I haven’t seen it before. Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS with registration EI-DCL wearing the Dreamliner colors.
50. Seen here is Avianca’s N783AV, a Boeing 787-8 that made her first flight on 14-11-2014 and was delivered to the airline on 30-12-2014. It’s the fourth 787 in Avianca’s fleet of the total five Avianca operates; the airline has two more Dreamliners on order.
The flight, Seat, Entertainment, Cabins and Crew:
51. After this short lounge visit it was time to head towards the gate because boarding was going to start for the flight towards Frankfurt. When I arrived at the gate the boarding process was in full swing so there wasn’t a long waiting queue. LAN had the following boarding sequence: Advance boarding for passengers with special needs and a preferential line for First and Business classes for TAM, and Premium Business and Premium Economy for LAN, plus the passengers from the premium categories in the LANPASS and TAM Fidelidade programs. It turned out to be quite a full a flight for today’s leg towards Frankfurt.
52. The seating configuration onboard this aircraft Business Class is 2-2-2 with a total of 30 seats. The seats have a 75in./190cm pitch and a 23in./58cm width. The 2-2-2 config still means window seats will have to step over the legs of their seatmate to reach the aisle. The Economy Class features a 3-3-3 configuration with a total of 217 seats. The seats have a 32in./81cm pitch and a 16.8in./42.6cm width. Here is a photo of my initial seat; 2C.
53. There are various stowage spaces available, under the footrest (not usable for takeoff and landing), next to the footrest and next to the seat.
54. When I looked to the front of the cabin I noticed that the cockpit door was still open. During all the trips I make, I always ask if it’s possible to make a cockpit visit when the flight has arrived at the destination airport. Because of the open door I walked to the front of the aircraft and asked one of the cabin attendants that was pouring drinks in the galley if it was possible to make a quick visit to the flight deck. She asked the captain and came back with good news, I was allowed in the cockpit. Once I entered the cockpit the two captains shook hands with me and were happy to let me take some photos of the cockpit while they did most of the paperwork.
55. This is the second time I’m actually standing in a 787 cockpit and I must say I really like it. I also liked the 787 Dreamliner titles above the overhead panel.
56. You can also see the dual head-up displays (HUDs) located above the crew. The 787 Dreamliner features large forward display screens, with five MFDs that measure 15in./38cm diagonally. The displays provide more than twice the area as those used on the 777, it takes as few as five days of training to transition to the 787. The crew did take their time to answer some of the questions I had, and as departure time approached I returned to my seat after thanking the pilots for their time and wishing them a great flight towards Frankfurt.
57. The IFE (In Flight Entertainment) screen with over 1.000 entertainment options including than 100 movies.
58. For a welcome drink there were two option, either juice or champagne. As you can see I opted for the last option, it was served with a variety of nuts.
59. Seat controls.
60. Storage space.
61. I asked my seatmate if he was bothered by the fact I was making photos, he didn’t found it a big deal and wanted to swap seats with me so that I could sit at the window. That was a nice surprise so my new seat was 2A. Shortly after the seat change a hot towel service commenced. Here’s a shot of my new view.
62. The IFE was mostly set on this screen.
63. All doors were closed right on time and the mood light was switched on.
64. The captain of today’s flight made a short announcement about the flight duration and it was a short taxi towards the departure runway 36R. As you can see in this photo you can see that we are lined up on the runway. In the background you see Terminal 4S with both LAN 767’s.
65. The sound of the two GEnx-1B engines spooling up was really nice and shortly after followed by the rotation.
66. We passed a cloud layer, although seated in the front of the cabin you are still able to see the engine and wing with some nice wing flex.
67. The front of the IFE controller.
68. And the back.
69. This is the menu screen of the IFE system LAN uses. I didn’t try any movies, I started some music and watched the airshow outside. The headset had decent quality.
70. The headset.
71. The Safety Card of this Boeing 787-8.
72. Cruising at FL430.
73. The 787 window controls.
74. LAN’s inflight magazine named In.
75. Duty Free magazine.
76. No menu was supplied but the stewardess came by each seat and informed what the meal of today’s flight was going to be. On this leg towards Frankfurt the meal consisted of a cold chicken salad with fruits and chocolate. Drinks could either be soft of alcoholic beverages. I asked what kind of beer there was on offer and it was a Chilean beer or Heineken. I can drink Heineken back home all the time so I chose the Chilean beer. It had a more fruity taste and wasn’t that bitter, I enjoyed it.
77. Cruising towards Geneva and Zurich. Another drink round commenced.
78. Nice and bright cabin and you can’t look on the screen of the passenger next to you.
79. When flying over Zurich just prior to descent the cabin windows were automatically dimmed to fully dark giving the mood light a better effect.
80. Shortly after the descent into Frankfurt started with some turbulence, landing runway was going to be 25L (luckily not 25R because of the long taxi).
81. It was quite a rapid descent and speed brakes were deployed most of the time until the aircraft was established for the runway.
82. Crossing highway 5.
83. It was a nice touchdown followed by some good braking action. We needed to hold short of runway 25C, the departure runway in use at that moment. Once the aircraft crossed the runway and continued towards the gate I spotted Lufthansa’s Retro Scheme 747-8 registration D-ABYT.
84. Once the aircraft was on blocks at gate B44 the de-boarding went fast and efficient. I couldn’t resist making some photos when walking towards the terminal area of Terminal 1.
85. Shinning in the sun.
The airport:
86. Terminal 1.
87. I booked a hotel close to the airport but I still had some time to visit the Visitors Terrace. You can find the Visitors Terrace at redesigned Food Plaza in Terminal 2, which features Europe’s largest McDonald's Restaurant. The admission is €3 per person and is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and till 7 p.m. during the weekends and school holidays.
88. Outside area, as you can see in the distance the Visitors Terrace is still being worked on.
Impression:
This was the first time I was able to experience a Business Class seat on a wide body aircraft that is normally used on long haul flights. It was high on my to fly list and I’m really looking forward flying a Business Class seat on a long haul flight. The flight from Madrid to Frankfurt went really smooth and the product LAN offers is very nice. I can understand that this seating configuration is not optimal for a long haul flight when you are seated at the window and your neighbor is having a sleep and you want to get out. But for such a relatively short flight it’s not a big deal. The crew wasn’t overly nice, but they did their job in a professional and kind way. I would highly recommend this LAN service to anyone flying from Madrid to Frankfurt and when you have a good look at the fares it could be bought for a very reasonable price.
Before the flight:
The next day I woke up after having a good night rest in the Meininger hotel Frankfurt Main. The hotel is just 800 meters from Frankfurt am Main Airport Terminal 2. The hotel is good value for money and I also chose this hotel because it’s near Terminal 2 were my KLM flight would depart from at 14:20. I opted for an afternoon departure to do some more spotting prior to the flight, unfortunately it was very rainy that morning. To get to the airport I used the shuttle service, the website said it’s free but actually is not. A small fee of 3 euros must be paid. I used the online check-in for this flight and again send my boarding pass to my mobile phone.
The airport:
89. After being dropped off at the airport I proceeded towards the food plaza to view some aircraft through the windows, because the rain was still pouring down outside. About an hour later I decided to go past security, there wasn’t a gate available when I first checked it. Terminal 2 itself it not so special.
The flight, Seat, Entertainment, Cabins and Crew:
90. Security check on the lower level of Terminal 2.
91. Security was cleared fast, there were not many flights departing from this part of the terminal when I was there. Only some TUIfly aircraft bound for sunny destinations in Europe and several US bound flights. The actual facilities of this terminal disappointed me and it made it look like that the airport discourage you to use this terminal and puts more focus on terminal 1. There only was 1 restaurant and 2 duty free shops in the whole terminal. Maybe there was some secret hidden stairs to reach the upper level of the terminal but I surely wasn’t able to find one. That said I advise you to go as late as possible through security prior to your flight to visit some shops/restaurants inside the terminal.
92. It’s a long but narrow terminal.
93. Departure information for Terminal 1, as you can see Lufthansa rules the place.
94. Although the facilities provided inside the terminal are disappointing you can still have decent views outside. I still had to kill some time so I looked for the best spots. Here you can see a American Airlines Airbus A330 being prepared for her journey back to the States.
95. Another view on the apron.
96. Delta Airlines Boeing 767-332ER registration N175DZ, wearing the SkyTeam scheme.
97. Quite busy as you can see.
98. The gate opened quite early because KLM uses step boarding here at Frankfurt so passengers need to be bussed towards the aircraft. Here is the waiting area of gate D25.
99. Information screen.
100. The bus ride towards the aircraft was quite fun as you drive past some heavies docked at Terminal 2, windows were tinted so I didn’t make any photos. About 8 minutes later we arrived at the aircraft that was sitting on the ramp. For today’s flight KLM dispatched a Fokker 70 registration PH-KZF. The aircraft is 19 years old and made its first flight on 20-09-1996 and was delivered to the carrier on 28-10-1996. The aircraft is fitted with two RR Tay 620-15 engines providing 13.850 LB of thrust.
101. The Fokker 70 had its own stair that is fitted in the door so no external stair is needed. Boarding was done efficiently; a ramp worker that was standing at the bottom of the stairs picked out oversized luggage. The aircraft is configured on a 2-3 layout with 3 rows of Business Class and 13 rows of Economy seats. The 9 Business seats offer a 31in./78cm pitch and a 17in./43cm width, the 65 Economy seats offers the same pitch and width as the Business Class seat. Here is a photo of the forward rows of the Business Class.
102. My seat for this flight was seat 14F located on the right side of the aircraft, just behind the wing and in front of the number 2 engine. A pretty good seat to hear the engine sound.
103. The seat itself was actually quite spacious, I have seen worse on modern type jets.
104. The safety card of this Fokker 70.
105. The bashed up inflight magazine named Holland Herald.
106. The panel above the seat with lights, air and a speaker.
107. Doors were closed on time and the cockpit crew gave a briefing about the short flight towards Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. He expected to complete the flight from stand to stand within the hour; weather was bad all the way with rain during departure, clouds during cruise and also cloudy weather at Amsterdam. When I looked around me I wasn’t able to find any empty seats in the Economy section of the aircraft, just one empty Business Class seat. I noticed that the captain was form the UK as well as one of the two stewardesses; maybe form the former KLM UK.
108. During pushback from the stand the cabin crew did the safety briefing. They needed to be quick because runway 25C was in use for departures and that meant that the taxi time would only be 5 minutes. The engine sound of the increasing N1 of the engines was a pleasant sound to hear, here you can see a Lufthansa A330-300 holding short of the runway.
109. The climb out was steep and a bit bumpy because of the cloud layers.
110. After a few minutes we turned right heading northwest.
111. As soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off the cabin crew began to service the passengers. I opted for some water and as a snack, sweet oven backed biscuits were distributed.
112. As the captain informed us the clouds were present along the whole route towards Amsterdam. At this photo you can see the iconic Fokker wing, we were flying at 28000ft/8534m.
113. Once again the cockpit came on the PA with some arrival information. Landing runway was going to be in a northerly direction, so that meant runway 36R was in use. He thanked the passengers for choosing KLM and wished u a pleasant stay or onward journey.
114. Typical Dutch landscape during the descent.
115. Moment before touching down on the 3400m/11155ft. long runway 36R-18L.
116. It was a smooth touchdown followed by good braking action to vacate the runway early at exit point G5, it saves taxi time towards the Bravo apron were KLM Cityhopper flights are handled.
117. We taxied past the north side of the B pier. In this photo you can see N738MA a Boeing 737-8Q8 from Miami Air International that is on lease to ArkeFly, Boeing 737-8K5 PH-TFA from ArkeFly, Boeing 737-8K2 from Transavia.com in Neckermann color scheme. There is also a Lufthansa Cityline Embraer 190 and a Lufthansa Airbus in the background.
118. Our stand on the south side of the B pier, B28.
119. After being on blocks at the stand the door opened and the passengers left the aircraft. I waited until I was one of the last on board and made my way to the front of the aircraft. I asked the First Officer that was standing at the door if it was possible to make a photo of his office. He quickly asked the captain and he approved my request, thanks! The cockpit was clean and bright but as you can expect quite small and most of the panels and instruments were compact.
120. Thereafter it was also time for me to leave the aircraft because the cleaning staff wanted to clean the aircraft for the next rotation. I like ramp (de) boarding with the stairs more than (de) boarding via the gate because you have the opportunity to photograph the aircraft in another way and most of the time it gives an unobstructed view of the aircraft. Here you can see the aircraft safely on blocks and the crew bus is waiting to bring to crew somewhere else.
Impression:
Like the other flights I made during this trip this flight went smooth as well. Flying the Fokker 70 for the first time was a great experience and I hope more people are able to fly these machines before they are going to be retired. KLM Cityhopper is renewing its fleet by purchasing fifteen Embraer 175 aircraft and two Embraer 190 aircraft. The first two E190 aircraft will join the fleet in December 2015. The fifteen E175 aircraft will be taken up in the KLM Cityhopper fleet between March 2016 and June 2018. Arrival of these Embraers will be coupled with phasing out nineteen Fokker 70s, so if you still want to fly one do it while you still have the chance.
KLM offers a good product on this flight there is nothing wrong about that. The fact that this flight leaves from Terminal 2 is a shame because of the few facilities available within the terminal. Lufthansa also offers the same flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and vice versa and that flight leaves from the big Terminal 1. That can be a consideration to choose between these two airliners. I really enjoyed all of the flights I made during this trip and I hope you have clear view of my experiences onboard the flights.
Thank you for reading this extensive trip report and I’m looking forward posting my next one, I still have one in the pipeline of my Amsterdam-Dubai-Kuala Lumpur flights I made in April onboard Emirates and I will post it next month. I’m flying to Bali tomorrow so please stay tuned!
Maikel
/cebupacific.gif)
/garuda.gif)
