I've decided to add a quick flight report to show what KLM offers on its Japan services.
Direct flights from the UK to Japan are generally very expensive and there is no direct service to Osaka. KLM offered a very good return economy fare at £595, including taxes, so we decided to try the Flying Dutchman. All in all we were pleasantly surprised at the ease of transit in Amsterdam and the good service on board.
The flight from London Heathrow to Amsterdam was a quick 45 minutes on a Boeing 737-900, the crew were welcoming and friendly and managed to serve a full flight with drinks and snacks. The crew advised connecting passengers to map out their transit route using the inflight magazine airport map which did help ease the hassle of a non-direct routing.
Amsterdam Schiphol is a huge airport but is traveller friendly, has plenty of outlets to eat, drink, space to relax and sleep and also has a rare outside viewing deck.
The flight to Osaka was onboard a Boeing 777-300 with a mix of Dutch and Japanese crew. The economy configuration is relatively tight at 3-4-3 with quite a restricted seat pitch but the flight was relatively comfortable with plenty of food and drink served and a good range of on demand entertainment.
With a flight time of 11 hours 30, the crew were kept busy but it was a welcome change to be offered regular refreshments compared to some British carriers where the cabin crew disappear for hours on end.
Shortly after take-off we were given hot towels, then served drinks and a packet of roasted almonds, while the main meal, mid-flight and breakfast offerings were displayed on the entertainment screens.
I chose the Japanese menu which was good but quite salty. Green tea offering followed shortly after the trays had been cleared away and then the lights were dimmed for some good movie time.
Snacks and pot noodles were available in the galley area and the crew came round every hour or so with drinks.
I managed to get some sleep on the flight but economy seating is never conducive to good rest so I made the most of the entertainment system which was reliable throughout the flight. A few hours before arrival into Osaka we were served with a hot breakfast and a nice touch was a Dutch mint before landing.
So, there you have it. For a long flight, the KLM service was very good and we would certainly consider using them in future.
Thanks for sharing this first report with us. You are so right, AMS is a very pleasant connecting experience. Much better to connect through than LHR, CDG, or FRA. The 3-4-3 configuration on 777 is tight, but sadly becoming the norm.
Welcome to Flight-Report!
Thank you for sharing this report and welcome to the site!
A very good fare on this routing. KL seemed to live up to its high service standard on this flight, even though the flight wasn't the most comfortable. Were you sitting in the back where it drops down to 2 seats? If so, how was the curvature on space?
has a rare outside viewing deck.
- Almost all airports have them in Japan, always make for good spotting :)
I chose the Japanese menu which was good but quite salty
- Salty is not a normal descriptor for Japanese food, it's generally unseasoned food. But I guess it can be on the salty side with some dishes (I could see the tonkatsu being salty). Two full meal trays looks very consistent with the recent MUC-HND report we had on LH. Next time catering pictures with the covers removed please :)