Review of KLM flight from Mexico City to Amsterdam in Business

A short reminder of the routing:

As I landed with more than 75'' delay, I don't waste anytime and go straight to the train station.

mex in transit

No airside connections in MEX between T2 and T1, you need to exit through the luggage delivery hall:

Pretty empty:

The station is one level above:

My ride would arrive in less than 2 minutes, but as stated in the previous report, as there is only one track, there is only one train and the wait can be over 12 minutes to catch the train.

Back at T1:

This part of the building seems to be newer and is still acceptable:

But the way to go to the international gate has a very low ceiling and no natural light.

And again, the signage is just more than poor. The signs alternate with "Salida International" or "Migrationes" and none go to the same place. Shall I proceed to security or shall I go the the departure? I choose departure and cross the fingers that it is ok :)

There are also several security checks but none of them indicates clearly which gates it goes to. To add confusion, neither my boarding pass nor the screens show anything.

I eventually asked an agent that tells me that each security leads to the international airside part. So I am free to choose whichever. And for the gate, he tells me that the gate number will be displayed on the FIDS inside. Fair enough.

I pass security pretty quickly and it leads directly to the duty free. 

The agent was right, the first screen I saw indicated the gate and also informs me about a delay of an hour. That's ok, I'll have time to visit the lounge. Guess what, there is no signage on where the lounge could be. I decided to walk towards the gate area, in all logic the lounge should be close or at least in this direction.

I am absolutely not impressed by the terminal that looks shabby at best said: 

The corridor is narrow and when there is a boarding in progress, the small gate area you see right begins to be crowded and the crow has no other choice than to also wait in the corridor, making the walkway almost inaccessible. 
To add to this, the air conditioning seems not to be working, it is hot as in an oven. 

I found the way to the gate awfully long, given the heat and the darkness.
I was then surprised to arrive in a renovated area that looked ways better: 

But this wasn't my final stop :)

At least they now had automated walkways and a bit of natural lights but still not great.

Eventually I reached the gate area where daylight is also missing a lot. It is a very sad looking area. Worse, it is even hotter here. If you look at the ceiling you see holes, air conditioners should have been installed there but they seem all out for maintenance (or something like that)

I think I found the lounge, at least!

Yes but no. Even if the gate is exactly next to the AF and KL boarding gates, it is an Avianca and Star Alliance lounge only. I head to the KLM gate to ask but there is nobody yet there. I then ask the Air France people next door as their flight was just closing. I was about to ask the question but the agent asked another question first :)

- Are you arriving from Cancun?

Me a bit perplex: 

- Yes but why?

- You just missed your flight to Paris. You should go back to the Air France counter to find a solution.

- Oh thank you but I am flying with KLM tonight!

- Lucky you. Lots of Air France passenger missed their flight tonight but you will get yours. Your plane is delayed by an hour and boarding will start in around 40 minutes.

- Thank you! Can you please let me know where the lounge is? I was looking for it but can't find.

- Of course, it is just after the security control before the duty free.

OK, that means it was actually from exactly where I came from. 15 minutes walk from here. I would then need a good half an hour to go and be back. Not really worth it. I decided to stay next to the gate area.  It was a wise idea as I would see some interesting scenes that will help the in passing the time.

Because of the heavy thunderstorm, almost all flights (apart the Air France flight to Paris) have been delayed. Lufthansa did even better as their 747-8 couldn't land and was diverted to Guadelaraja. As the announcements only mention an indeterminate delay. After two or three announcements like that, people begin to gather at the gate to seek more information. At some points, the agents announced that they were sorry but "we don't know where the inbound plane is right now". A bit funny to see they "lost" the plane. FR24 showed it as landed, but not in Mexico :)

Then arrives a group of passengers, running and sweating. They ask where the boarding for Paris is, but the A380 was already being pushed back. The gate agents tell them they just missed their flight. Those passengers were also on my flight but further in the back meaning they couldn't leave as fast as I left. In fact, even if they were also in business, I think they would have missed it also.

The agents say the same as they told me earlier: proceed to the AF counters to get re-booked. And this is almost where they came from. Some passengers go, others stay and begin to scream against the staff and a young couple stays by the side saying nothing. They are clearly backpackers and seem lost without options. As they are standing just next to me, I engage in a conversation in French and suggest them to ask the KLM agents as I knew the plane wasn't completely full.

They thank me and go to ask. I overhear the agent saying that they are very lucky as they had a handful of free seats. They are immediately re-booked onto CDG via AMS. They came back to me to thank me  for what I did (actually nothing, it was just an advice ^^).

In the meantime the screaming group didn't get heard by the AF people and were sent back to the counters. What to learn from that: remain calm, ask quietly if there is an alternate and cross your fingers :)

With this everything I haven't seen the time passing by and boarding was launched.  

the flight

Priority boarding is called first, here is the Queen of the Sky door:

Very nice welcome at the door, this is a blurry pic of the jumpseats:

The cabin:

From the front:

My friend is already there:

The shoe box :)

As I am pretty thirsty, Orange juice is the best option tonight. Kits are also being handed out:

No changes in the content:

I had a second glass as I was really, really thirsty :)

Menus being handed out:

In detail:

Doesn't look fantastic to me :(

We pushed back 30' late and taxied for almost 40 minutes. I am not really worrying about my connecting flight as I had a 02H30 layover. Eventually, we only landed 5 minutes late.

After take off, I took a glass of sweet wine for the aperitif and a glass of water together with the nuts. 

A warm towel to start with:

I took the duck as a starter:

It was good without being memorable.

The salt and the pepper paper bags are … no comment.

As a main I had the beef:

It just did its job. Nothing to write a home about.

Then the dessert: 

That were really good.

The service took this time "only" 02H15.

Then blackout until the breakfast that was served two hours prior to arrival. An apple juice to start with:

I took the frenc bread, together with a hot croissant, cheese and fruits:

A closer look at the french bread:

Together with a coffee:

The little hot dish was more than ok, so was the whole tray, but the croissant was hard as rock and uneatable.

We are over UK:

Today's route:

This is for me one of the main reason why I still choose KLM:

This one is number 35 in my collection.

Slowly arriving : 

The coast:

Almost there:

OMG … Glasgow and only Glasgow thanks to the million code shares :)

Almost there:

Delta 333:

More A330:

KL 332 + 772:

Delta 763:

And the Queen: