Amsterdam stopover
I got off my BA430 flight and went to the Heineken bar at the end of the non-Schengen D-gates, I enjoyed a nice cold Heineken beer with a packet of crisps, coming in at almost 7.50EUR, it was quite expensive, although it was nice to enjoy!


I was next to a huge glass window overlooking a parked Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300.

I walked to my gate, which was also in the D-gate. However the D-Gate I was departing to Toulouse from was in the "Schengen" area of the Terminal with the A & B Gates. So I had to go through passport control, which was quick due to the lack of a que in the EU/Bio-metric lane.

KL1307 (AMS-TLS)
So my flight for that afternoon was operated by a Boeing 737-700 (PH-BGR), this is my fourth time flying on a KLM 737-700 and my third air frame (I flew on PH-BGP twice).
This flight was booked in November 2019 by cashing in 7,800 Flying Blue miles, with a 40% deal on the cost. So I paid 45EUR (£38) covering the taxes on the route, but also the 7,800 miles. Making this trip quite cheap.


I had reserved seat 8A for my trip. I wouldn't normally select these seats, but as I got free seat selection from cashing in miles for this booking, I thought I'd take the opportunity.

The seats on this was the classic blue fabric seats which have been in the KLM 737-NG fleet since their delivery until the last four Boeing 737-800 which came into the fleet in 2018/19. I find the seats comfortable, and the legroom is usually good- until you but a bag under the seat in front of you- which I had to do as the over head lockers were all filled up!

We pushed back and had a short taxi to the Runway 18L, and we departed for the South of France!
We powered through the thick cloud around Amsterdam, and we came out above them to a lovely afternoon of clear sunshine and blue skies.
The crew served up the in-flight service. I was given an egg and cheese wrap, which I wasn't best happy with. Not that there is anything wrong with the wrap- I just don't take to cold egg and mayonnaise. But I enjoyed a Dutch waffle biscuit the crew were also offering alongside a cup of tea and orange juice.

I went to the back of the plane about half hour later, to use the washroom and as I came out I asked the crew if they had any Heineken cans with the KLM100 branding on them- sure enough, they had one! Which I still keep and am looking forward to displaying on a dedicated KLM model/memorabilia shelf in my bedroom!

Rest of the flight was uneventful, we arrived into a cloudy Toulouse, I couldn't help but notice the Aeroscopia Museum as we flew past it on finals as well as seeing all the brand new Airbus A350-900 and Airbus A330-neo awaiting delivery to their new owners! The odd one for me was seeing a UPS Airbus A300-600 amongst the delivery line-up, which was odd given the A300's final delivery was in 2007.


I stayed on as people left the aircraft, and I made my way to the flight deck for a quick visit (I had asked before landing if this would be ok) and I thanked both pilots for a great flight, and took my photographs of the flight deck *bellow*

Le Panorama restaurant
Inside the landside (public) area of Toulouse Blagnac of Hall B, is the Le Panorama restaurant. It is a small eatery which offers great views across the Airport over looking the taxiway, runway and Airbus factory. The food is a reasonable price given its at a major French airport.


As you can see, there was a selection for hot dinner meals at the time I arrived, and I chose the rump stake at 15.90EUR (£13.60) and got a drink and desert for an extra 3.60EUR (£3) which was of a decent quality.


I sat around enjoying my meal for a good 3 hours just to enjoy the food and snap passing aircraft and parked up Airbus aircraft awaiting delivery- I did get some interesting finds and here are some of my favourite shots from the stay.
My interest was perk on the Airbus A300-600 of UPS that was parked on the delivery line! Not sure why it was there…




I believe those are the first A300s of UPS to be retrofitted with new avionics systems and therefore requires a certification process (after testing), which is currently performed by Airbus.
Ah nice! Well it was good to see the Airbus A300 at TLS. Given it first flew 40 years ago, I am surprised the production lasted as long as it did.
They are amazing aircraft indeed. Used to fly with them regularly on domestic flights with TG.