Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this short FR I'd like to present a review of an old rare KLM B737-900 (non-ER) on a flight from Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) to Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO) taken on late November 2017. Nowadays such flights are absolutely unimaginable.
Intro
This flight was the final leg of my trip to Mexico in November 2017. Its most interesting legs - FRA-MEX on LH B748 and MEX-MUC on LH A346 - have been already reviewed.
B737-900 Operators
The original B737-900 was launched as the longest member of the NG family, but without additional pair of doors, which limited its capacity to the one of B738. Due to this limitation it was produced in quite small number and its next iteration - 737-900ER, having additional doors and more range - gained significantly more popularity.
There are very few operators of the original B737-900 nowadays, and this aircraft will soon vanish from passenger service:
1) Jin Air: 3 units (C8_Y180).
2) KLM: 5 units (CY189). Will be replaced by A21Ns.
3) Korean Air: 9 units (C8_Y180).
4) United Airlines: 12 units (C20_Y159).
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)
AMS is one of the most efficient airports in EU, having a single-building terminal, allowing quite fast connections. Most of this concources provide good planespotting possibilities, but some international concources are dull, and my gate was in one of these.
The Aircraft
My flight from AMS to SVO was operated by 2001-built PH-BXR. It was not possible to make a decent photo of the aircraft in AMS, and I made it in SVO after the flight.
The Cabin
The cabin has 189 seats in the standard 3-3 layout, with some of the front rows used for "eurobusiness cabin" (with blocked middle seats) depending on the load. Honestly speaking, the cabin looks incredibly dull, but the seats are more or less OK for mid-haul flights like this, despite being laterally tight (no surprise in the narrow 737 cabin).
My seat 23F
The overhead panel is typical for early 737NGs.
The seatpocket content:
The Flight
The flight was entirely nighttime, and there was nothing to see outside.
The meal service was good for the flight of this length with veg pasta and South African wine.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
