Avis du vol entre Amsterdam et Osaka en classe Economique avec KLM

Hello everyone, Welcome to our trip to Japan!

This will once again be a multi-generational trip with my father, my son and myself, as my wife has in parrellel her own trip to in India.
With such a variety of destinations and passengers, we had to plan in detail and well in advance all the flight arrangements.
After a few attempts at an exotic itinerary, we’ve ended up with a fairly straightforward trip for the trio of men (the same goes for my wife, who was also on a direct Air France flight to BLR).
"Fairly" straightforward ? It's because on our way to Osaka, we’ll be making a stopover in Amsterdam, which has provided us with a good price compared to a direct flight from Paris.
As a CDG-AMS "commuting" flight isn’t particularly interesting, we’ll start the flight report straight away from Amsterdam

AMS TRANSIT

So here we are at the foot of the FIDS, having just disembarked from our previous flight from CDG at Gate C9.

Now we need to go to the passport control and then find the famous Lounge 52 in "non Schengen" area.
We’re taking our time as we’ve got plenty of time in front of us.
It’s still quite a long way to go, though.
Since we’ll be sitting for 12 hours to KIX, we might as well get some exercise in beforehand. 

As we approach passport control, I think to myself that KL and AMS have decided to make things easy for me today.
As you can see, there’s hardly any queue.
We pass through the security gates without a hitch and, by 11.40 am, we’re in the non-Schengen area. 

KL CROWN LOUNGE 52

But the marathon isn’t over yet.
It’ll take us an 8-minute walk to reach the entrance to Lounge 52, which is also part of the initiation today.
In fact, this is my first time here, with its iconic escalator and all its little dutch houses. 

The experience was a bit disappointing because, although there’s plenty of space, the lounge is very busy and the seating isn’t really practical, in my opinion, for sitting down and having lunch. Nothing too serious, really.
We’ll sit at some high tables before going to have a look at the buffet. 
I later realised that a upper floor was also available and might have been more comfortable, but as I hadn’t done my homework properly before the trip thanks to Flight Report, we stayed at our original spot.
Looking back, we were probably on a satellite buffet.

But however basic it may be, there’ll be enough to make a rather tasty lunch.
The tangle of cables is misleading, as our search for power will be not so efficient, given the poor output.
We’ll be saved later by the sockets on board. 

Thanks to our time margin, we lazed about like pros at our table and then did the bare minimum of exploring the place.
Another display of the little dutch houses is available in the lounge, making it easier to admire them.
On the way to the toilets, there are several lockers where you can leave your belongings so you can have your hands free (unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo).

13h30, it's time to go to the gate.

It’s just a few minutes’ walk to our gate.
My first 787 is right in front of me.
My only previous experience of a KL long-haul flight was back in 2017, when I took my ‘victory lap’ in a 747 – a combi, no less.
Once again, KL is delivering an experience that will stand out!
I say my first 787 is right in front of me, but as I write this, I’m in a bit lost…
Because I can no longer tell which is which in the two photos, given that one is our own aircraft and the other is the 78X bound for Panama City.
It’s a bit of a challenge, but normally, it’s the first one…

For sure, this profile is definitely mine!

While looking at my two 787s, I spot the fire brigade’s plane in the distance, which looks more like a 747.

BOARDING AND CABIN

Right, we mustn’t get confused about the queues either, which will start forming from 1.55 pm.
Zone 1 will be called first and eligibility checked.
I’ve made sure in advance that I’ll be waiting in front of the right gate… 

Once the queue for Zone 1 has formed, Zone 2 is set up next.
We will be among the first in Zone 2 to rush onto the jetbridge at 1.58 pm. 

A small decision is needed while walking.
No surprises there – we’re heading for row 30 and beyond! 

The 2 iconic pictures before entering the cabin.

We pop into the W cabin, which looks welcoming,

before heading up to the Y cabin, which isn’t very busy at the moment.

The Eco Comfort seats are in the first Y cabin rows (black headrests), but as we haven’t paid the extra, we continue to the second Y cabin. 

Here we are – this is my kingdom for the next 11 hours.
My first impression is quite good, even though the cushion and blanket look rather cheap. 

I’m going to give a quick overview of the cabin (some of the photos were taken during the flight).
The legroom seems adequate and the seat is quite comfortable.
It’s worth noting that the seat reclines quite a lot, to the point of being a nuisance for the passenger behind – which meant my father literally had his head right up against his screen during the flight.
While there is a USB port on the screen, a standard power socket is also available: you won’t run out of power. 

As boarding is in progress, a side view of our neighbour on the flight to PTY.

The announced flight duration seems to include more hours than expected, but this will soon be rectified.

Whilst looking for the menu (which turned out not to be available), I noticed that the local beer was being promoted in two varieties.

The flow of passengers has slowed down; it looks like we’re about to start.

But first, at 2.30 pm, they handed out the headphones, which also looked very cheap.
I can’t wait for Bluetooth connectivity to become standard on in-flight entertainment systems so we can use our own headphones.

2.35 pm, things are getting serious: pushback and flight time adjustment on the IFE before the pre-flight safety instructions begin.

We start taxiing at 14h40.

We bump into PH-BQN, who, despite his grandiose ‘Asia’ label, is heading for MEX.
Should we tell him?

Our taxi doesn’t seem to be taking us very far.

THE FLIGHT

At 2.45 pm, we’re on the threshold of runway 18L.
We go for it at 2.49 pm, taking off with a sharp left turn (at low altitude). 

Ten minutes later, we were well and truly airborne, high above the clouds.

3 pm: a bottle of water and a wet wipe are handed out.
I might as well say it straight away: I think this bottle will be sorely missed in the AF protocol on the return journey.
Here, it’s a plus.

I can connect to the Wi-Fi without any trouble, although it’s limited to messages only.

We’re now well above the clouds when it suddenly occurs to me: there are no window covers on this plane!

It's time to play with the button (which has clearly seen better days).
It works pretty well, but I was surprised by the lag.
All in all, a good old window cover does the job just fine after all.

While I wait for the meal service to start, I go to visit the "backstage".

It feels a bit like the end of the party here, with water everywhere, but it’s only water!
Nothing much new here. 

Service begins at 3.45 pm, an hour after take-off, starting at the back of the cabin and working its way up the aisle.
We’re offered a choice of chicken or pasta by a friendly flight attendant who speaks French too – nice touch.
Our trio opts for the chicken.
The tray is a bit cramped, but the food is surprisingly good.
Really good, in my opinion, even though KL isn’t usually known for its food.
I’m a bit worried about the lack of dessert, but it turns out it will be served later. 

About an hour later, everything was cleaned and the lighting has been dimmed.
The passenger in front of my dad immediately reclines his seat fully, which means we have to do the same if we want enough space to see the screen. The photo really doesn’t do justice to the cramped conditions this creates.
Having arrived five days earlier on his FDF-ORY flight in business, he is in for a bit of a reality check. LOL 

To get a sense of space, you need to look out of the window, which remains fully under the passenger control.

I think someone mentioned a dessert, didn’t they?
It arrived at 5.05 pm, and to be honest, it looked less appealing than the main catering.
I’ll let you be the judge, but bear in mind that it tastes better than it looks. 

Now it’s time to browse the well-stocked IFE
Shortly before mid flight, I pop to the bar for a quick top-up before the next film.
I’m surprised to see that the drinks are served in cans.

At 8.20 pm, a light snack is handed out, along with a bottle of water (again).
Well, it’s just what we need, especially as we’re starting to feel a bit sleepy after our early start. 

After this snack episode and a second film, I head over to the galley to have a chat with the two cabin crew members on duty, including our French-speaking cabin crew member.
However, they’ll keep a close eye on the crowd in the area, mentioning the number of masks available in case of an emergency.
Also, whenever a small ‘crowd’ gathers, drawn by the bar or the chat, the barflies and chatterboxes will be politely asked to consider returning to their respective seats. 
Back in my seat, boredom starts to set in and prompts me to play with the window button.
Dark mode filters out the sun just like sunglasses, of course, but I wonder if it’s not a bad idea to look directly at the sun through them (I immediately thought of the warnings during eclipses, which said that to look at the sun, you should use special film and forget your sunglasses, however dark they may be).

One thing is certain: time is ticking away inexorably, and at 12.50 am (1 hour and 45 minutes before arrival), breakfast is served.
The cheese pastry is warm and quite tasty. 

Once I’ve eaten it all, I switch the IFE to ‘pilot’ mode to monitor the rest of the flight.
This will be a chance to experience our climb to 39,000 feet first-hand before we begin our flight over South Korea. 

At 01:50, or 09:50 local time, we see the beginning of the Japanese coast.
It will take just 20 minutes to reach Osaka Bay. 

Where there’s a bay, there’s a boat; we’re racing each other.

10.15 am, we’ve landed.
I’ve been to KIX before, but that was at least 15 years ago.
So I’m making the most of this brief taxi ride. 

And ‘short’ isn’t just a figure of speech, because by 10.20 am we’re at the gate.

A bit of general excitement.
This won’t affect our efficiency, though, as by 10.28 am we’re already in the jefbridge. 

Time to sort out the passport and customs formalities.

But not before saying goodbye to our bird of the day.

We’ve got a short walk ahead of us.

But the city is within sight, and in particular the iconic KIX Bridge.

When we arrived at immigration, a minor problem arose.
Although I had successfully registered on the “Visit Japan Web” website and added my family members, I hadn’t generated and printed the three QR codes required for the procedure – only my own (thinking it would cover all three of us).
It was a bit of a lonely moment because the person at the machines wasn’t fluent in English (and was a bit gruff) and kept asking me, “Where are the other QR codes?”
Finally, when I handed her my phone, she showed me that we actually had to complete the process for each passenger and generate three separate QR codes, even though we were registered under the same booking.
Just for that moment, I was grateful for my e-SIM, which I’d activated beforehand and which allowed me to get out of this tight spot with ease.
Once that little scare was over, we were each assigned a letter (B and C, if I remember correctly), which would be useful for going through customs after collecting our luggage (don’t ask me the logic behind the allocation of these letters).
Incidentally, the baggage claim is downstairs.
But first, the immigration officers will stamp our little visa stickers. 

The luggage will arrive fairly quickly.
There’ll be a short queue to get past the customs officer, who’ll carry out a manual search of one of our suitcases.
It’ll be a bit of a funny moment when he comes across my two poor little laundry pods in their jar with a ‘chocolate hazelnut’ label.

After that, as tiredness was really starting to set in, I gave up on taking photos for a bit to rush to the train, as it’s only a short walk from the arrivals area to the station.
As our hotel was in Namba, we headed to the Nankai ticket counter, where the staff suggested I take the ‘local train’ due to depart shortly, which, as luck would have it, was cheaper than the express train for a journey lasting just over 10 minutes.
Let’s be honest, exhaustion had worn the trio down to such an extent that our first activity was a quick nap before setting off in search of our first bowl of udon.

I’ll leave you with track FR 24 from today’s adventure.
See you soon for the return journey.