A week or so ago, when I was leaving Portland, I saw that the airport’s latest European carrier has upgauged on the route, from the 787-9 to the 787-10. Since it’s been a while since I’ve done a flight with a KLM Dreamliner, I figured this would make for a nice return to the type. As PDX expands its roster of long-haul flights, presumably so people in Oregon and southern Washington don’t have to drive the 3+ hours or so up to Seattle, KLM is likely to be at the forefront with its second-most-capacious aircraft. Hope y’all enjoy this one as much as I did!
Server: Solo
Airline: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
Origin: Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Destination: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands (AMS)
Flight Number: KL616
Route: KPDX-EHAM
Seat: 10A (World Business)
Time En Route: 9 Hours 20 Minutes
While we’ve been enjoying brunch at the Escape Lounge above Concourse D, ground crews have been preparing our aircraft for its journey to Amsterdam at Gate D15. The lounge offers an excellent view of Runway 07L/28R, allowing us to watch a wide variety of arriving and departing aircraft, from the smallest (a Boutique Air PC-12 arriving from Pendleton, Oregon) to the largest (a Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 taking off for Honolulu, Hawaii).
Taxiing out for departure behind a couple of Alaska Airlines 737s and a United Airlines A320-200. In the background, road traffic on Northeast Marine Drive is going by. Like the Escape Lounge, it also has a great vantage point for planespotters, albeit one much more exposed to the elements.
Takeoff from Runway 28R parallel with an American Airlines 737-800 going to Chicago as AA2511. The cargo ramp down at the south end of the field looks fairly full, with several FedEx Express and UPS 757 and 767 freighters parked there, and a Cathay Cargo 747-8F that arrived earlier today from Los Angeles rounding out the pack.
Climbing into the cloud layer blanketing much of the Pacific Northwest today, with the remnants of Mount Saint Helens in the distance. As we settle in for the slightly under nine and a half hours of flying ahead of us, we’re switching from listening to the rumble of the GEnxs at climb thrust to watching a movie on the IFE screen in front of us.
Cruising over the prairies of southern Saskatchewan. After we leveled off, we ordered a lunch of beef Tsukune style with hot bean sauce, which was presented well and tasted better. The seat itself is pretty comfortable, although it shows a bit of wear and tear, even though our aircraft, PH-BKL (“Blauw Druifje/Muscari”), is less than half a decade old. Additionally, the lack of personal air vents on this aircraft is a somewhat minor annoyance.
Cruising over the North Atlantic just before 3:30 A.M. We slept most of the way over eastern Canada and the ocean in a decently comfy 75-inch lie-flat bed, which our seat converts into when fully reclined. The bedding and mattress pad were average, but we were able to sleep without issue.
We’re in a gradual initial descent over the North Sea as we near the Netherlands. A warm, tasty breakfast was served about 15 minutes ago.
Reversers closing after arrival on AmS’s famous Polderbaan, the longest of its runways. Touchdown was masterful on the part of the flight crew, with the main gear gently setting down and the aircraft aerobraking for about ten seconds before the nose gear touched the pavement.
Landing on the Polderbaan means we’ve got a long taxi to the terminal at Schiphol. We’re watching the Sun come up over the fields between the runways.
Deplaned at Gate D2. KLM’s business class on its 787-10s can be described as average for a European carrier, meaning that it’s a fairly solid product, if not the best on the Continent. While the seat, food, and service ranged from very good to excellent, the main drawbacks were the less-than-stellar condition of the cabin on a relatively-young aircraft and the lack of personal air vents. Still, it’s a good all-around product, and we’d be more than willing to come back to it.