In my current state of health it’s not easy to plan things far in advance. But in October 2021 I felt compelled take a risk on booking flights to Brazil for April ’22 because the price I got though Air France/KLM was too good to miss.  (I also find that it helps me psychologically if I have a goal or something to look forward to).  I saw a price for two in Business at around £4200, but something went wrong on the website so I phoned KLM to make the booking. Somehow it ended up being just £4000, flying to Rio do Janiero (“GIG”) on KLM via Amsterdam (“AMS”) and coming back from Campo Grande and Sao Paolo (“GRU”) on Air France via Paris (“CDG”).  As an Avgeek I was particularly excited that the AMS-GIG sector was to be flown by a B787 Dreamliner (my favourite plane) and the GRU-CDG sector was to be on a new Airbus A350.  With the flights in place I had a few months to arrange my complex itinerary in Brazil.

In December KLM emailed me to say they’d cancelled my outbound flight and booked me onto one the day earlier.  But in the new year I discovered they were selling seats for the flight I had originally booked, so, after contacting them by phone again I was able to get back onto the original flight.  In January Air France contacted me to say the CGR-GRU flight on Brazilian carrier LATAM had been cancelled. After doing my own research into who was operating that route I got changed to another airline and flight for no extra cost, but this domestic sector was in economy class.

Flight KL2002 was scheduled to leave LHR Terminal 3 at 08:40 and arrive at AMS at 11:00.  KLM only moved its operations to terminal 3 a few months earlier and it doesn’t have its own business class lounge, so we were directed to the No.1 Lounge, which is shared with other airlines and Priority Pass members.  It was very crowded, so much so that Mr A had to stand for most of the time we were there.

In its favour the lounge had good views of the apron and one of the runways, and a small but reasonable buffet breakfast selection, from which I chose cornflakes, a pain au chocolate, a cappuccino and a bucks fizz.

We boarded PH-BXH, a 21 year old B737-800, at 08:15.  Despite its age the plane was bright and clean.  KLM had announced just a few days earlier that they were making the wearing of face masks on European flights optional, which was good. I wear a lanyard which indicates that I’m medically exempt from wearing a mask in the UK, so I hadn’t been wearing one in the airport.  After doors closed ten minutes early at 08:30 I was amazed when an FA came to me and said “I’ve noticed your lanyard; is there anything at all I can do to make your flight better for you?”.  My online request for wheelchair assistance wasn’t on the system, so she said she would ask the cockpit crew to radio ahead and get it for me in AMS. This has never happened to me before, when wearing the lanyard, so well done that lady for amazing service!

As is the norm within Europe, short haul business class has the same seats as in economy, but the middle seat in each row is left vacant, to give the illusion of more space.  KLM didn’t put a divider/tray in this space, which some airlines do. Seat pitch (leg room) was a decent 31″ which is better than BA.  Due to “slots” we didn’t push back until 08:50, and then we took off from runway 27R at 09:04.

A cold breakfast was served, comprising fresh fruit pieces, yogurt, muesli and pancakes with jam; all in a decorative KLM cardboard box and individual sealed plastic trays. I didn’t eat the pancakes, but the rest was healthily satisfying.  KLM had provided a menu for this meal service, which is a rare sight in post pandemic air travel.

After a very short flight, we landed at AMS on runway 27 at 10:51 and we were on stand five minutes early at 10:55.  Unfortunately my wheelchair wasn’t there to meet me, though it did turn up 20 minutes later, and took us to KLM’s Crown lounge, which saved me a long walk.

The Crown lounge is quite large and has a range of seating options, views of part of the apron, and a variety of food and drinks.  We were only there for a short time before a wheelchair came back to collect me for the next leg of our journey; flight KL705 to GIG.

We boarded our four year old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registration PH-BHM at 12:10, which seemed a little tight for our scheduled take-off time of 12:45.  The seating in Business on this plane is in the popular 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout. But beware on their B777s KLM still has old angled flat seats in a 2-2-2 layout.

On this flight we did have to wear a face mask, in accordance with Brazilian law, which is such a drag on an 11 hour flight.  But I was cheered up with a glass of Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne, and a pretty little amenities bag, which contained all the usual stuff; moisturisers, toothbrush and paste, eye shade and socks. KLM does not provide PJs or slippers in Business class, so I had brought some of my own from a Thai flight a couple of years ago.

Despite our late-ish boarding, doors closed on time at 12:45 but we had to wait a while for pushback because, the captain told us, we needed a “guide” to help get us out of a “tight stand”. So pushback was at 13:05, and at 13:17 we took off from runway 24.

Drinks were served after take-off, while we studied the lunch menu. I was delighted to see Negroni on the cocktails list, so I ordered one.  Two days before the flight we had been invited by email to pre-order our lunch for this flight, which we did. But it turned out the pre-order choice was exactly the same as the inflight menu – I guess just to ensure they had the right numbers loaded.

The menu described the only starter as a “Tasting of delicacies”.  We had four cold dishes , which included grilled courgette in tahini cream, chickpea salad, garlic feta and a nut salad, which were served with a warm bread roll and butter.  Similar to an arabic mezze, but not as good.  Note in the picture above the cute red Dutch clog-shaped salt and pepper holders. We resisted stealing them, but I bet many people do!

There was a choice of three main courses, and I had chosen baked salmon covered in sesame seeds, with broccoli, roasted tomatoes and couscous.  It was ‘OK’ at best.  For my dessert I just had a selection of cheeses and a glass of port.

After lunch I watched part of a film and then I put my seat into ‘bed’ mode and had a nap. The ‘bed’ was not the most comfortable because of the quite firm seat cushions and because there was no ‘mattress topper’, but it was a good width and length which allowed me to lie in whatever position I chose. The video screen is moveable, not fixed like on Qatar Airways, so shins don’t get knocked when you change position.  However when I moved the video screen to watch a video it was so close to my face that I didn’t need to wear my spectacles to watch it.  In terms of sleep quality, it wasn’t good, because the cabin temperature was set too high. I had to ask three times for it to be lowered to 22 degrees.

I mentioned that the 787 Dreamliner is my favourite plane. This is down to the fact it’s the only commercial jet which takes fresh, clean air into the cabin directly (after heating it), as opposed to via an engine bleed on all other planes, which carries traces of oil and kerosene. But another unique feature of the Dreamliner is its electrochromatic window shades. You press a button below the window and the window slowly becomes darker or lighter. Many Avgeek bloggers don’t like this because you can’t make the window completely dark, ad for the first time on this flight I saw their point. My window in the picture above is supposed to be as dark as it can get.  But also it has to be said the crew kept the cabin lighting on all flight.  But hey, that’s why they give you eye shades I suppose.

KLM does not offer ‘dine on demand’ in Business class – not even for the mid flight snacks mentioned on the menu. These snacks (ice cream, dutch croquette roll, vegetarian sandwich) were served just a couple of hours after lunch, when I was snoozing. When I awoke, feeling peckish, I was told there was nothing left for me.  The second proper meal service, dubbed “light meal”, was served before landing in GIG.   There was a small salad of stuffed peppers with olives, a choice between an empanada and a burger, and lemon meringue pie. Out of sheer curiosity I opted for the burger. It was awful!  I can tell you quite categorically that a reheated burger does not work on an aircraft.  I didn’t eat the pudding, to avoid all the sugar content.

Overall I thought the catering on this flight was very poor by international business class standards. I found it odd that we had specially printed menus, dated and for our flight only, something which used to happen on many airlines years ago. But most airlines opted to save costs by doing standard catering for all flights to the same region, rather than route specific.  I wish KLM would save money in that way, and put some more money into the actual food served.  The wines available were ‘OK’ without any big names or terroirs.

Crew service was fine. At first I thought the lady attending to us was just going through the motions,  but by the end fo the flight I realised she was very warm and caring.  We landed on GIG’s runway 15 at 19:28 and were on stand bang on time at 19:35.  Luckily I had a wheelchair waiting for me because it is a very long walk to immigration.

PS just beef landing we were given one of the famous KLM Delft Dutch houses, and I discovered they contained alcohol!

7.5/10