Brussels-Amsterdam (BRU-AMS)
KL1726
Fokker 50
PH-KVE
On June the 6th I departed for a business trip to a city in the surrounding area of Xiamen Southern China. The flights were booked on KLM planes and some others, all economy class. I needed to travel on these days so the direct Brussels Beijing link wasn’t an option.
The first flight was to Amsterdam on an KLM City hopper aircraft. The aircraft was a Fokker 50 PH-KVE . It was a short flight with a load factor of some 70 procent. During the flight a small snack was offered and some orange juice. We landed on time in Amsterdam and were taken to the terminal by bus. After some search for the right terminal and proceeding trough passport control it was time to hurry to the gate. The security check was done at the gate and 10 minutes after I arrived boarding started.
Amsterdam-Hong Kong (AMS-HKG)
KL887
Boeing 747-400 Combi
PH-BFY
I had seat 17C, which is in the nose section of the jumbo. Because of the 50 percent load factor I went to seat 15C after take off. Because of the business class section in the front of our seats there was a wall and galley on the right side of the aircraft. Only 5 seats on a row 3+2 and than a wall. The flight was ok but I can’t say more. The food was not great, I have better experiences of food in a long haul economy class. The food wasn’t that tasty, it was a Bertoly packet with fish and rice. In the morning we received a normal breakfast like you see on most airlines. The cabin crew was friendly and the aircraft was clean. KLM has no PTV’s in its Boeings, but that was not a real problem. We landed in the morning of the 7th in Hong Kong where I had to take a transfer flight. When leaving the gate some KLM-Air France gels were waiting for the connection flight passengers to show them the way to the security check and the gate.
Last trip of the day was
Hong Kong- Xiamen (HKG-XMN)
CZ382 (China Southern), flight operated by Xiamen Airlines
Boeing 757-200
B-2828
My seat this time was 8C. The interior of the B757 was old, the seats were covered with purple seat covers. The food wasn’t that tasty, but the flight was only one hour so in general the flight was ok.
After almost 2 weeks of work I returned on the 20th of June
Xiamen-Beijing (XMN-PEK)
CA1802
Boeing 737-800
B-5168
The night before the flight I stayed in the Xiamen International Airport hotel. When you are on the airport side of the hotel you will have a beautiful view of the entire airport. Spotting is possible when there is no fog, it is at the moment rain season there. The departure was at 9 in the morning, I checked in at 8. It was not so busy any more at that time, there were only a few aircrafts leaving. This time I had seat 8C. The flight was ok, I suppose it was the best flight of this trip. We received a hot sandwiched wit some chicken also a croissant and fruit was in the breakfast box. The flight time was around the 2H30. We landed in cloudy Beijing on time.
Beijing-Amsterdam (PEK-AMS)
KL3810 operated by China Southern CZ345
Boeing 777-200ER
B-2055
After baggage claim and Checking I went to the Gate. The aircraft arrived a bit later with passengers from Guangzhou, they needed to deboard and go trough security and boarder control. They were on the Guangzhou-Beijing-Amsterdam flight. The economy class was almost completely full and I had seat 25H. There were a lot of Chinese people onboard. They were not so hygienic, this was one of the causes of a terrible flight for me. The interior was old. In the toilet paint was pealing off. There were PTV’s but with only 6 channels and 2 of them were completely Chinese. The service was average and the also the food.
Amsterdam-Brussels (AMS-BRU)
KL1733
Fokker 70
After the not so good experience on the previous flight the could get worse. This flight had a 30 minutes delay when I arrived at the gate. And it became 2H20! Departure was delayed from 21:15 until 23:35. Around 10 PM we were the only passengers left in the terminal, without someone from KLM and without information. Only the screen at the gate was showing the delay and after a while also a gat change. 30 minutes before departure some KLM people arrived. They told the cause was a lat incoming flight and no other aircraft was available. That is something I cant understand, we were flying on the biggest airline group of Europe, from its home airport and NO aircraft available!
The flight was fast and OK. But I was really tired. I arrived home, 24 hours after my first departure.
I won’t fly KLM for personal purpose, and if possible also not business. The main cause was the big delay and the lack of communication, and also terrible flight on it’s the China Southern code share flight.
For people on a long haul China Southern I advise to use the premium economy or business class seat, those cabins were not full and the comfort there is a lot better than in economy class.
Greetz,
Dave
Brussels Xiamen and back
Can you tell us more about the hygenic problem of your chinese co passengers?
As you mentioned yourself, flying economy long haul for business trips is not rely advisable. Indeed some airlines offer premium economy for 250-400 euro extra.
When my customers talk about cheap purchasing in China, I always tell them that in such a case, they have to fly economy instead of business, because they want to save pennies and don't care about quality.
Tell your boss next time to book premium ec. so you are fit the next day.
Maybe Brittish Airways could be one of the better options for you. They have world travellers plus class. But you have to tell the ticketing agent specifically. Most of the agents don't know about it.
I guess you were happy to have steak with belgian fries again back home.
As you mentioned yourself, flying economy long haul for business trips is not rely advisable. Indeed some airlines offer premium economy for 250-400 euro extra.
When my customers talk about cheap purchasing in China, I always tell them that in such a case, they have to fly economy instead of business, because they want to save pennies and don't care about quality.
Tell your boss next time to book premium ec. so you are fit the next day.
Maybe Brittish Airways could be one of the better options for you. They have world travellers plus class. But you have to tell the ticketing agent specifically. Most of the agents don't know about it.
I guess you were happy to have steak with belgian fries again back home.
I want always a aisle seat. I am always traveling allone, so when you are sitting on an aisle seat you can do what you want. Also most times that I was on an aircraft the weather conditions were not good.But, Dave, don't you ever ask for a window seat? All aviation entghusiasts want a window seat! And did you ever try to check-in electronically at home to try and get better seats?
The company want to save as mutch as possible on tickets and the choises that oure travel agency shows isn't so big. I knew that I was aible to fly on Cathay Pacific for almost the same price, bu this wasn't mentioned. Hainan was also an option, but I wasn't aible to fly on the dat's that Hianan was flying to Brussels. My trip to Shanghai last February was on BA, their service was good and I saw the Word traveler plus class.When my customers talk about cheap purchasing in China, I always tell them that in such a case, they have to fly economy instead of business, because they want to save pennies and don't care about quality.
Tell your boss next time to book premium ec. so you are fit the next day.
Maybe Brittish Airways could be one of the better options for you. They have world travellers plus class. But you have to tell the ticketing agent specifically. Most of the agents don't know about it.
Greetz,
Dave
Actually there's a Belgian Restaurant (owned by a Belgian) in Beijing that makes an excellent steak with "Belgian Fries". The name is Morel's. If you're in China and you're fed up with Chinese Food, you can try this one!regi wrote:I guess you were happy to have steak with belgian fries again back home.
Í always eat a steak there before I take the Hainan flight back to Brussels.
Cheers,
Stij
P.S. I KNOW it's of topic!