Two and a half years after announcing plans to add premium economy, KLM has finished installing new cabins on the bulk of its long-haul fleet, the Dutch carrier said this week.
Specifically, KLM has completed retrofits on all of its Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliners, the airline said Thursday. The milestone marks the end of what the airline has dubbed its biggest product transformation in years.
Already a popular option for tourists
If you’ve flown on one of KLM’s big blue wide-body planes in the past year or two, chances are you’ve already flown in a premium comfort cabin.
Read more: Is KLM Premium Economy worth it on the 787 Dreamliner?
It was back in May 2022 that the carrier first announced plans to add an intermediate offering between its economy- and world business-class cabins, following the lead of many other major airlines around the world.
KLM began its premium economy retrofit on its small Dreamliner fleet, and fitted each aircraft with new cabins a year and a half ago.
The airline then moved to its Boeing 777 fleet, installing premium comfort seats and upgrading its World Business pods with sliding privacy panels and universal direct aisle access — its own attempt to bring its largest cabins closer to other global competitors including “suite” concepts. has been added.
Overall, KLM’s maintenance teams completed retrofits on 54 wide-body aircraft, ensuring passengers will have the new mid-tier cabin as an option on all long-haul 777 and 787 flights to and from its Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) home base.
“Over the past two years, colleagues have worked very hard to make this new class possible. Passengers now have an additional option in addition to World Business Class and Economy Class when booking a ticket,” KLM Chief Experience Officer Barry ter Voort said in a statement this week. was
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A330s still don’t have premium economy
We should point out that KLM did not retrofit it the whole Long distance fleet. The carrier’s Airbus A330s still have a two-cabin (business and economy) configuration, including the old 2x2x2 layout that does not include a direct-aisle window seat. Those older wide-body aircraft still fly to a wide range of destinations around the world, including several cities in North America.
Here’s where the A330 is flying so far this month, as shown by Cirium’s map below:
Is premium economy worth it?
Generally speaking, the premium economy cabins of major global carriers have a very similar feel to domestic first class, with spacious recliners more comfortable than economy – and an improved “soft product” on coach, often with amenity kits and meals.
But the service and seats fall short of a full-scale international business-class experience, which usually includes a lie-flat bed.
As you might expect, cash value and award value also fall somewhere in the middle — more than coach, but less than business class.
Matt Moffitt of TPG KLM’s Premium Comfort Cabin recently flew between Amsterdam and Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in South Africa in a 777-300ER.
He described the seats as “very comfortable”, with 60% more recline than economy, comfortable seat cushions and a large seatback screen – not to mention an impressive salmon poke bowl for dinner.
A great redemption option
KLM is the main airline to keep in mind when you consider your next flight redemption. its The Flying Blue loyalty program — a joint program with KLM’s sister airline, Air France — is a popular option for redeeming points.
Most major credit card rewards programs in the US offer 1:1 transfers to Flying Blue, including:
Plus, with some programs, you can occasionally score transfer bonuses at Flying Blue, increasing your total miles.
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