August 11th, 2016
KLM Royal Dutch 810 Jakarta (CGK) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Departure: 1906 Arrival: 2140 Duration: 1:33 Aircraft: Boeing 777-306(ER)
Registration: PH-BVP Seat: 1A (New World Business Class)
Recently, KLM has been renewing their premium classes to "New World Business Class." Instead of having 2-3-2 configuration, KLM introduced much comfortable and wider 2-2-2 configuration on their business classes. The whole cabin has been redesigned by Hella Jongerius, a famous dutch industrial designer and KLM. The new seats are 180 degrees reclinable fully flat bed seat compared to 170 - 175 degrees reclinable angle lie flat seat on the older versions. It is also 27cm longer(207cm) than the existing ones(190cm) with 63 inches of pitch and 20 inches of width.
Since KLM is still renewing the cabin, currently only some Boeing B777-200ERs, 777-300ERs and all 747-400+Combi's are equipped with the New World Business Class seats. On this flight to Kuala Lumpur, 77W was deployed which has 34 Business class, 40 Economy Comfort and 334 Standard Economy seats. All seats are supplied with ex2 AVOD system by Panasonic, usb ports and power sockets. KLM uses 77Ws mostly on long haul flights which SIN-DPS, KUL-CGK, AUH-MCT and some more are all fifth-freedom flights. The two class configuration can transport 408 passengers.
I am impressed by the work from the designer and KLM produced and the story behind it to create this beautiful interiors. You can visit here to know about the new cabin.
KLM New World Business Class seat: 180 degrees fully flat bed with stylish privacy screen in between the seats.
KLM New World Business Class seat: Although it is not direct aisle seat, 2-2-2 configuration is still better than old 2-3-2.
KLM New World Business Class seat: Seat 1A
In-Flight Meals:
It was a short one and a half hour flight so the meals were simple dinner served in traditional Delftware. Once on board, cabin crews will distribute the menu card. The in-flight meals are specially designed by Indonesia's celebrity chef Farah Quinn.
KLM World Business Class in-flight menu and duty free card.
KLM World Business Class in-flight menu card.
KLM in-flight meals: Salmon teriyaki and chicken rendang with banana cake as dessert.
In-Flight Entertainments:
With more than 1000 hours of entertainment which includes latest release movies, worldwide musics, sports, dramas and documentaries, the flight will be not boring as you can enjoy wide variety of channels on the AVOD. The World Business Class seats are equipped with 17 inch screen with touch screen remote controller below the privacy screen. KLM also provides noise canceling headphones for business class passengers.
The Power socket is located on the left side by the headrest with usb and headphone jack ports. Since there is a space right below it, it is comfortable to store your personal electronics by your side while charging.
KLM New World Business Class TV screen.
KLM New World Business Class touch screen remote controller.
KLM New World Business Class AC power socket, USB port and headphone jack port.
Extras:
The New World Business Class has pretty wide footrest with storage space above and underneath it.
KLM New World Business Class footrest and storage above and below. The storage above is to stow books and magazines while the one below is for small carry on bag such as backpack or a handbag.
Summary:
This was my first time flying with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and although it was a short flight, I was able to experience a lot of different functions on my seat and how cabin services were. I have not yet tried the old 2-3-2 business class configuration so I can't exactly feel how it really differs from the new ones but as I said earlier, having lesser seats means more space in the cabin as well as larger seats for the passengers to enjoy. For the meals, I really liked it after all. I have picky taste when it comes to food but trying out traditional Indonesian dishes were just my taste. As long as Farah Quinn takes in charge of the meals design, I guess there will be some new fusion Indonesian foods on the menu.
I found out KLM usually sends 777-200 and -300s to Asia with a mixture of old and new business class seats. I would love to try out the old version seats before it completely transforms into newer ones.