DSCN0816 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


I travel to Budapest almost every year to see my family. This year I decided to take a friend with me so he can experience Europe. My friend is a pretty nervous flyer, he found the concept of crossing the Atlantic in a plane that “only had 2 engines” rather appalling. I tired, in vain, to explain the reliability of modern day engines and ETOPS procedures to calm his nerves, the only thing that made him feel better was that we were taking a 747 on the return leg. I started looking for tickets about 3 months before my intended travel date, I looked at AC/LH, BA, KL, OS, LO and AA. KLM had the best deal by far, beating AC/LH by $300 round trip and BA by about $600, OS was by far the most expensive option. I flew with KL/MA a few years ago and found their service to be very good and AMS a very nice airport to connect through. In the past I've flown with AC/LH, BA and MA from YYZ to BUD.

The day before my outbound leg from YYZ, I checked us in online and printed both boarding passes. We headed to YYZ's Terminal 3 since all non-Star Alliance members fly out of T3 at Toronto. I also checked www.turbulenceforecast.com and saw that there was a strong jet-stream coming from the arctic and arching towards the European continent. The NAT tracks were organized to the north and south of the jet-stream but I was pretty sure we would encounter some turbulence so I prepared my friend for the bumpy ride. Check-in was quick and so was security. T3 is pretty quite in the late evening hours. The weather in Toronto on that Monday evening was not the best, it was rather cloudy and very windy with gusts up to 80km/hr, this did not make my friend feel any better about our flight.

The gate next to us had BA B744 departing for LHR. During the boarding announcement the gate agent apologized for the late departure from Toronto and explained that the aircraft was late arriving from LHR due to strong winds over the Atlantic.




KLM 0696 YYZ-AMS
April 16th 2012
Airbus A330-203
(PH-AOD, Named Piazza del Duomo Milano, delivered 04/2006)
Scheduled Dep: 22:55 (on-time dep.)
Scheduled Arr: 12:10 (early arr.)
Actual Flight Time: 06:35
Flight Levels: 390, 410
Estimated load factor: 90%

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on this leg as it was dark outside.


View Large View Medium

Photo © Josh Frizzell - 4A7 Spotters


The first thing that struck me about the A332 was how small and crammed it felt. Perhaps KL's blue interior contributed to this impression. We sat in seats 34J and H, apparently KL's A332s have an extra inch of pitch compared to the rest of KL's long-haul fleet. I noticed that my friend's IFE screen wasn't on, I looked around and every other IFE seemed to be working fine. We stopped the first FA and asked if the IFE worked, she replied “it should start working during the safety video”. The Captain announced that we would have quick flight across to AMS, but that we would experience some turbulence over the Atlantic due to strong winds. We left the gate on time and the safety video started on my IFE but not my friends. YYZ was using runway 33L for departures which is the second shortest runway at YYZ, departing ahead of us was an AC 763 and a Fedex MD11F. The A332 performed a powerful take-off, the pilot's rudder inputs in order to keep the aircraft centred on the runway were quite evident and we experienced some moderate turbulence on departure. The A332 made a direct climb to FL 390 and headed east towards Montreal. After take-off we asked our great FA about the IFE, she told us that she would asked the Chief Purser to rest my friends IFE. Drinks and peanuts were served shortly after take-off, our FA asked if the IFE was working, but it wasn't. She offered my friend another seat if he wanted to watch a movie but I decided to switch seats with him since I had an Ipad with some video's loaded on it. The dinner options were quite unique, Salmon pasta or a curry vegetarian dish. I opted for the pasta and my friend picked the curry dish. Both tasted pretty good. I fell asleep soon after dinner and woke-up about 2 hrs prior to landing in AMS. For breakfast we got a box with OJ, yogurt and a muffin. The FO gave us arrival information, the TOD was over the North Sea and we made a very soft landing on Runway 18C about 40 minutes ahead of schedule.

Over the North Sea


IMG-20120417-00016 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


Amsterdam is a great airport, especially for making connecting flights. We cleared Passport Control and Security and still had over an hour before our flight to Budapest.

A view only possible at AMS, 4 MD-11s getting ready to depart.

DSCN0573 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr



KLM 1977
Apri 17th 2012
AMS-BUD
Boeing 737-800W
(PH-BXZ, Named Owl / Uil , delivered 03/2008)
Scheduled Dep: 14:30 (on-time)
Scheduled Arr: 16:30 (early)
Actual Flight Time: 01:35
Estimated load factor: 98%


Our 737 Arriving to the gate

IMG-20120417-00019 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


A little off the mark?

IMG-20120417-00021 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

The aircraft arrived at the gate about 45 minutes prior to our scheduled departure, we board this very spacious and clean B738 and took our seats, 19 E and F. We pushed back on time and headed for the runway, I was very tired even though I slept on the flight from YYZ, I must have fallen asleep shortly after the safety demo because I woke to the engines spooling up for take-off and I passed out soon after we were airborne. My friend nudged me awake during the drink service, when the FA got to serving me she asked “what would like sir, besides a good night's sleep” I smiled and asked for some water. We were also given a rather large sandwich, half was egg salad and the other half of the sandwich had turkey if I remember correctly, some biscuits were also distributed. I was somewhat disappointed that KL didn't install the overhead TV's in their B737s. We started our descent over Slovakia and made a pretty good landing on Runway 31L at BUD. As most people know, Malev stopped flying in early 2012. I was heartbroken when I heard of MA's demise, I grew up in Hungary and my sister, brother-in-law and many other family members worked at MA. I knew I was going to be depressed seeing BUD without MA dominating the apron. BUD lost a massive chunk of their passengers and almost all of their transit customers. The first indication of how slow BUD has become without MA was when we landed on 31L and instead of using the taxiways, our B738 was cleared to backtrack the entire runway towards the terminal. BUD's T2 had a mere 2 aircraft parked on the stand, a QR 320 at a gate and a small regional prop on the stand. I did see a LH A319 on the approach as we pulled up to our gate.

Part 2

Some pictures from Budapest and Pécs, Hungary.

While visiting my old house in Budapest, which is atop a hill, I heard a might roar and looked up and saw this beauty. A Cargolux Boeing 747-8F


DSCN0598 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


Hungarian Parliament

DSCN0591 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Budapest at night


DSCN0775 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0723 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0718 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0698 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr



My brother-in-law told me that the Goldtimer Foundation was having a celebration event at one of the recreational airports in Budapest. They were throwing a fundraiser for their Li-2, this plane is the last airworthy Li-2 left on earth. I had the privilege of flying on this beauty 2 years ago. This event was rather emotional, it was great to see some vintage aircraft, but my sister and her husband kept bumping into former MA employee's, most of who were still looking for work and still distraught about Malev's sudden departure. The Li-2 was piloted by 2 former MA's pilots, MA's former Chief B737 Pilot and one of their former B767 Captains.

Li-2 Videos
http://youtu.be/K7nGUSJk-qs

http://youtu.be/ah1P_rVBCVc




DSCN0609 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0623 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr



DSCN0624 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0630 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr




We got to BUD about 2 hours before our flight to Amsterdam. To my surprise, Terminal 2A seemed rather busy. LH had 2 departing flights checking-in, AY to HEL and our KL flight was just opening. However after this “rush” there was about a 4 hour period were only 1 flight was due to depart.

This was my first trip out of the newly renovated T2 and the SkyCourt. I was truly impressed, what a massive improvement to BUD! The investment to the airport was very noticeable, however the sporadic usage made it feel unused and somewhat in excess, but BUD obviously wasn't planning for their number 1 customer to go belly-up. Since MA wasn't around anymore, BUD has decided to move all ops to T2 and shut-down the LCC terminal 1. They have also decided to stop all planned construction at BUD, a cargo city, airport hotel and new gates and air-bridges were planned.

SkyCourt looking good, but empty.

DSCN0798 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

AN-124 at BUD

DSCN0795 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

AY A320


DSCN0797 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr



On a side note, I must mention Ryanair. FR wasted no time and swooped in as soon as MA stopped flying. With T1 closing, they were forced to use T2. Obviously FR does not use bridges and prefers to make pax walk to the aircraft, I understand that. As you can see in the pictures below, FR has pressured BUD to erect metal barricades on the apron to allow pax to walk from a jet bridge to the aircraft, pax have to walk a few hundred meters from the terminal building to the “bus stop” on the apron. The issue is that FR wants the pax ready to board before the aircraft arrives, so people are made to stand on the apron just meters away from planes for upto 45 minutes. While I was in Hungary, one of the news channels actually covered this story. People were complaining about having to stand in the rain, snow, cold or hot weather for extended periods. Some Pax were being bused back to the terminal but all departing pax have to walk out to the aircraft. BUD actually closed this part of the apron in order to allow FR to operate this way.


DSCN0792 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0793 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


KLM 1976
Apri 28th 2012
BUD-AMS
Boeing 737-800W
(PH-BXK, Named Swift/Gierzaluw , delivered 09/2000)
Scheduled Dep: 13:10 (late)
Scheduled Arr: 15:20 (early)
Actual Flight Time: 01:45

Our B738 arriving from AMS


DSCN0800 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


DSCN0802 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


The B738 arrived about 10 minutes late from AMS. What surprised me was that the crew from the AMS got off and new crew consisting of the two pilots and 5 F.As boarded the aircraft. Boarding was quick and the doors where closed on schedule. A LH A319 just arrived to the gate next to us as we were pushing back. We taxied towards runway 13L, I was sure that we were going to use the full length of the runway but we held short at the Kilo intersection which allows for a TORA of about 2500m. Our 737 performed a quick take-off and we turned fist to the west then made a sharp turn towards the north. Service was good, F.A's as polite and professional as the crew we had on the way down to BUD. Around northern Germany we got into some pretty heavy clouds, we were cloud surfing for about 10 minutes before we started our descent. The Captain only made one quick announcement about the weather conditions in AMS, it was windy, cloudy and light rain. I couldn't see a think out of the window until the aircraft reached the intermediate approach phase and the flaps started to be extended. The approach was a bit bumpy but the landing was very soft, there was a big group of Dutch teenagers who started to clap once we were on the ground.

Take-off Video
http://youtu.be/OX81j39J5m8


Just after Take-Off

DSCN0804 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Snack..

DSCN0808 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Almost there...

DSCN0810 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Landing video.
http://youtu.be/tFamnI4xyRg

We disembarked the aircraft, passport control was a breeze and we headed towards gate F3.



KLM 0695
Apri 28th 2012
AMS-YYZ
Boeing 747-400M
(PH-BFC, Named City of Calgary , delivered 09/1989)
Scheduled Dep: 17:40 (on-time)
Scheduled Arr: 19:35 (early)
Actual Flight Time: 07:05

Our 747 being prepared..


DSCN0813 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Interesting how one side says “City of Calgary” the other simply says “Calagary”


DSCN0814 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Little did I know I was about to embark on the best long-haul flight of my life. Boarding at AMS for long-haul flights is a bit unique. You wait until boarding starts, your passport is checked by security, your boarding pass is scanned by KLM staff then you go through a security check at the gate. Once that is all complete, you enter another waiting area that has been thoroughly checked by the security staff for any objects. Boarding started about an hour prior to departure, as we were seated in 42J and K, we boarded early and for the first time, I got to board using the over-wing jet-bridge that connected to door 4L. While I was waiting to enter the 747, I looked out and saw the cargo being loaded in to the back section of the Combi. I saw what looked like 2 RR trent turbofans being loaded as well as a lot of containers still waiting on the apron. I was quite impressed at how much a 747 Combi can carry. This flight was about 95% full. We pushed back on time and made a long taxi to runway 36L. We took off and made a slight turn towards the North Sea. There was a few bumps but nothing major. The IFE worked, sort of. Mine was fine but my friends was acting up, it was jumping all over the place and basically the system was picking what program it wanted my friend to watch.

Boarding


DSCN0817 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Take-off


DSCN0818 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Recently I got into the habit of ordering a model of the aircraft I fly on. KLM has a great duty-free service but you can't buy any aircraft models on-board. So I ordered a nice A330-200 model from KLM online and chose the “deliver during your flight” option. About 3 hours into the flight the Chief Purser appeared with a KLM bag, “Mr B...., here is your specially ordered Airbus” After playing around with the hand held payment device for a bit, she figured out how to put the prepaid transaction through. I asked her if she would reset my friends IFE, she said “right away Sir”. About 2 minutes later his screen went black and the system reloaded, after that it was working perfectly. I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Simpsons and 2 great movies, Mission Impossible 4 and the Iron Lady.

I want to take a moment to detail the service onboard this flight. I can't say enough good things about the quantity, quality and style of the service. Here is how I remember it:


DSCN0822 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


-Full drink service and peanuts
-Dinner service (Vegetarian Ricotta Pasta or Thai Fish) with full drink service (the F.A's even offered refills on their way back to the galley with the meal trolly)
-Coffee, Tea and drinks while collecting the dinner trays.
-Water or Orange Juice about 2 hrs after dinner
-Ice Cream and water from the Swiss Alps about 3.5 hrs prior to landing.
-Full Drink service with Coffee and tea
-Pizza or Sweet Cake about an hour prior to landing.

One of the best inflight meals I have ever had.


DSCN0824 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Over Quebec

DSCN0826 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr


We stated our descent into Toronto and made what seemed to be a long approach towards Runway 23. After I got home, I listened to the LiveATC.net recording, KL695 was instructed to slow to 210Kts from about 9000ft due to traffic sequencing, there was a BA 772 right before us and a regional prop ahead of the Speedbird. The Captain orginally stated 6hrs and 55 minutes as out flight time, but this slow approach added about 15 minutes to our flight. The touch down was okay, not the smoothest especially for a 747 but I was glad to be back in Toronto. The last interesting thing was at customs, I declared a stick of Hungarian Pick Salami and was sent to the customs area. The Female Customs officer looked at my declaration card, smiled and said “I don't know how to say this without it sounding dirty, but can I see your salami?” I laughed, but the salami was denied entry into Canada. I wasn't happy but I understood, be that the worst thing that happens on this trip!


I was surprised at the size of the IFE screens on the 747s


DSCN0827 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Landing video
http://youtu.be/EkwwLuB_Mxc

Welcome to Toronto


DSCN0833 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

Thanks for the ride “FC”


IMG-20120428-00025 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr

The Speedbird B777 arriving just before us.


IMG-20120428-00024 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr



I was very, very, very happy with KLM! All the flight departed and arrived on time. The flight attendants were just amazing on all 4 flights. They were professional, polite, helpful, caring and genuinely nice. The F.A's were chatting with the passengers, making kind remakarks and did their best to address everyone's concerns or requests, including multiple seating changes to accommodate families and couples. When I asked for a heineken on the YYZ-AMS flight, the F.A commented on how appropriate it was for me to ask for a heineken on KLM, I replied by telling her that I visited the heineken plan in Amsterdam, we ended up talking about it for about 5 minutes. I have never, after doing about 20 transatlantic crossing in my life experienced such great and attentive service. Well done KLM!! I will be racking up flyingBlue miles after this experience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this TR!

KrisYYZ

Previous T.Rs:

Toronto To New York With Porter (by krisyyz Oct 22 2011 in Trip Reports)

Toronto To Budapest On AC And LH (by KrisYYZ Oct 7 2009 in Trip Reports)

KLM / Malév YYZ-AMS-BUD (Pics And Vids) (by KrisYYZ May 17 2008 in Trip Reports)

Malev YYZ-BUD-YYZ (Pics And Vids) (by KrisYYZ Nov 19 2007 in Trip Reports)

Hi

Nice report, did not realise that KL had a late afternoon/night departure on AMS-YYZ

Greetings
Marc

Very nice report - looks like the service on KL is pretty good.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): he found the concept of crossing the Atlantic in a plane that “only had 2 engines” rather appalling

I must confess, I find the idea of long overwater flights on two engines a bit off putting sometimes. Those 737 services out of Hawaii in particular don't sit well with me, even though I know they're pretty safe.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): On a side note, I must mention Ryanair. FR wasted no time and swooped in as soon as MA stopped flying. With T1 closing, they were forced to use T2. Obviously FR does not use bridges and prefers to make pax walk to the aircraft, I understand that. As you can see in the pictures below, FR has pressured BUD to erect metal barricades on the apron to allow pax to walk from a jet bridge to the aircraft, pax have to walk a few hundred meters from the terminal building to the “bus stop” on the apron. The issue is that FR wants the pax ready to board before the aircraft arrives, so people are made to stand on the apron just meters away from planes for upto 45 minutes. While I was in Hungary, one of the news channels actually covered this story. People were complaining about having to stand in the rain, snow, cold or hot weather for extended periods. Some Pax were being bused back to the terminal but all departing pax have to walk out to the aircraft. BUD actually closed this part of the apron in order to allow FR to operate this way.

Last summer I flew STN-FEZ with FR, and we had to stand on the tarmac for 20 minutes. It was great for me (and it was sunny), but at night/cold/rain, it would be rotten.

Nice report, photos of Budapest brought back fond memories of my trip there 3 years ago. KLM looked like they had good onboard service, and you gotta love the 747


mal787

Quoting MSS658 (Reply 2): Nice report, did not realise that KL had a late afternoon/night departure on AMS-YYZ

Thanks, and I didn't know that KL has a flight that arrives in YYZ in the late morning hours.

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 3): Very nice report - looks like the service on KL is pretty good.

Thank you! I was very impressed with KL.

Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 3): Last summer I flew STN-FEZ with FR, and we had to stand on the tarmac for 20 minutes. It was great for me (and it was sunny), but at night/cold/rain, it would be rotten.

I wouldn't complain about being feet away from airplanes either, if the weather was good.

Quoting mal787 (Reply 4): Nice report, photos of Budapest brought back fond memories of my trip there 3 years ago. KLM looked like they had good onboard service, and you gotta love the 747

Thanks! nothing like flying on a Jumbo, (granted I haven't been on the A380 yet)

KrisYYZ

Thanks for sharing. I agree, BUD is a great airport. I liked MA a lot and it's sad that the airport is so underused now.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): On a side note, I must mention Ryanair. FR wasted no time and swooped in as soon as MA stopped flying. With T1 closing, they were forced to use T2. Obviously FR does not use bridges and prefers to make pax walk to the aircraft, I understand that. As you can see in the pictures below, FR has pressured BUD to erect metal barricades on the apron to allow pax to walk from a jet bridge to the aircraft, pax have to walk a few hundred meters from the terminal building to the “bus stop” on the apron. The issue is that FR wants the pax ready to board before the aircraft arrives, so people are made to stand on the apron just meters away from planes for upto 45 minutes. While I was in Hungary, one of the news channels actually covered this story. People were complaining about having to stand in the rain, snow, cold or hot weather for extended periods. Some Pax were being bused back to the terminal but all departing pax have to walk out to the aircraft. BUD actually closed this part of the apron in order to allow FR to operate this way.

I guess this is quite new at FR. I did experience this in Reus and in Girona last week, however not in Hahn. It makes sense to me to already let passengers on the Tarmac and making them board as soon as soon as the debarking passengers left. In Spain it usually doesn't rain. And in REU it's even covered. Different story in Girona though. Guess it's part of the hypereffective Low Cost Experience. in HHN they seem not able to do this since it would mix too much passengers of different flights, however here they do already prechecked ID's and and tear of boarding passes when people are queuing at the gate and will then send them in a seperate hold area. Then once the plane is ready all are released at once  

Hi,

Really enjoyed reading your report on KLM and especially since it was out of YYZ!!

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): We left the gate on time and the safety video started on my IFE but not my friends.

Your poor friend all this adding to his anxiety!!

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The weather in Toronto on that Monday evening was not the best, it was rather cloudy and very windy with gusts up to 80km/hr, this did not make my friend feel any better about our flight.

Those days were very windy!! Guaranteed a bumpy ride.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): YYZ was using runway 33L for departures which is the second shortest runway at YYZ, departing ahead of us was an AC 763 and a Fedex MD11F.

33L is the one used on the windy days.

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): While visiting my old house in Budapest, which is atop a hill, I heard a might roar and looked up and saw this beauty. A Cargolux Boeing 747-8F

Photographed this flying over Pearson while spotting at Rwy 23!!

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): Interesting how one side says “City of Calgary” the other simply says “Calagary”

Yes, all these jumbos regos with the last letter being the first letter of the city  . PH-BFC, PH-BFV "Vancouver"are pretty regular here.

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): Little did I know I was about to embark on the best long-haul flight of my life.

Very nice that you had this wonderful experience.

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): Mine was fine but my friends was acting up, it was jumping all over the place and basically the system was picking what program it wanted my friend to watch.

Your friend was truly having all these negative vibes around him. All this only adding to his stress.

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): Recently I got into the habit of ordering a model of the aircraft I fly on. KLM has a great duty-free service but you can't buy any aircraft models on-board. So I ordered a nice A330-200 model from KLM online and chose the “deliver during your flight” option. About 3 hours into the flight the Chief Purser appeared with a KLM bag, “Mr B...., here is your specially ordered Airbus”

Do you collect 1:200 models? Heaps of 1:200s and Herpa makes a gorgeous A330-200. Tons of jumbos out there, but there is a nice Skymarks model PH-BFT (City of Tokyo) that you can get as souvenirs of this flight. But you already got the A330-200 already and has more significance since you got it on the flight itself.

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): We stated our descent into Toronto and made what seemed to be a long approach towards Runway 23

Did you catch any of the spotters below  

Quoting krisyyz (Reply 1): I was very, very, very happy with KLM! All the flight departed and arrived on time. The flight attendants were just amazing on all 4 flights. They were professional, polite, helpful, caring and genuinely nice. The F.A's were chatting with the passengers, making kind remakarks and did their best to address everyone's concerns or requests, including multiple seating changes to accommodate families and couples. When I asked for a heineken on the YYZ-AMS flight, the F.A commented on how appropriate it was for me to ask for a heineken on KLM, I replied by telling her that I visited the heineken plan in Amsterdam, we ended up talking about it for about 5 minutes. I have never, after doing about 20 transatlantic crossing in my life experienced such great and attentive service. Well done KLM!! I will be racking up flyingBlue miles after this experience.

Well done KLM. Someday I hope to these very same flights but the final destination will be DXB!!

Hi KrisYYZ,
Very nice little report. Nice to see you enjoyed KLM very much!

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): A view only possible at AMS, 4 MD-11s getting ready to depart.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): Budapest at night

2 nice catches!

cheers,
adamspotter // Brendan

Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 7): Really enjoyed reading your report on KLM and especially since it was out of YYZ!!

Thanks!

Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 7): 33L is the one used on the windy days.

That explains it. I was thinking to myself during the departure whether they were using the Pearson, Avro or the Windy1 departure.

Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 7): Do you collect 1:200 models? Heaps of 1:200s and Herpa makes a gorgeous A330-200. Tons of jumbos out there, but there is a nice Skymarks model PH-BFT (City of Tokyo) that you can get as souvenirs of this flight. But you already got the A330-200 already and has more significance since you got it on the flight itself.

Exclusively 1:200 models, that is why I only bought the A332 model, they had a 744 model too bit it was 1:250 scale (I'm picky) so I ordered the Skymarks KL 744 model. I saw the Herpa A330, very nice model but a bit pricy.

Quoting adamspotter (Reply 8): Very nice little report. Nice to see you enjoyed KLM very much!

Thanks!

KrisYYZ

Hi Kris,

interesting report about your KLM experience.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The first thing that struck me about the A332 was how small and crammed it felt. Perhaps KL's blue interior contributed to this impression. We sat in seats 34J and H, apparently KL's A332s have an extra inch of pitch compared to the rest of KL's long-haul fleet.

I flew DTW-AMS on PH-AOD some years ago and I felt cramped, too. Here's my report:

On Par With Air France? DTW-AMS-MUC, KLM A330 (by PlaneHunter Oct 3 2009 in Trip Reports)

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): -Full drink service and peanuts -Dinner service (Vegetarian Ricotta Pasta or Thai Fish) with full drink service (the F.A's even offered refills on their way back to the galley with the meal trolly) -Coffee, Tea and drinks while collecting the dinner trays. -Water or Orange Juice about 2 hrs after dinner -Ice Cream and water from the Swiss Alps about 3.5 hrs prior to landing. -Full Drink service with Coffee and tea -Pizza or Sweet Cake about an hour prior to landing.

Sounds good!

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): One of the best inflight meals I have ever had.

Hopefully it's not just an exception!


PH

Hi KrisYYZ,

interesting report, enjoyed it very much, especially since I have been to Budapest as well just recently. Good idea to take your friend with you, hope he enjoyed the flights as well, despite being a little nervous about it. And good to read that you had a nice experience with KLM, they are definitely a good airline. Have also done some flights with them recently(actually on cityhopper to be precise) and also liked them very much.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): I was truly impressed, what a massive improvement to BUD!

Exactly my impression with that terminal. And indeed sad that it is rather empty now with Malev gone.

Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): On a side note, I must mention Ryanair. FR wasted no time and swooped in as soon as MA stopped flying. With T1 closing, they were forced to use T2. Obviously FR does not use bridges and prefers to make pax walk to the aircraft, I understand that. As you can see in the pictures below, FR has pressured BUD to erect metal barricades on the apron to allow pax to walk from a jet bridge to the aircraft, pax have to walk a few hundred meters from the terminal building to the “bus stop” on the apron. The issue is that FR wants the pax ready to board before the aircraft arrives, so people are made to stand on the apron just meters away from planes for upto 45 minutes.

Well, I actually arrived on FR and while they didn't use an airbridge they still were parked directly at the gate, so it was just a short walk out of the plane and directly inside the building, not bad actually. It is true that FR sometimes starts boarding even when the plane hasn't yet arrived (especially when the inbound is delayed) but I still think that 45 minutes to wait on the apron is a bit exaggerated (it is definitely not the norm). But then again it is all part of the low-cost experience.

Greetings
CaptainRed

Hello KrisYYZ!

Great report featuring one of my favorite airlines   As usual, it seems KLM did a pretty fine job (in this case, I guess it was an excellent job). It's been a few years since I flew with them but they made my transatlantic flight a very enjoyable experience.
Budapest looks beautiful and the SkyCourt at BUD looks very impressive.
Thanks for sharing you trip with us!

Diego

I just returned from BUD after visiting my family in Romania. I took the low-fare Ryanair this time. As you said Ryanair makes the pax to walk at the plane, just minutes before boarding. My experience was quite good allthough the weather was good, and no angry passengers. The SkyCourt is one of my favourites. Gentle people, and good facilites to relax before your flight. In my oppinion BLL is still my favourite airport. Thanks for the report!