The 2nd sector will be on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines from Bangkok to Taipei. KLM operates the AMS-BKK-TPE sector daily and as a fifth freedom carrier, it offers great fares on the BKK-TPE sector. My one-way BKK-TPE fare was only 6,170baht, which is almost half the price of TG, BR and CI. A return fare was even cheaper at 9,000baht in economy and less than 13,000baht in Business, which is cheaper than the other airlines' economy class fares!
Due to the flooding mentioned earlier, I changed our KLM flights to depart on the day we reached BKK. Surprisingly, no change fees were required even though I had booked the lowest tier fare.
Our transit stop was initially scheduled to be 2hr45min but due to the delay in arrival on the Tiger flight, the transit stop was shortened to slightly more than 2hrs. Our scheduled departure time was 1340hrs. Check in was done for the KLM flight swiftly as there were hardly any passengers at the counters. According to the check-in agent, the flight was relatively empty, which I heard is the norm on the BKK-TPE sector.
30 October 2011
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
KL 877
Bangkok (BKK) - Taipei (TPE)
B747-400
PH-BFH 'City of Hong Kong'
Economy Class
Boarding pass for the flight.
After grabbing a quick lunch, we went through immigration and proceeded to the gate for boarding. Also did some plane spotting. However BKK is not too photo-friendly as many of the glass windows were filthy. Some of the more decent photos I took:
Republic of Singapore Air Force C130 sending humanitarian aid to BKK. 2 of these planes arrived!
Garuda B737-800NG
PH-BFH which will ferry us to TPE. It has been a long time since I last flew a B747! The plane is still in its KLM Asia livery.
However just before the scheduled departure time, a dreaded announcement was made. The flight would be delayed due to a technical problem with the aircraft. We were told that we would be updated on the situation in 30min. Business class passengers were invited to proceed back to the lounge. 30min later, the ground staff made another announcement that all of us would be given a 250baht meal voucher for any food outlets in the airport and we would to return to the gate at 1500hrs for further updates. In fairness, KLM ground staff has handled the situation pretty well and I used the voucher to relax at coffee joint with coffee and ice-cream. At 1500hrs, we proceeded back to the gate where the ground staff updated us again that the flight would be departing at 1600hrs.
Rescheduled departure timing.
Drinks and cake were offered at the boarding gate. Finally we boarded the B747-400 just before 1600hrs. Was welcomed at the door by the crew and directed to the seat. My seat was at 62K, just before the 2-seaters at the rear.
At the gate
Seat pitch is pretty tight at 31" but at least my legs can extend under the seat in front. PTVs at every seat as this plane was refurbished recently.
Another view of the seat pitch. If you notice, all seats had the airsick bags placed in a position with the KLM logo facing outwards.
Items in the seat pocket. Holland Herald inflight magazine, safety card and airsick bag.
Shortly before boarding is completed, the crew came down the aisles with a stack of cups and a bottle of mineral water, offering pre-takeoff water to us lowly economy passengers. Nice gesture by the crew, but not sure if this is the norm on KLM.
The plastic cups used by KLM have a lovely design on them.
A CX B773 pushing back.
