KLM 'pumps up' its Premium Economy: more seats available from 2027. And the welcome drink is back in Economy
Just nine months ago (it was the end of last December), KLM completed the redesign of the premium cabins on board the [...]
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Just nine months ago (it was the end of last December), KLM finalised redesign of premium cabins on board its long-haul Boeing fleet, with the installation of a business class finally in 1-2-1 configuration also on the Boeing 777-300ER and 777-200ER (on the newer 787-9 and 787-10 it was already with four seats per row) and The creation of a full-fledged premium economy cabin, 'physically' separated from the Economy behind.
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Christened Premium Comfort Class, in recent months must have been a huge success among passengers of the Dutch carrier, which in these hours announced an expansion of premium economy cabins on all its long-haul Boeing aircraft starting in 2027.
The carrier stressed that the'upgrade, if you want to call it that, will take place on its Boeing aircraft because in reality its medium- to long-haul fleet also includes 6 Airbus A330-200s and 5 Airbus A330-300s, which, however, have an average age of nearly 17 years and will not be part of the company's future (by the way, they do not even have a Premium Economy cabin).
Currently, Premium Comfort Class seats are 21 (in three rows in a 2-3-2 configuration) on the thirteen Boeing 787-9s and 28 on the fourteen 787-10s (four rows 2-3-2), while there are 24 (three rows 2-4-2) on both the fifteen Boeing 777-300ERs and the fourteen 777-200ERs Flying over the long haul.
In announcing the news, KLM's vice president of flight services, Paul Terstegge, did not specify aircraft by aircraft the future capacity of PE cabins, but specified that "there will be up to 40 Premium Comfort Class seats" (presumably on the 777-300ER, which is the largest and most capacious aircraft among those in service with the Dutch company).
"Our Premium Comfort is highly valued and often 'fully booked' Our customers want to travel in greater comfort and that is what we will give them." How? The VP specified that "the personal space available to our travelers will not be compromised." Instead, The space to add one or two PE files. (depending on the aircraft), as well as a few seats in Economy, will be sourced through changes to in-flight service that will reduce the number of trolleys on airplanes, thereby reducing the size of galleys, i.e., in-flight 'kitchens.'
Business Class will also benefit from that operation, but only on 787-9s, with two extra seats that will be made available to premium passengers on the smaller of the two Dreamliner models in KLM's force.
The Premium Comfort introduced by KLM through a two-year retrofit does not constitute the 'top of the line' in the category, but rather an 'average' product which still allows travel with a good level of comfort: in an era when some PEs (e.g., those of Emirates and ITA) go so far as to offer a 'pitch' (i.e., distance between rows of seats) of 40 inches (equal to 101cm), KLM stops at 38 inches (equal to 96cm); ditto for seat width, which is 18.5 inches (47cm) compared to products that touch 19-19.5 inches 48-49cm) and the screen size of the IFE (13.3 inches while on some PEs it goes up to 15.6 inches). An undoubtedly positive factor is that these measurements are identical on all four Boeing models that KLM uses on long-haul, thus ensuring product uniformity across the fleet.
In talking about "a revised and streamlined in-flight service," VP Terstegge anticipated that KLM will resume serving a welcome drink in Economy as well, amenity he had discontinued a few years ago.
