On 27MAY, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines debuted its new Premium Comfort Class, which Business Travel News Europe says is "bringing the carrier in line with others who have been offering premium economy seats for years."
The airline describes its new offering as an "intermediate cabin" with more space, luxury, service options, comfort, and privacy than its Economy Class but with lower prices than its World Business Class.
Premium Comfort is an entirely new inflight class for the airline, with its own cabin, offering a new type of seats as well as distinctive service and catering. Depending on the aircraft type, the capacity of Premium Comfort Class will vary from 21 to 28 seats, which will be wider than standard seats, offering more legroom, a larger screen and a footrest. Premium Comfort seats can also recline further than Economy Class seats.
“We have great expectations for this new Premium Comfort Class, based on extensive market research. The new class will meet the wishes of business passengers as well as leisure travellers, strengthening KLM’s standing as a global network carrier offering an appealing and varied range: World Business Class, Premium Comfort and Economy Class,” said Boet Kreiken, executive vice president of KLM Customer Experience.
Catering
On intercontinental services, one or two hot meals will be served to Premium Comfort pax, depending on the duration of the flight. There will always be a choice of meat, fish or vegetarian dishes. After the meal, passengers will be offered coffee, tea, liqueur and ice cream. A variety of snacks and cocktails will also be served between meals, which will be largely selected from those that were previously popular in World Business Class, according to KLM.
Lightweight and reusable
The new seats in Premium Comfort Class were designed by Collins Aerospace together with specialists at KLM Customer Experience. Apart from their design and comfort features, the seats are also lighter than previous designs. Similar effort was taken in selecting catering materials for Premium Comfort. They are either reusable (special cutlery, bowls and plates made of lightweight polypropylene) and those that are not reusable are made of recycled PEF.
Service
The Premium Comfort Class experience will start at the airport, where passengers will have "more flexible baggage arrangements" and SkyPriority privileges, including preferential check-in and boarding.
Booking
The first aircraft equipped with Premium Comfort Class will operate on routes to North America. It is anticipated that passengers will be able to book Premium Comfort to a growing range of destinations from the end of the JUL 2022, according to KLM.
For more information, visit KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' web site.
