In this installment of Wednesday Route Highlight we will be taking a look at KLM’s seasonal route between its hub in Amsterdam and Salt Lake City, Utah.
As always, if you have any suggestions for a specific route that I should highlight, feel free to leave it below in the comments.
KLM operates this flight summer seasonally between the months of March and October. Looking at the schedule this year, the flight closes on October 25th, 2017 and then re-commences on March 25th, 2018. In addition, the flight is operated 3x weekly from AMS on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays aboard the airline’s brand new Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
KLM outfits its 787’s in a 3 class configuration consisting of 30 fully flat business class seats, 48 economy comfort seats, and 216 standard economy seats. Business class is outfitted in a 1-2-1 configuration, while economy is in the standard 3-3-3 layout.
Business class looks pretty good on this aircraft, as each passenger is given direct aisle access thanks to KLM’s great reverse herringbone seats.
Salt Lake City (SLC) is a Delta fortress hub, and offers tons of connection opportunities throughout the midwest and the rest of the country. KLM’s 3x weekly flight complements its joint venture partner Delta’s daily flight to Amsterdam. I theorize that a large share of the passengers on either flight are not actually flying point-to-point (SLC-AMS). Rather, they are actually connecting from a smaller city in the U.S. or Europe and then connecting onto their final destination through SLC or AMS.
In addition, Delta offers daily year round flights to Paris as well as seasonal daily flights to London Heathrow from its hub in SLC, giving Skyteam passengers a variety options to choose from when traveling to Europe.
To the Point!
KLM’s seasonal flight to Salt Lake City gives midwest travelers a fantastic option when traveling to Europe. If afforded the choice between KLM and Delta, I would fly with the Dutch carrier over DL any day of the week. KLM operates their brand new 787-9 on this route which offers greater in-flight amenities like lower cabin altitude, power ports, and personal entertainment screens to all passengers. The carrier also offers premium passengers a fantastic reverse herringbone hard product, which is about as good as it gets in business class.
Side note: You really can’t get a sharper looking plane than the 787. I know some might prefer the aesthetics of the A350, but c’mon, those serrated engines are pretty damn cool (only found on Boeing 787’s and 747-8s). KLM’s livery isn’t too hard on the eyes either…
*Featured Image Courtesy of KLM
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