KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Bordeaux to Amsterdam

If you have seen my post on the crazy lead up to this flight, you'll know what I mean when I say crazy. If you haven't seen it, please do check it out!

After a mammoth 24 hours, we finally arrived at Bordeaux Merignac Airport, ready to embark on our unforeseen 25 hour trip home. We arrived at the airport 90 or so minutes prior to our flight to Amsterdam, which turned out to be more than enough time. Not having check-in luggage meant that we headed straight through security and to the gate. At 5:30pm, we were called to board our 1h30 hour flight up to Holland.

Flight number - KL1318.

Aircraft - KLM City Hopper Embraer ERJ-190.

Boarding was very efficient and completed within about 15 minutes. Seeing as there were a few spare seats, airport staff did a great job of getting everyone on the jet bridge and seated on the aircraft. As we sat down in our seats, 24A and 24B, the first thing we noticed was the amount of legroom. In fact, there is 17-inch seat pitch on the KLM ERJ-190, which is more than enough for a flight of 90 minutes, and even rivals some medium-haul airlines. There was no inflight entertainment, but then again, for such a short flight, this wasn't expected at all. To be honest, at this point, all we were thinking about was getting on that final plane home the next day.

We pushed back from the gate right on time (6:00pm) and taxied to runway 24 at Merignac, which meant a take-off to the south. Shortly after take-off, we turned west for a short period over the Atlantic, and headed north over Nantes and Lille, before descending over Brussels and finally in to Amsterdam.

To our surprise, there was a full snack-service during the flight which commenced about 10 minutes in to our journey. We received a sandwich with Dutch Gouda cheese and an onion mayonnaise, as well as a choice of hot and cold beverages. The flight attendants could not do enough to help, and did their best to ensure those who were travelling alone were separated from their seat buddy, due to COVID-19.

As we were cruising over Belgium, we started our descent in to runway 06 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which is one of the closest runways to the main terminal. After a flight time of just under 1 and a half hours, we landed safely and made the lengthy taxi in to the gate. After leaving the aircraft, we took the long walk through Terminal 2 and finally arrived at the arrivals hall. After you exit the arrivals hall, you can either take a taxi to your end destination just outside the terminal, or if you prefer a train, you can also do this too.

We had a night booked at the Sheraton Schiphol Airport Hotel prior to our flights home, so we didn't have to worry about going anywhere as the hotel is connected to the airport. I'll talk more about Schiphol in my airport review.

All in all, the short hop up from Bordeaux with KLM was a great flight, and was a very good first impression, as this was my first regional flight with them. Tick of approval from me and they've earned themselves a return customer.

Flight one down. Two to go.