City of Nairobi
After I came back from Paris I had to go straight back to work. I had to start my reports for the project I am busy on with KLM. Pfffffff! It's a lot of work. My colleague Freddy however was on the field at KLM. A diaster happened! KLM's 747-400 PH-BFN "City of Nairobi" was badly damaged by a tug. The damage is unbelievable! The aircraft has to go into maintenece for two months.
This is a disaster for KLM's operations, because KLM only has a small amount of full-pax (all passenger) 747-400's in the fleetp; 5 to be exact. The rest are all combi (half pax/half cargo). Destinations like Toronto (YYZ), St. Maarten/Curaçao (SXM/CUR), Johannesburg (JNB), Kuala-Lumpur/Jakarta (KUL/CGK) and more are served by full-pax 747's, so the company is one short.
After much deliberation, KLM decided to pull an Airbus A330 from the Newark (EWR) route and put it to YYZ. That way a 747-400 come free to operate the other routes. The EWR will be operated by partner Northwest Airlines with their A33o, untill the plain "Nairobi" is back again.
Here are some pictures:
McDonnell-Douglas MD11 fleet
I also attended a meeting in amstelveen as an observer. There are some changes within the fleet planning strategy. KLM is now planning to keep its MD11's until 2015 instead of 2102. This is because KLM owns the aircrafts outright, instead of via a lease, like the 767-300's, so it will be cheaper to operate. So KLM is making some adjustments for the "flying ladies" in two phases.
First phase has already started. This includes new carpets and installment of video cameras at the cockpit door.They are also changing the seat configuration from 2-4-3 to a 3-3-3 configuration like the 777 in Economy Class. They will also be removing the last row of the World Business Class section to put in a few more economy seats and therefore the amount of passengers on the MD11 will change from 31/251 to 24/270. This is because the MD11 routes demand more Economy Class seats.
In phase two all Economy seats will be renewed. A decision is still pending if those are going to include Personal Television (PTV's). World Business Class seats will also be replaced and will include the newer Inflight Entertainment System MAS 3000, like the A330 and 777.
The overhead monitors (for safety demo and movies) will be replaced by flat screens. The second phase should be completed by 2008. The makeover aside, KLM has also introduced large pictures in the lavatories of some MD11's as a test. They are using 3 themes : flowers, sea and city. If pax responses are postive, KLM will extend these 'surprising toilets' to the entire widebody fleet. On the 747-400 KLM has decided to install newer World Business Class seats. They are also replacing the overhead monitors with flat screens. A decision on whether they will also install the PTV's on the coach seats is also still pending.
ICA Flight
Tonight I have my first observation ICA (Intercontinental) flight to Kuala-Lumpur with R. I am looking forward to it. I am walking with my laptop, because I have to type out a report, so I may update my blog. If not... an update will follow when I am back.
Ayo!
After I came back from Paris I had to go straight back to work. I had to start my reports for the project I am busy on with KLM. Pfffffff! It's a lot of work. My colleague Freddy however was on the field at KLM. A diaster happened! KLM's 747-400 PH-BFN "City of Nairobi" was badly damaged by a tug. The damage is unbelievable! The aircraft has to go into maintenece for two months.
This is a disaster for KLM's operations, because KLM only has a small amount of full-pax (all passenger) 747-400's in the fleetp; 5 to be exact. The rest are all combi (half pax/half cargo). Destinations like Toronto (YYZ), St. Maarten/Curaçao (SXM/CUR), Johannesburg (JNB), Kuala-Lumpur/Jakarta (KUL/CGK) and more are served by full-pax 747's, so the company is one short.
After much deliberation, KLM decided to pull an Airbus A330 from the Newark (EWR) route and put it to YYZ. That way a 747-400 come free to operate the other routes. The EWR will be operated by partner Northwest Airlines with their A33o, untill the plain "Nairobi" is back again.
Here are some pictures:
McDonnell-Douglas MD11 fleet
I also attended a meeting in amstelveen as an observer. There are some changes within the fleet planning strategy. KLM is now planning to keep its MD11's until 2015 instead of 2102. This is because KLM owns the aircrafts outright, instead of via a lease, like the 767-300's, so it will be cheaper to operate. So KLM is making some adjustments for the "flying ladies" in two phases.
First phase has already started. This includes new carpets and installment of video cameras at the cockpit door.They are also changing the seat configuration from 2-4-3 to a 3-3-3 configuration like the 777 in Economy Class. They will also be removing the last row of the World Business Class section to put in a few more economy seats and therefore the amount of passengers on the MD11 will change from 31/251 to 24/270. This is because the MD11 routes demand more Economy Class seats.
In phase two all Economy seats will be renewed. A decision is still pending if those are going to include Personal Television (PTV's). World Business Class seats will also be replaced and will include the newer Inflight Entertainment System MAS 3000, like the A330 and 777.
The overhead monitors (for safety demo and movies) will be replaced by flat screens. The second phase should be completed by 2008. The makeover aside, KLM has also introduced large pictures in the lavatories of some MD11's as a test. They are using 3 themes : flowers, sea and city. If pax responses are postive, KLM will extend these 'surprising toilets' to the entire widebody fleet. On the 747-400 KLM has decided to install newer World Business Class seats. They are also replacing the overhead monitors with flat screens. A decision on whether they will also install the PTV's on the coach seats is also still pending.
ICA Flight
Tonight I have my first observation ICA (Intercontinental) flight to Kuala-Lumpur with R. I am looking forward to it. I am walking with my laptop, because I have to type out a report, so I may update my blog. If not... an update will follow when I am back.
Ayo!
posted by Traveller at 12:29 PM
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