KLM Adds Airbus A321neo To Fleet, With 227 Seats

Insane, the back half has less pitch compared to a Ryanair plane (which have 28.5"); European aviation is going down fast..

People want cheap fares and therefore in Europe they should expect Ryanair style seating.

I know the Dutch LOVE herring...but given the tight fit on these planes, they might as well learn to love sardines.

Can't be any worse than the back of United 737's.

By that logic, then they should also expect Ryanair style pricing.

Wow 28” pitch is Spirit and Frontier pitch. Eekk

Wizz has 239 seats, so it could be worse. The "premium economy" style seats in the front with 32" pitch would guzzle from legroom in the back, though.

KLM is just an awful airline. Within Europe, I honestly don't know what the difference is between KLM and say Easy Jet. At least KLM hasn't ruined Air France. Air France is at least elegant. KLM may have better customer service, but this plane is going to be awful in economy. And I'm short. The Dutch are among the tallest in the world.

KLM shouldn't be "proud" of having the most seats in an A321 in Europe. It should be ashamed. This airplane should have less the 200 seats. Learn from Turkish if you need a guide.

Love the A321. My favorite narrow body ride. BUT 227 Seats !! yeah no. To be fair, I am not a KL frequent flyer LOL. New livery is nice and smooth.

“Low unit costs are only useful if you can get a decent load factor.”

KLM uses their 737 fleet on some fairly long intra-Europe legs - TLV (at times) and often to ATH/IST. These "torture tubes" we be unbearable on legs of that stage length.

This will be the kiss of death for intra-Europe flying via CDG. For most routes/dates AF already tend to charge a significant premium over their sister airline, presumably in order to keep more seats available for passengers on journeys from/to Africa and other high-yield routes. If KLM suddenly need to fill a serious number of additional seats, expect the premium to become stratospheric.

Lufthansa may not be the most exciting airline, but AMS is the most overrated airport in the entire continent, and by far the least convenient hub when it comes to intra-Schengen connections (long taxi times, exceptionally long walks, mice-infested lounges etc).

It's clear what AFKLM is up to - the Dutch carrier becomes something akin Ryanair, and Air France remains Air France.

When you book Wizz, you know what you're getting yourself into.

I'd argue there has been this kind of divide for a while now. There is no comparison between Air France's intra-Europe in business-class and KLM. To me within Europe, KLM is basically Easy Jet.

As if Air France doesn't cramp 212 seats on its A321s, even its A220s are high density. This doesn't make KLM different or a low cost hybrid carrier, even if Air France brands itself as a premium luxury airline, it doesn't live up to their claim. KLM is just doing what's best suited for the european market. No airline will introduce 2-2 american business class for intra europe flights, it's silly to think it's going to change.

“Oh how could it possibly be worse?

“Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse”

—Patsy

I hope the Dutch and our connecting Delta connecting friends know how to purse their lips and whistle and always look on the bright side of life

Fun fact, Ryanair has more legroom than BA J.

Most Ryanair planes are now 30".
And without seat pockets, it feels like more.

I like this misconception people still have that Air France is still premium.

Got to travel in J on the 789s and than onward to BCN from CDG. The product was mired in mediocrity.

28in??? Even AirAsia and VietJet have 29in (to the best of my knowledge)!!! And Asians get dunked on for being short! I’ve flown on an old KLM 737 once in 2018 and it didn’t feel too tight, I can only imagine how tight the new seats will feel!

Another chance to the livery is the very blatant de-emphasising of the SkyTeam logo, which is now moved to the back of the plane, next to the registration — the same thing that Air France has done. However, instead of the ‘Hippocampe ailé’ logo of AF, KL just has a blank space there.

Virgin Atlantic, too, does not paint the SkyTeam logo behind the cockpit, unlike all other members of the alliance. (For that matter I do *not* expect SAS to paint the SkyTeam logo to replace the Star Alliance logo when it joins in a few days’ time.)

Dutch are the tallest people in the world.

Yet another example of the misery of intra European travel.

I'd still take KLM over any Lufthansa group airline anyday.
Agree that this is a bad development in terms of seating.
Not yet at the level of Easy Jet or Ryanair though.

28 inch is embarrassing without discussion.
However, KLM equips the a321neo with 3 toilets instead of the 4 of LH/LX with just 12 seats less, so the average leg room is not that much worse I guess?

I'd say Swiss is still better than KLM when it comes to traveling within Europe.

Ouch ... 28 inch is extremly tight

All klm flights to tlv to my knowledge are operated by narrow body planes.

Most European airlines are mediocre within Europe. Air France stands apart, however, for catering (including wine) and slightly better lounges compared to KLM. KLM's food is noticeably worse and the wine is much cheaper. The lounges at KLM are more like a public/state school cafeteria.

I was very impressed when I had a one-off Zurich to Paris in Swiss business-class last year. Real champagne, a good meal, exceptional service. Delta canceled Zurich to JFK and the only option was a Swiss flight to CDG and then Air France to USA. Air Baltic is very good in business-class. Even in economy. You can order a full meal and good wine. They serve a hot meal on all flights over 1 hour and a cold meal on flights under 1 hour. Unfortunately, no wifi and no power outlets. But the planes are all newish A220s.

Curious---why the 28" pitch in the back? I'm not being sarcastic. It seems odd to have a 2" difference in seat pitch. Is this the pre-cursor to a fare segmentation on intra-European flights (i.e. - like the domestics with extra legroom seats)?

28" of pitch is disgraceful for a so-called full service airline. This is going to result in a lot of grumbling, complaints and perhaps some cases of DVT over the life of this airliner. Too bad because they could have made it quite comfortable without losing anything from it.

What’s with the photo of the small backpack in the overhead bin? Don’t most airlines put full size carry ons, stowed on their sides, to highlight the capacity of the big bins?

Richard the Blogger (who turned up with just a backpack for his laptop and lunch it it for the launch) took the photo. I'm sure KLM's own website has proper wheelie cases, properly sacked, on it... 🙂

Air France, Austrian, BA, TAP, Iberia, and even Finnair all have decent food in business class within Europe. And all of them have better food than KLM.

This is a straight up customer unfriendly configuration. Why even consider flying KLM?

If I wanted to fly 28" I would fly on an ULCC, not KLM.