TORONTO — KLM Royal Dutch Airlines introduced its new World Business class on its Toronto-Amsterdam route to travel agents who were invited to experience the comfort of the newly-introduced seat and cabin onboard a Boeing 747 at Pearson airport.
Launched in July 2013, the new interior of the KLM’s business class was designed by Dutch designer Hella Jongerius who took on the development of a design offering more personal space.
Following the guiding principle of providing the traveller more comfort, the new seat measures 207 cm long (81.5 inches) when converted to a full flat seat (180 degrees). The seat position in the cabin and the partition between television screens ensure greater privacy for passengers. The storage compartments, conveniently located in the seats beside the passengers and under the television screens, offer more individual space.
The inflight entertainment system provides a 17-inch screen.
Sustainability being at the core of KLM’s principles, the new design, besides being innovative is also sustainable as some original solutions included using fibres of former KLM flight attendant uniforms in weaving the yarn for the new carpets and recycling the old ones.
“We are very excited about Toronto being one of the first destinations in the world to offer a sneak preview of the World Business Class to Canadian customers,” said Fabien Pelous, Vice President and General Manager Air France KLM Canada.
The brand new interiors have progressively been introduced on KLM’s Boeing 747 fleet since July 2013 and are now featured on 11 of the 22 Boeing 747s which will be entirely converted by May 2014. The Boeing 777-200s will be the next fleet to feature the new class.
In winter, KLM has one daily flight between Toronto and Amsterdam departing at 6:30 p.m. and landing at 7:45 a.m. the next morning. The new World Business Class cabin is currently offered on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday’s flights. Other destinations progressively launching the product include Nairobi, Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai.
Passengers travelling in World Business Class have access to the SkyPriority services and are greeted in Air France KLM’s Lounge which offers soups, samosas, a new salad bar, cheese and desserts buffet-style as well as various drinks including Heineken on tap.
