KL1033
AMS-LHR
26 August 2012
Boeing 737-800 - PH-BXV
Off Stand: 20:46
On Stand: 20:58
The gate opened on time at 19:25, however I couldn't help but notice that something important was missing...
A few moments later PH-BXV pulled onto stand.
The holding pen didn't seem overly busy and I was hoping that the earlier message saying there were no spare seats was a false alarm. I was also hoping that tonight's flight would be less eventful than last nights. Unfortunately for one person it would be - I noticed an ambulance pull up, and somebody was taken out the back of it on a stretcher and loaded onto the flight shortly after the previous passengers had disembarked.
As time went on, the holding pen filled up. Boarding was slightly delayed due to having the stretcher on board with us. Pre boarding was finally announced at 20:15. I was amazed at how many sky priority passengers there were - almost the entire aircraft in fact!! It was also announced that there was a 20 minute delay as expected departure time was now 20:50. Interestingly there were no further boarding calls made - I guess they didn't see the point as most passengers had already boarded.
First impressions of the 737-800 were that it was very roomy, although I might just be imagining that due to all the regional jets I've been flying lately. Made a nice change to be able to stand up without banging my head on the storage bins either way! Legroom was about average.
We pushed back at 20:46 and made a long taxi out to the Polderbaan. We pushed in front of and F70 and took off at just after 21:00 local.
Takeoff from AMS video
All 5 of the crew were quicker at getting going compared to last night, and they began with handing out landing cards. I thought this was unusual for and inter Europe hop, but remembered I had seen a lot of China Southern boarding cards in the holding pen, so I'm assuming there were a lot of connecting passengers.
At 20:25 UK time, the engines spooled back and the nose was heading in a downward direction. The flight deck hadn't advised of any delays at this point, but from experience Heathrow is a pretty busy place on a Sunday night. Shortly after, the flight deck came over the PA and amazingly announced that it was quite quiet this evening. However as we would be landing on runway 27R, he did announce a long taxi to stand, and expected to be on stand by 21:00 local. There goes my chance of catching the 21:15 coach!
Landing at LHR video
As promised, we touched down at 20:50 and pulled on to stand 8 minutes later. Also as promised Terminal 4 was very quiet. I was amazed at how quickly I got out - even quicker than LCY in fact. When I turned my phone on, I noticed KLM had sent me a txt about the gate change in AMS - Good idea in theory although not much use once you’ve just got off the plane at your destination. I also had an email saying a similar thing.
Unfortunately I still wouldn't make the earlier coach home as I'd have to catch the Heathrow express over to Heathrow central.
And whilst I was waiting for my coach I decided to get a sneak preview of my next trip in just a few weeks.
