Our trip was booked for 4-11th September, with a stay in Newcastle, right by the airport, on the 3rd September.
KL958 Newcastle to Amsterdam
Newcastle Airport terminal.
We had last flown from NCL back in 2006, and we weren't impressed by the airport then, but this time it seemed better organised and baggage drop off was quick and efficient. I had already checked in online the day before. The security queue was short and very soon we were in the departures area. It was very cloudy, dull and overcast.
British Airways Heathrow-bound and Aer Lingus Dublin-bound being prepared for their flights.
easyJet and Ryanair.
Our flight was due to depart at 10:45, and there was an earlier flight to AMS, which we saw arriving. This earlier flight departed just as our incoming aircraft arrived.
Our aircraft - PH-BGK a Boeing 737-700 named "Noordse Stoomvogel"/"Fulmar" (the KLM aircraft have their names in English and Dutch - one on each side of the fuselage) arrives.
Heading to the terminal.
We were to depart from gate 20 - last time we flew from NCL the gate number wasn't shown and people were getting lost trying to find the correct gate.
PH-BGK at gate 20.
We had seats 7A and 7B. The legroom was quite reasonable and the seats were fabric, not leather like in many airlines. The crew were very pleasant and professional.
The view from my seat.
The safety card.
The inflight shopping catalogue.
Holland Herald - the KLM inflight magazine.
We pushed back at 10:42 and the safety demonstration was carried out in English, though the screen for the divider curtain made it difficult to see from my seat.
The Captain said the flight would take around 50 minutes, and we took off at 10:50.
We climbed through broken cloud and the climb was smooth with no turbulence.
Shortly after take off.
Over the north east of England.
Don't know which river that is.
As we climbed we turned into cloud, and between the clouds we encountered some turbulence.
View of the cabin from my seat.
Between the clouds - and slightly turbulent.
My first KLM inflight snack - cake and I also had orange juice to drink but I took this photo before I got my juice.
The cake - some sort of traditional Dutch cake I think but I don't know much about Dutch food
Our route took us over the North York Moors (inland from Newcastle), down over East Yorkshire and we crossed the coast at Withernsea. Our cruising altitude was 35,000 feet.
The weather brightened as we approached The Netherlands.
An offshore wind farm.
The wind farm again.
The sunny Dutch coast.
We had slight turbulence during our descent.
Descending over the Dutch countryside.
We landed in AMS at 12:40 and taxied to the D area.
My first photo at AMS.
We had a female co-pilot on our first KLM flight, and the crew had been excellent. My first impressions of KLM were very positive
Transfer in Schiphol
Over the summer the British press had done their usual scaremongering about airport queues (they do this every year) and said that the queues at AMS were taking four hours to clear. it turned out that the "tweet" they based this on was several months old! I had been apprehensive about our transfer at AMS, I knew there would be alot of walking as we landed at D and needed to be at C. I wasn't wrong about the long walk but the queue at the passport control between D and C was quite short, and the e-passport gates were empty, so we used one and our transfer was very quick and efficient. Then we had to find our way to gate C10 for the next leg of our trip to WAW.
KL1365 AMS-WAW
For this slightly longer flight I had booked KLM Economy Comfort seats 6A and 6B. Our scheduled departure time was 14:30 and so were were at the gate in very good time. We were waiting ages to board as the frequent fliers and business class were boarded first, and there seemed to be alot of them!
Our transport for the second flight was Boeing 737-800 PH-BXK "Gierzwaluw"/"Swift".
Close view of the front showing Dutch name.
We liked the Economy Comfort seats - the legroom was very good and I would pay to have them again.
The view from my seat. Our nearest neighbour was an SAS A319.
The winglet showing KLM logo.
The Captain announced that the flight would take one hour 40 minutes, and the conditions were good. There was cloud and some rain in Warsaw (the story of our holiday!)
We pushed back at 14:31 and took off at 14:37. There was hazy sun after take off.
Shortly after take off.
Dutch fields and towns.
Don't know where that is.
Dutch city.
Broken cloud.
Our inflight snack this time was scrambled egg wrap and I had orange juice again and also the water.
Very broken cloud!
Along the way we encountered slight turbulence. Our route took us north east towards Germany. We crossed Germany south of Bremen and flew north of Poznan towards Warsaw. Our cruising altitude was 39,000 feet. As we neared Poland the cloud became alot thicker. The Captain said there was cloud and rain in WAW and the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.
We descended through thick cloud.
The Polish countryside under cloud.
Cloud and Polish countryside.
Low cloud, dull weather.
We landed in Warsaw at 16:10. We had to wait to get to our assigned gate as another aircraft was occupying our space. At least this year I saw plenty of LOT aircraft, unlike Krakow where I saw none!
LOT at WAW.
Think that's LOT but not 100% sure.
LOT.
LOT and Qatar.
View from our aircraft as we taxied past.
LOT Embraer 190.
Warsaw Chopin - home of LOT!
LOT Dreamliner taken as we passed.
Our neighbours at the WAW terminal.
We had a smooth exit from Chopin Airport and caught the S2 train to the city.
The video of our flights:
