LondonAkis
First-Class-Member
27 July, AMS-LHR, BD112 C-Class, Seat 3A.
Tuesday afternoon and I am in the taxi on my way to Schiphol airport for the final leg of my European tour. Traffic is quite heavy and the driver explains to me that a lot of people have started their summer holidays deserting the city. On a Tuesday? Maybe I should have caught the train that only takes 15’ to the airport but then the burden of heavy luggage would have been too much for my back. Although the flight to London hardly takes more than 45', I was excited, as it would be my first ever flight on BMI. “Check-in is that way sir”, the BMI lady on the Business Class desk pointed to the Economy Class desks. I didn’t look the part having already changed into my jeans and T-shirt after work. “Never mind, I still would like to check-in here”, I said and pushed my ticket in front of her face.
Schiphol does not have dedicated security check for premium passengers but the systems in place are as efficient as anywhere else in the world. I did get a bit confused once I was through because they are renovating a rather large part of the transit area so it took me a while to find my way around. The lounge is one level up and it is all in BMI colours. Rather large space in different blue tones, very comfortable indeed but no views. The receptionist actually offered to store my hand luggage and asked if I wanted some reading material. “Sure, thank you” I said and she just pulled a pile of 6 different magazines and a good 4 different newspapers. Suspicious me thought that a multi-hour delay was just going to be announced, but the lady confirmed that we departure was on schedule. Well, I better get started on these magazines then.
40’ later I was at gate D18. The BMI 321 was painted in the old traditional livery. Very boring and bland, but that was when BMI was trying to replace BA as the traditional British flag carrier and BA was trying to be cool with 200 different tailfin liveries. The seating was quite comfortable and aircrew members were polite and friendly. The screen came down showing the security video and at the same time a hostess was distributing pen and questionnaires on their service. The pilot advised that there are no delays, but it would take us a good 15’ to get to a new runway for take off. He was right! The new runway at AMS is built quite far away to the west of the airport. I think Schiphol is the only major European airport with 5 fully functioning runways. We took off heading north and turned above the North Sea heading Southwest for London. Service started almost as soon as the turn was done and we were presented with a big box which contained smartly packed cold snacks. The boxes looked like flower boxes and they were actually quite easy to manage. Food was nothing spectacular but the Kit Kat bar was a nice touch. 40’ later we were above London but there was low cloud and you couldn’t see anything. The pilot did a quick dive under the cloud and I was treated to one of the clearest views of London I have ever seen. As we dived the first thing that I saw was Canary Wharf and its skyscrapers. Tower Bridge and The City followed right after and I could basically recognise details on the streets in the West End. Guess what? I even managed to point out my little garden!!! Landing was on time and this time I didn’t have to wait for my suitcase. It was the first one rolling out. 9/10 just because check-in staff are prejudiced and bored.
Tuesday afternoon and I am in the taxi on my way to Schiphol airport for the final leg of my European tour. Traffic is quite heavy and the driver explains to me that a lot of people have started their summer holidays deserting the city. On a Tuesday? Maybe I should have caught the train that only takes 15’ to the airport but then the burden of heavy luggage would have been too much for my back. Although the flight to London hardly takes more than 45', I was excited, as it would be my first ever flight on BMI. “Check-in is that way sir”, the BMI lady on the Business Class desk pointed to the Economy Class desks. I didn’t look the part having already changed into my jeans and T-shirt after work. “Never mind, I still would like to check-in here”, I said and pushed my ticket in front of her face.
Schiphol does not have dedicated security check for premium passengers but the systems in place are as efficient as anywhere else in the world. I did get a bit confused once I was through because they are renovating a rather large part of the transit area so it took me a while to find my way around. The lounge is one level up and it is all in BMI colours. Rather large space in different blue tones, very comfortable indeed but no views. The receptionist actually offered to store my hand luggage and asked if I wanted some reading material. “Sure, thank you” I said and she just pulled a pile of 6 different magazines and a good 4 different newspapers. Suspicious me thought that a multi-hour delay was just going to be announced, but the lady confirmed that we departure was on schedule. Well, I better get started on these magazines then.
40’ later I was at gate D18. The BMI 321 was painted in the old traditional livery. Very boring and bland, but that was when BMI was trying to replace BA as the traditional British flag carrier and BA was trying to be cool with 200 different tailfin liveries. The seating was quite comfortable and aircrew members were polite and friendly. The screen came down showing the security video and at the same time a hostess was distributing pen and questionnaires on their service. The pilot advised that there are no delays, but it would take us a good 15’ to get to a new runway for take off. He was right! The new runway at AMS is built quite far away to the west of the airport. I think Schiphol is the only major European airport with 5 fully functioning runways. We took off heading north and turned above the North Sea heading Southwest for London. Service started almost as soon as the turn was done and we were presented with a big box which contained smartly packed cold snacks. The boxes looked like flower boxes and they were actually quite easy to manage. Food was nothing spectacular but the Kit Kat bar was a nice touch. 40’ later we were above London but there was low cloud and you couldn’t see anything. The pilot did a quick dive under the cloud and I was treated to one of the clearest views of London I have ever seen. As we dived the first thing that I saw was Canary Wharf and its skyscrapers. Tower Bridge and The City followed right after and I could basically recognise details on the streets in the West End. Guess what? I even managed to point out my little garden!!! Landing was on time and this time I didn’t have to wait for my suitcase. It was the first one rolling out. 9/10 just because check-in staff are prejudiced and bored.
