Enhanced product offers more comfort and over 50 percent more personal space KLM AND NORTHWEST RENEW THEIR WORLD BUSINESS CLASS

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines renew their World Business Class. Seat pitch (the distance on the floor between one seat row and the next) will be increased from 119.4 to 152.4 cm (from 47 to 60 inches), increasing leg-room (distance between seat cushion and back of seat in front) for passengers by more than half, and allowing seat-backs to be reclined even further into the sleeping position.

Fewer seats in World Business Class will allow cabin attendants more time for personalized attention for individual passengers. KLM will offer more major enhancements – a service concept customized to passengers’ wishes, the introduction of the “Chef’s Suggestion”, and the re-introduction of the Indonesian “rice table.”

KLM and Northwest Airlines seek to offer high-quality, matching products allowing space for individual differences in accent and identity between the two partners. KLM is investing EUR 11 million in its enhanced World Business Class product. In 1999, KLM invested a total EUR 27 million in a newly designed seat, personal video system and other aspects of World Business Class service.

New 60-inch pitch from November 2000 World Business Class is offered on all intercontinental flights. The 60-inch-pitch seating will be available on KLM flights operated with Boeing 747 and MD-11 aircraft. KLM’s first Boeing 747 with the new pitch will take to the air in November 2000. The rest of KLM’s Boeing 747 fleet will be reconfigured by late March 2001. The KLM MD-11 fleet will follow by late May 2001. Seating on KLM’s Boeing 767-300ER fleet, mainly operated on intra-European routes and medium-haul flights mainly to Middle Eastern and West African cities, will not be reconfigured to the new pitch.

Northwest Airlines begins reconfiguring its entire international fleet of DC-10 and Boeing 747-200 and 747-400 aircraft in September 2000, and expects to complete the operation before March 2001. KLM’s partner will discontinue its current international First Class service on October 1, 2000.

Sleeping more comfortably

The reconfiguration to 60-inch pitch seating is being introduced on long-haul flights lasting approximately six to twelve hours. With the wider pitch, seat-backs can be reclined further. Previously, seats could recline to 130 degrees and this will now increase to 150 degrees.


A fresh look at inflight service

In addition to the introduction of the 60-inch-pitch, KLM has reviewed its inflight service. The review took a close look at how passengers experience a flight in emotional terms. A study by a panel including customers as well as cabin attendants revealed that a traveler’s experience of a flight generally passes through several phases. Travelers need calm and quiet during boarding, followed by a period of nestling down in their seats surrounded by their personal belongings. Only then do they begin to feel a need for entertainment, or an opportunity to work or sleep.

KLM has readjusted its product and the timing of its service during these phases of flight experience to ensure its passengers feel at ease throughout. Cabin attendants are being given more time for receiving the passengers on board, and, preceding takeoff, a video with restful images of swans plays on the monitors, counterbalanced by more active images and music just before landing. Additionally, passengers will be presented with a wider choice of meals, while having greater influence on when they wish to enjoy them, to suit their own program of eating, sleeping, relaxing or working, during the flight. These new services and products will be launched on December 1, 2000.

Wider variety of cuisine

If KLM passengers wish to enjoy a full night’s rest on nighttime flights, they can elect to have a light meal or a plate of appetizers, the Supper/Nightcap Service, instead of a full dinner service.

Both KLM and Northwest Airlines are introducing the Skybreak, an extra drink and savory or sweet snack which is available between regular meals.

The Indonesian “rice table” returns to KLM flights

KLM has restyled the main meals served on board, offering a “Chef’s Suggestion” in addition to a traditional choice between a meat or fish main course. World Business Class passengers on flights from Amsterdam and U.S. cities will see the return of the exotic Indonesian “rice table”, a much-loved favorite once served in KLM’s former Royal Class. KLM will serve French cuisine on other routes as one of the three choices on the menu. KLM is working closely with the Dutch Guild of Master Chefs for the Chef’s Suggestion. The style and presentation of the main meals is in the hands of Robert Kranenborg, former head chef at “La Rive”, a restaurant with two Michelin stars, located in Amsterdam’s top-ranking Amstel Hotel. Northwest Airlines will also be surprising passengers with an enhanced meal service.

After finishing their main course, passengers will no longer need to select their dessert from the menu, but can pick and choose from a selection of cheeses, fresh fruit, and sweet desserts presented on a special dessert trolley.

Choosing wines

KLM’s cabin attendants have widened their expertise in selecting wines to better advise passengers in their choice. KLM is proud of its cooperation with wine expert Hubrecht Duijker for selecting its wines. Duijker is an authority on wines in the Netherlands who has gained international recognition and several awards, including the 1999 Prix Literaire presented by the Academie du Vin de Bordeaux.

Sustained investment in product and service

The introduction of the 60-inch seat row pitch and other enhancements are in line with the KLM and Northwest strategy of sustaining ongoing investment in their passenger products and services. In 1999, KLM introduced a new Business Class seat and a personal video system offering a wider range of options. Cabin interiors were restyled and Schiphol’s Royal Wing and Business Class Lounges extended and renovated. A list of all aspects of the KLM World Business Class product accompanies this release.

Northwest Airlines has also implemented an ambitious restyling program for its cabin interiors and lounges, with new World Clubs opened at Chicago O’Hare, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul and San Francisco airports.

KLM and Northwest Airlines introduced their World Business Class in 1994 and, to date, are still the only global airline alliance offering a joint business class. The KLM - Northwest global alliance was the first to obtain antitrust immunity from the United States government, enabling the two airlines to operate virtually as one. KLM and Northwest operate joint services between Amsterdam and seventeen North American destinations. Together with their partners, the two airlines serve more than 600 cities, in almost 100 countries, on six continents.