I went to Schiphol last Friday afternoon; but this trip was not like any others. I didn’t go to the airport terminal for a flight to start a weekend trip somewhere nor to pick someone up. Instead, I went to the Schiphol-Oost area where the KLM Engineering and Maintenance department was located.
I don’t make it discreet that I love planes and flights. And it happens that the husband of a friend of mine works at KLM. And so he invited his wife and me to come visit him at Schiphol-Oost where he would give us a quick tour including to the KLM’s maintenance hangars! In the inside, I was like:
because it would be my first time ever to visit a plane hangar! Huahaha 🙈.
Anyway so my friend and I took an Uber after work on Friday, where we had an interesting conversation with the driver about politics and history, lol 😆 . The traffic was quite bad at Amsterdam due to the Dodenherdenking (the National Remembrance Day) so it took us a bit longer to Schiphol-Oost than expected, where my friend’s husband was already waiting for us at the entrance.
Long story short, after getting the visitor badges, we entered the KLM Engineering and Maintenance complex. As expected, the complex was really large! Haha 😆 . We were first taken to the office of my friend’s husband which was in the same building as where the engines maintenance and repair were done. There were many engines being maintained and repaired at the time, and they weren’t only KLM’s; as I saw Jet2’s, United’s, and Vietnam Airlines’ engines too.
An engine maintenance
We then walked to the hangars. We were lucky that the weather was amazing this afternoon! I saw two Vueling’s Airbus A320s and a KLM’s brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHO being parked. At the time, three of KLM’s wide-body birds, an Airbus A330-200 reg PH-AOD, a Boeing 777-200ER reg PH-BQD, and a Boeing 747-400 Combi reg PH-BFH, were on the engines testing stage. They were parked just outside the hangar in an area enclosed with tall jet-blast deflectors. It was PH-BFH’s turn for the test and it was amazing to be able to experience first hand the noise the Queen of the Skies’ engines could produce! Haha 😆 .
KLM’s A330-200 PH-AOD, B777-200ER PH-BQD, and B747-400M PH-BFH during the engines testing.
We then entered one of the hangars which was, of course, very large in size is it could fit two wide-body planes. This hangar was empty at the time so we walked to the next one. I was excited because I saw the SkyTeam livery which meant: it was KLM’s Boeing 777-300ER reg PH-BVD at the next hangar! There were two planes at this hangar, as KLM’s Airbus A330-200 reg PH-AOA was also there. But of course I was more interested with PH-BVD as I was secretly hoping to be able to take a photo with one of its GE90-115B engines, which was the most powerful commercial jet engine; and it happened to also be PH-BVD with the beautiful SkyTeam livery! 😀
With PH-BVD’s gigantic GE90-115B engine!
The next hangar was also empty and so we went to the next one after that, which was much larger in size and could accommodate more planes. A KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD was there. I have flown PH-BHD before, btw, on my KL605 flight from Amsterdam to San Francisco just this December.
A KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner PH-BHD during engine maintenance
The “tour” finished here as we walked back to a parking space near the entrance. In conclusion, it was such a nice tour especially for me! First of all, I got “unusual angles” to see the planes, haha. Then, and more interestingly, I got a peek on the backstage of an airlines’ operation. On top of that, of course, I gained a lot of new knowledge about the operation too, which really, really excited me! 😀
A KLM’s brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHO
A KLM’s Boeing 747-400 Combi reg PH-BFH
A KLM’s Airbus A330-200 reg PH-AOA in the hangar
PH-BVD in the SkyTeam Livery
KLM’s Boeing 777-300ER reg PH-BVD in SkyTeam livery in the hangar
PH-BVD’s beautiful SkyTeam Livery
Hello again, PH-BHD!
Never compromise on safety
KLM Maintenance and Engineering
BAHASA INDONESIA
Aku pergi ke Schiphol Jumat siang yang lalu; tetapi perjalanan ini tidaklah seperti perjalanan lainnya. Aku tidak pergi ke terminal bandaranya untuk mengejar penerbangan untuk sebuah perjalanan akhir pekan kemana gitu, ataupun bukan pula untuk menjemput seseorang di bandara. Aku pergi ke area Schiphol-Oost dimana departemen KLM Engineering and Maintenance berada.
Aku tidak menutup-nutupi bahwa aku suka dengan yang namanya pesawat dan penerbangan. Dan kebetulan banget suaminya seorang temanku di kantor bekerja di KLM. Jadilah suatu ketika ia mengundang istrinya dan aku untuk mengunjunginya di Schiphol-Oost dimana dia akan mengajak kami berkeliling untuk sebuah tur mini termasuk untuk mengunjungi hanggar-hanggar perawatan pesawatnya KLM! Jadilah di dalam hati aku bereaksi:
karena ini akan menjadi kali pertamaku mengunjungi yang namanya hanggar pesawat! Huahaha 🙈.
Anyway jadilah sepulang kerja di hari Jumat aku dan temanku naik Uber, dimana kami terlibat dalam percakapan mengenai politik dan sejarah dengan sopirnya, haha 😆 . Lalu-lintas hari itu lumayan ramai di Amsterdam akibat Dodenherdenking sehingga perjalanannya memakan waktu sedikit lebih lama. Setibanya di Schiphol-Oost, suaminya temanku sudah menunggu kami di pintu masuk.
Singkat cerita, setelah mendapatkan pas masuk pengunjung, kami memasuki kompleks KLM Engineering and Maintenance. Seperti yang aku sangka, kompleks-nya luas banget! Haha 😆 . Pertama-tama kami diajak ke kantornya suami temanku yang mana berada di gedung yang sama dengan tempat perawatan dan perbaikan mesin. Waktu itu ada banyak mesin yang sedang dirawat dan diperbaiki, dan mesin-mesinnya bukan hanya milik KLM; dimana aku juga melihat mesin-mesinnya Jet2, United, dan Vietnam Airlines.
Perawatan mesin pesawat
Kami kemudian berjalan ke hanggarnya. Beruntung banget cuaca siang itu cerah banget! Ada dua Airbus A320nya Vueling dan satu Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner barunya KLM dengan rego PH-BHO yang diparkir di sana. Waktu itu, tiga pesawat badan lebarnya KLM, sebuah Airbus A330-200 rego PH-AOD, sebuah Boeing 777-200ER rego PH-BQD, dan sebuah Boeing 747-400 Combi rego PH-BFH, sedang dalam tahap pengecekan mesin. Ketiganya diparkir di depan hanggar di area yang dilengkapi dengan deflektor jet-blast yang tinggi banget. Waktu itu adalah gilirannya PH-BFH untuk dites dan keren banget rasanya bisa merasakan tingkat keberisikan yang bisa dihasilkan oleh mesin Queen of the Skies ini! Haha 😆 .
Pesawat A330-200 PH-AOD, B777-200ER PH-BQD, dan B747-400M PH-BFH KLM yang mana sedang dalam tahap pengecekan mesin.
Kami kemudian memasuki salah satu hanggarnya yang mana, jelas, berukuran besar banget dan muat untuk dua pesawat berbadan-lebar. Hanggar ini kosong waktu itu dan jadilah kami berjalan ke hanggar di sebelahnya. Aku merasa excited karena aku melihat livery SkyTeam yang berarti: Boeing 777-300ER rego PH-BVDnya KLM! Ada dua pesawat di hanggar ini, dimana Airbus A330-200 PH-AOAnya KLM juga sedang berada di sana. Tapi jelas aku lebih tertarik dengan PH-BVD karena sebenarnya aku berharap bisa berfoto dengan salah satu mesim GE90-115B-nya Boeing 777-300ER, yang mana merupakan mesin jet yang paling kuat! Kebetulan pula pesawatnya adalah PH-BVD dengan livery SkyTeam yang kece banget itu kan!
Dengan mesin GE90-115B raksasanya PH-BVD!
Hanggar sebelahnya juga kosong sehingga kami pergi ke yang sebelahnya lagi, yang berukuran lebih besar dan bisa muat lebih banyak pesawat. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner-nya KLM dengan rego PH-BHD berada di sana. Aku pernah terbang dengan PH-BHD sebelumnya loh, yaitu di penerbangan KL605 dari Amsterdam ke San Francisco Desember kemarin ini.
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner rego PH-BHD-nya KLM dalam perawatan mesin
“Tur”-nya selesai di sini dimana kami kemudian berjalan ke tempat parkir mobil di dekat pintu masuk. Kesimpulannya, tur ini seru banget deh untukku! Pertama-tama, aku mendapatkan “sudut yang tidak biasa” untuk melihat pesawat-pesawat itu, haha. Kemudian, dan menariknya, aku bisa mengintip sisi backstage dari operasional sebuah maskapai. Dan tentu saja aku juga mendapatkan banyak pengetahuan baru yang mana sangat amat menarik! 😀
Because my Delta flight DL 71 was scheduled to depart at 08:35 in the morning of a Spring DST day on a Sunday, I decided to stay at a hotel in Schiphol the night before departure. I spent my Saturday in Amsterdam, finishing my packing and going to the gym; and I went to the hotel after having dinner. The hotel loved me so much btw, as I was provided with a room at their top floor with airport view!
Hotel view, an airport view
Anyway, I got up at about 04:30 and walked to the airport about an hour later. I went to KLM’s Sky Priority check-in desks and checked in for my flight. There was a glitch in the system which caused my check in to not go very smooth, but eventually it succeeded. I checked my luggage in and got my boarding passes to Atlanta and New Orleans. Here is the route map today:
The route map today. From gcmap.com
Delta DL 71 (AMS–ATL)
Flight: Delta DL71
Equipment: Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
ATD: 09:34 CET (Runway 36L of AMS)
ATA: 12:27 EDT (Runway 08L of ATL)
The little annoying thing about this flight was that even though it was a Delta flight, as a Flying Blue Platinum card holder I wasn’t allowed to select a seat at their Delta Comfort+ cabin at the time of booking because I purchased the ticket via KLM (Officially I got KLM’s flight number). Had I purchased the ticket directly via Delta, I would have been entitled to select a seat in this cabin for free. I could, however, request for an upgrade to this cabin at the time of check-in but the flight today was very full so the request couldn’t be granted. This, however, wasn’t the case in December 2015 when I flew Delta from Amsterdam to New York with a ticket on Delta purchased via KLM. As a Flying Blue Gold card holder at the time, I could select a Delta Comfort+ seat since three days prior to departure for free.
Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW was almost ready for departure.
Anyway, I cleared security and immigration and then went to KLM’s Crown Lounge for some breakfast. I also got my documents check completed in front of the lounge (This was an extra check mandatory for all Delta passengers flying to the US). I then went to the gate not long before boarding, where Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW was almost ready for departure.
On board the economy cabin of Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
While I couldn’t secure a seat in the Delta Comfort+ cabin, I still got a window seat in the first row of the regular economy cabin. And the seat pleasantly surprised me as the legroom was also quite impressive! Lol 😆 . It was also equipped with a power port (not all regular economy seats were equipped with this; only row 14 to 19 in their Airbus A330-300s).
Seat 14A on board Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
After boarding completed, the flight departed and was scheduled to take off via the Polderbaan. Upon (the supposedly) take-off, however, I noticed the plane did not go full speed as it normally would. Then indeed we exited the runway. The pilot told us that the brake indicator showed the brake temperature was too high for take-off so we needed to let it cool down for about 15-20 minutes before we could proceed to take off safely. So we did that and finally, at 09:37 we took off from runway 36L and headed towards Atlanta.
Taking off from Schiphol
Just after take-off, the flight attendants (FAs) distributed bottled water and amenity kits (consisting of an eye pad and ear plugs). Then they went on another round distributing warm tissue. This was followed by the breakfast service. There were three options: chicken piccata with risotto, cheesy scrambled egg with potato, or chicken caesar salad. I chose the chicken piccata with risotto one, which was tasty. As for the drink, I opted for prosecco which apparently was available complimentarily in economy! I was impressed! Following the breakfast service, the FAs went another round offering more drinks. I opted for their Starbucks coffee.
The breakfast service on board Delta’s flight DL 71
The AVOD IFE content, however, was mediocre. The TV shows library was great (as it contained half a season of The Big Bang Theory! 😀 ) but none of the movies was very interesting to me; and neither did the music library. The map feature was also not the newest 3D generation, but the slightly older 2D version which was still quite cool nonetheless.
Half a season of The Big Bang Theory!
Anyway, mid-flight somewhere above Canada, snack boxes were distributed along with another round of drinks. Speaking of the drinks, the FAs went around frequently throughout the flight offerring bottled water to the passengers, a nice gesture if you asked me.
Mid-flight snack box service
About 1.5 hours before landing, a light meal was served. There were two choices: warm croissant or warm vegetarian pizza. I opted for the pizza, and it was accompanied with a Magnum ice cream.
Warm light meal and ice cream service prior to landing
At about 12 PM local time, we started our descent towards Atlanta. Delta thanked us for our choice to fly with them today. And at 12:27 PM we landed at runway 08L of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Here is the landing video:
We taxied towards the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal where N816NW parked at Gate F1.
Transitting at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
After clearing immigration at Atlanta Airport, I collected my luggage and rechecked it in to my flight to New Orleans. I then took the Plane Train to get to Concourse B where my domestic flight to New Orleans would depart from. Thus far, my transitting experience at Atlanta was such a breeze, btw, and I was quite impressed!
Welcome to Atlanta
At Concourse B, I went to the Delta Sky Club lounge which I could access with my Flying Blue Platinum status since I just arrived from an international Delta flight and was connecting to a domestic Delta flight. The lounge was nice and spacious, and I could snatch a seat with this amazing view:
Delta Sky Club lounge view at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
The food selection was also good, though mostly was carb-based options. And the mac and cheese was really delicious!
I deliberately arranged a 4.5 hours transit in Atlanta so I just relaxed at the lounge until about 4 PM, haha.
Delta DL 2426 (ATL–MSY)
Flight: Delta DL2426
Equipment: McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL
ATD: 17:17 EDT (Runway 08R of ATL)
ATA: 17:25 CDT (Runway 02 of MSY)
I was excited for this next flight because it would be operated with a McDonnell Douglas MD88! And today, I got Delta’s N942DL, which was about the same age as myself as its first flight was in June 1989, haha 😆 .
I would fly this Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL today. Me and the plane were about the same age, lol.
Delta had their MD88s in the 3-2 seat configuration. I certainly chose a window seat in the 2 seats section, lol. As before, I got a seat in the first row of regular economy. Unsurprisingly, the legroom was much tighter than my previous intercontinental flight, haha…
Anyway, the flight departed on time and we took off from runway 08R and headed southwest towards New Orleans. A snack and drink service was provided on this short flight. Flying an MD88 was awesome, btw. The window shade was of the “old school” design, and it was very noisy at the back of the plane where the lavatory was located due to the proximity with the engines! Lol 😆 .
On board Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL
At 17:25 local time, the plane landed at runway 02 of New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport. Here is the landing video:
N942DL parked at gate D4. I was really impressed that my luggage had been waiting for me when I reached the baggage area that was not far away from the gate! Lol 😆 . Anyway, then I took a taxi to downtown New Orleans.
And here, my one week Spring break started!
TO BE CONTINUED…
A pillow in the hotel room at Schiphol
Impressive legroom on seat 14A in Delta’s regular economy cabin!
The service menu card today
The amenity kits
Safety demo on board Delta’s A330-300
Warm tissue service
I found this technical information feature really cool
Prosecco in economy!!
Starbucks coffee on board
The flight route map today
Delta’s safety card on board their Airbus A330-300
Delta Sky Club
Delta Sky Club
Delta Sky Club
Delta flight DL2426 from Atlanta to New Orleans
My seat 15E on board Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 N942DL
The legroom of seat 15E on board Delta’s MD88 in regular economy
Delta’s safety card on board their McDonnell Douglas MD88
MD88’s window shade
Taking off from runway 8R of Atlanta Airport
Taking off from runway 8R of Atlanta Airport
The panel on board Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88
The snack and drink service on board Delta’s DL2426
Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 old-school lavatory
Karena penerbangan Delta DL 71ku dijadwalkan berangkat jam 8:35 pagi di hari DST musim semi di hari Minggu, aku memutuskan untuk menginap di sebuah hotel di Schiphol semalam sebelum keberangkatan. Hari Sabtu aku habiskan di Amsterdam, dimana aku menyelesaikan packing dan pergi ke gym; dan aku berangkat ke hotelnya setelah makan malam. Hotelnya suka denganku loh, dimana aku diberikan kamar di lantai paling atas dengan pemandangan bandara!
Pemandangan dari kamar hotel, bandara!
Anyway, aku bangun sekitar jam 4:30 dan berangkat ke bandaranya sekitar sejam kemudian. Aku kemudian menuju ke konter check-in Sky Priority-nya KLM. Ada glitch di sistemnya dimana proses check-in-nya nggak semulus biasanya, tetapi pada akhirnya glitch-nya teratasi. Aku memasukkan bagasi dan mendapatkan boarding passes-ku ke Atlanta dan New Orleans. Berikut ini peta ruteku hari ini:
Peta rute hari ini. Dari gcmap.com
Delta DL 71 (AMS–ATL)
Penerbangan: Delta DL71
Pesawat: Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
ATD: 09:34 CET (Runway 36L of AMS)
ATA: 12:27 EDT (Runway 08L of ATL)
Yang sedikit menyebalkan dari penerbangan ini adalah biarpun aku terbang dengan Delta, sebagai pemegang status Flying Blue Platinum aku tidak diperbolehkan memesan kursi di kabin Delta Comfort+ setelah tiketnya kubeli karena aku membelinya melalui KLM (sehingga aku mendapatkan nomor penerbangannya KLM). Andaikata tiketnya aku beli langsung dari Delta, aku akan diperbolehkan memilih kursi di kabin ini tanpa biaya. Namun, aku masih diperbolehkan meminta upgrade ke kabin ini sewaktu check-in. Tapi penerbangan hari ini penuh banget sih sehingga ini juga percuma. Situasinya tidak begini loh di Desember 2015 ketika aku terbang dari Amsterdam ke New York dengan tiket Delta yang kubeli melalui KLM. Waktu itu, sebagai pemegang status Flying Blue Gold, aku bisa memilih kursi Delta Comfort+ semenjak tiga hari sebelum keberangkatan dengan cuma-cuma.
Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW sudah hampir siap diberangkatkan.
Anyway, aku melalui pemeriksaan sekuriti dan imigrasi dan kemudian mampir di Crown Lounge-nya KLM untuk sarapan. Pengecekan dokumen juga aku lakukan di depan lounge-nya (Ini adalah pemeriksaan ekstra wajib untuk semua penumpang Delta tujuan Amerika Serikat). Aku kemudian menuju ke gate tak lama sebelum waktu boarding, dimana sebuah Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW sudah hampir siap untuk diberangkatkan.
Di dalam kabin ekonomi Airbus A330-300nya Delta dengan rego N816NW
Walaupun aku tidak mendapatkan kursi Delta Comfort+, aku masih mendapatkan kursi jendela di baris pertama kabin ekonomi reguler. Dan kursinya mengejutkanku lho karena legroom-nya lumayan mantap ternyata! Haha 😆 . Kursinya juga dilengkapi dengan colokan listrik (nggak semua kursi di ekonomi reguler dilengkapi dengan ini; hanya di baris 14 hingga 19 saja di Airbus A330-300).
Kursi 14A di dalam Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW
Setelah boarding selesai, penerbangannya diberangkatkan dan dijadwalkan lepas landas dari Polderbaan. Ketika (seharusnya) lepas-landas, aku merasa pesawatnya tidak dipacu cepat seperti biasanya. Benar saja, tak lama kemudian kami keluar dari landasan pacu. Pilotnya memberi-tahu bahwa indikator rem menunjukkan suhu rem yang terlalu tinggi untuk lepas landas sehingga kami harus menunggu 15-20an menit untuk mendinginkannya dulu sebelum bisa lepas landas dengan aman. Dan jadilah ini kami lakukan dan jam 09:37 pagi akhirnya kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 36L dan berbelok menuju Atlanta.
Lepas landas dari Schiphol
Setelah lepas landas, awak kabin membagikan botol air putih dan amenity kits (terdiri dari eye pad dan ear plugs). Lalu mereka membagikan tisu hangat. Kemudian sarapan disajikan. Ada tiga pilihan: ayam picatta dengan risotto, telur dadar berkeju dengan kentang, atau chicken caesar salad. Aku memilih ayam picatta dan risottonya yang mana enak! Untuk minumannya, aku memilih prosecco karena ternyata ini tersedia cuma-cuma loh bahkan di ekonomi! Aku kagum deh! Setelah layanan sarapan, layanan minuman kembali diberikan, dan aku memilih kopinya Starbucks.
Layanan sarapan di penerbangan Delta DL 71
Isi AVOD IFE-nya, tapinya, biasa saja. Gudang acara TVnya lumayan sih (bahkan ada setengah musim barunya The Big Bang Theory! 😀 ) tetapi tidak ada film yang menarik untukku; dan gudang musiknya juga biasa saja. Fitur petanya juga bukan generasi terbaru yang 3D itu, tetapi yang sedikit lebih tua (2D) tetapi masih lumayan keren sih.
Setengah musim The Big Bang Theory!
Anyway, di pertengahan penerbangan di atas Kanada, layanan snack box diberikan sekaligus dengan minuman. Ngomongin minuman, awak kabinnya aktif berkeliling menawarkan air minum ke penumpang di sepanjang perjalanan, yang mana oke banget menurutku.
Layanan snack box di penerbangan ini
Sekitar 1,5 jam sebelum mendarat, layanan makanan ringan hangat diberikan. Ada dua pilihan: croissant hangat atau pizza vegetarian hangat. Aku memilih pizza-nya, yang juga ditemani dengan es krim Magnum.
Layanan makanan ringan hangat dan es krim sebelum mendarat
Sekitar jam 12 siang waktu setempat, pesawat mulai turun menuju Atlanta. Delta berterima-kasih atas pilihan kami terbang bersama mereka hari ini. Dan jam 12:27, pesawat mendarat di landasan pacu 08L Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson. Berikut ini video pendaratannya:
Pesawat kemudian taxiing menuju Terminal Internasional Maynard H. Jackson Jr dimana N816NW parkir di gerbang F1.
Transit di Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson di Atlanta
Setelah melalui imigrasi di Bandara Atlanta, aku mengambil bagasiku dan meng-check-in-nya kembali ke New Orleans. Aku kemudian menaiki Plane Train untuk menuju Concourse B darimana penerbangan domestikku ke New Orleans akan diberangkatkan. Sejauh ini, pengalaman transitku di Altanta mulus sekali dan aku sungguh terkesan!
Selamat datang di Atlanta
Di Concourse B, aku menuju Delta Sky Club yang bisa kuakses dengan status Flying Blue Platinum karena aku baru tiba dari penerbangan internasionalnya Delta dan sedang transit menuju penerbangan domestiknya mereka. Lounge-nya oke dan luas banget, dan aku bisa mendapatkan kursi dengan pemandangan kece ini:
Pemandangan Delta Sky Club di Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson di Atlanta
Pilihan makanannya juga oke, dimana kebanyakan berbasiskan karbohidrat sih. Tetapi mac and cheese-nya enak banget!
Aku sengaja transit selama 4,5 jam di Atlanta sehingga aku bisa bersantai di lounge-nya hingga sekitar jam 4 sore, haha.
Delta DL 2426 (ATL–MSY)
Penerbangan: Delta DL2426
Pesawat: McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL
ATD: 17:17 EDT (Runway 08R of ATL)
ATA: 17:25 CDT (Runway 02 of MSY)
Aku excited untuk penerbangan selanjutnya ini karena akan dioperasikan dengan McDonnell Douglas MD88! Dan hari ini, aku mendapatkan N942DLnya Delta, yang mana kurang lebih seumuran denganku karena penerbangan pertamanya adalah di bulan Juni 1989, haha 😆 .
Aku akan terbang dengan McDonnell Douglas MD88nya Delta rego N942DL ini hari ini. Aku dan pesawatnya seumuran loh, haha.
Delta menyusun kursi di pesawat MD88 dengan konfigurasi 3-2. Jadi jelas dong ya aku memilih kursi jendela di bagian yang 2 kursi itu, haha. Seperti sebelumnya, aku mendapatkan kursi di barisan pertama ekonomi reguler. Tak mengherankan, ruang kakinya jauh lebih sempit dibandingkan di penerbangan antar benuaku sebelumnya.
Anyway, penerbangannya berangkat tepat waktu dan kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 08R dan kemudian berbelok ke barat daya menuju New Orleans. Layanan snack dan minuman disajikan di penerbangan jarak pendek ini. Terbang dengan MD88 itu seru banget lho. Penutup jendelanya bermodel “jadul” gitu dan berisik banget di bagian belakang pesawat di toiletnya karena dekat dengan mesin pesawatnya! Haha 😆 .
Di dalam McDonnell Douglas MD88nya Delta rego N942DL
Jam 17:25 waktu setempat, pesawat mendarat di landasan pacu 02 Bandara Louis Armstrong di New Orleans. Berikut ini video pendaratannya:
N942DL parkir di gerbang D4. Aku sungguh terkesan dimana bagasiku sudah menungguku ketika aku tiba di area bagasinya yang tidak jauh dari gerbangnya! Haha 😆 . Anyway, aku kemudian naik taksi menuju New Orleans.
Dan di sini, liburan musim semi satu mingguku dimulai!
So yesterday was when the Daylight Saving Time (DST) officially kicked in in Europe, when the time was moved forward by one hour from 2 AM to 3 AM. This meant there were only 23 hours this Sunday.
I have mentioned here a few times that this is my less favorite DST of the year. And especially so this year because yesterday my Spring trip started! When I booked my ticket this January, I didn’t consider the DST and so I ended up with a morning flight departing out of Schiphol at 08:35 AM to start the trip! Lol 😆
And so to avoid this, which was a real risk that should never be underestimated:
(Forgetting to move the clock forward by an hour on a Spring DST like this Sunday would cause your alarm set at 4 AM to only beep at 5 AM due to the time change), I decided to spend a night at Schiphol on the evening prior to the trip. This way, the risk would be much lower. Plus, it would be less of a hassle for me because I would already be at the airport in the morning of departure. I would not need to worry about getting to Schiphol at the ungodly early hours on a Sunday, haha 😆 .
Having said that, this trip actually made the DST really unique. You know, my Sunday was supposed to be 23 hours in length. But my flights that day made my Sunday be 30 hours in length, due to the seven hours time difference between the Netherlands and Louisiana, haha. This was similar to my latest Winter Solstice when I was flying from Amsterdam to San Francisco that day. A day that was supposed to be short actually became (much) longer 😛 .
BAHASA INDONESIA
Kemarin adalah Daylight Saving Time (DST) di Eropa, dimana waktu dimajukan satu jam dari jam 2 subuh ke jam 3. Ini berarti hari Minggu kemarin hanya terdiri atas 23 jam saja.
Sudah beberapa kali kusebutkan bahwa DST ini adalah DST yang tidak aku sukai. Terutama tahun ini sih karena kebetulan kemarin adalah permulaan dari perjalanan musim semiku! Ketika tiketnya aku booking Januari ini, aku tidak mempertimbangkan DST sama sekali dan jadilah aku mendapatkan tiket keberangkatan dari Schiphol di pagi hari jam 08:35 pagi dong! Haha 😆 .
Dan untuk mencegah yang berikut ini kejadian, yang mana merupakan risiko yang jangan pernah disepelekan lho:
(Lupa memajukan jam selama satu jam di hari DST musim semi seperti hari Minggu kemarin menyebabkan alarm yang disetel jam 4 pagi untuk baru berbunyi jam 5 pagi karena pergeseran waktu), aku memutuskan untuk menginap di Schiphol semalam sebelum perjalanannya dimulai. Dengan begini, risikonya menjadi lebih kecil. Ditambah lagi, ini jelas lebih praktis karena aku sudah berada di bandara di pagi keberangkatan. Aku tidak perlu untuk pusing-pusing mencari cara untuk berangkat ke Schiphol di pagi-pagi buta di hari Minggu kan ya, haha 😆 .
Walaupun begitu, perjalanan ini justru membuat DST kali ini unik loh. Jadi seharusnya hari Mingguku memiliki panjang 23 jam kan. Tapi penerbangan-penerbanganku hari itu membuat hari Mingguku menjadi berpanjang 30 jam, karena perbedaan waktu tujuh jam antara Belanda dan Louisiana, haha. Mirip-mirip nih dengan Winter Solstice terakhirku ketika aku terbang dari Amsterdam ke San Francisco hari itu. Suatu hari yang seharusnya pendek menjadi (jauh) lebih panjang 😛 .
I had a very interesting routing on this trip, as shown in the following map:
The routing this weekend. Created with gcmap.com
Haha 😆 . The first three flights were operated by Air France while the last one to Amsterdam was by HOP! Brit Air. All flights were regular pleasant flights with Air France so there was not much to say about the flights themselves specifically.
Taking this Air France’s Airbus A319-100 from Nice to Nantes.
Maybe just that I was excited for the HOP! Brit Air’s flight because it was operated with a Bombardier CRJ1000 which was relatively uncommon! Haha 😛 . Speaking of CRJ1000, it was my first flight with this type at Schiphol. And I just realized that apparently a CRJ1000 was too long for the Fokker Farm and so we had to park at the antimainstream D apron remote stand area at Schiphol! It was my first time there! Haha 😛 .
Parking at Schiphol’s antimainstream D apron remote stand!
Also, my first flight to Paris was delayed for 80 minutes. This delay was unusual because all of us (including the crews) only knew about this delay once all passengers boarded. Apparently there was a cargo handling problem where the ground staffs needed to unload all cargo from the plane, check those, and load them back in. This was all for safety reason, btw. Even though this did not affect me that much (as I assigned myself a 3 hours transit at Paris-CDG just in case something like this would happen) other than having to sit for an extra hour on board F-GTAY, this wasn’t the case for many other passengers who had much tighter, even intercontinental, connection at Paris! I felt for the crews, though, because some passengers expressed their frustration at them. But the crews remained calm and professional in this situation, which was nice to see.
And also, the always beautiful Nice Cote D’Azur. You can easily see the airport 😀 .
Nice
Anyway, Nice was as how I remembered it, it was nice, haha 😆 . This trip actually made me ask myself why I have not visited this Cote D’Azur city more often! I mean, this was only my second time there, the previous and only other time was 5.5 years ago!
The dark side of the Mediterranean Sea
The weather turned out to be “mixed” on this trip, because it was horrible on Saturday (because it rained, haha) while it was really perfect on Sunday! Actually I realized that I wore too much clothes (so it became quite uncomfortable) but I had no other option as I was on my way to the airport, haha. Also, I forgot to bring my sunglasses so at times I had to squint! Lol 😆
Promenade Des Anglais with the perfect Cote D’Azur weather on Sunday.
You could call this both lucky and unlucky. It happened that this weekend was the opening weekend of Carnaval De Nice; and I had no idea about this until I was in town. This meant that I did not plan my trip around this event at all, where I did not have a ticket nor prepared myself for it (The event was in the evening and I was already tired by then! Lol 😆 ). The better side of this was that there were some unusual carnaval-related stuffs around the city which made it look “unique” and more festive than normal, though, haha…
Carnaval De Nice
Speaking of food, with only a short time there, I only had time for a dinner. I decided to stop by at a restaurant near my hotel in the city centre. Upon looking at the menu book, I recognized a dish that was called “Niçois dish”. Yep, a dish literally with that name, which sort of challenged us by saying that “You don’t get any more local than this dish!“. Lol. So obviously I ordered one.
A delicious “Niçois Dish”
And indeed it was really good! As typical in the region, this dish was clearly a fusion (sort of say) between French and Italian cuisine, where beef stew was served with tagliatelle and several vegetarian side dishes!
This trip was indeed a nice getaway to Nice; but it was just too short. So in conclusion, I think I need to visit Nice more often, and stay longer! Lol 😆 .
An Air France’s Airbus A321-200 reg F-GTAY
An Air France’s Airbus A320-200 reg F-HBNF
Some areas were blocked in Nice for the carnival
Blocked street
Nice
Carnaval De Nice
Neuf Lignes Obliques
Nice Nice
Nice Nice
Carnaval De Nice
Nice Nice
Place Massena in Nice
Gare Saint Jean in Nice
Coffee with a view in Nice
Domestic hall of Nice Cote D’Azur Airport
The Infinity Lounge at Nice Cote D’Azur Airport
Seat 1A on board Air France’s A319-100 F-GPMA
Pillow!!
A HOP! Brit Air’s Bombardier CRJ1000 reg F-HMLJ
On board HOP! Brit Air’s Bombardier CRJ1000 reg F-HMLJ
The complimentary snack on board HOP! Brit Air’s flight AF1892 to Amsterdam
Ruteku di perjalanan ini cukup menarik, seperti yang ditunjukkan di peta berikut ini:
Rute di akhir pekan ini. Dibuat dengan gcmap.com
Haha 😆 . Tiga penerbangan pertama adalah dengan Air France sementara yang terakhir adalah dengan HOP! Brit Air. Semuanya adalah penerbangan reguler yang nyaman dengan Air France sehingga tidak banyak yang bisa kutuliskan di sini dari penerbangan-penerbangannya.
Aku naik Airbus A319-100 milik Air France ini dari Nice ke Nantes.
Eh, mungkin cuma aku merasa excited dengan penerbangannya HOP! Brit Air sih karena penerbangannya dioperasikan dengan pesawat Bombardier CRJ1000 yang tergolong langka kan ya! Haha 😛 . Ngomongin CRJ1000, aku baru sadar bahwa ternyata pesawat tipe ini tuh terlalu panjang loh untuk Fokker Farm-nya Schiphol sehingga pesawat harus diparkir di tempat parkir remote apron D! Huaa, kali pertama nih aku berada di apron antimainstream ini! Haha 😛 .
Parkir di apron D-nya Schiphol yang antimainstream!
Juga, penerbangan pertamaku ke Paris terlambat 80 menit. Keterlambatan ini cukup unik karena kami semua (termasuk kru penerbangan) baru tahu akan keterlambatan ini ketika semua penumpang sudah naik pesawat. Ternyata ada masalah dengan cargo handling-nya dimana petugas darat harus mengeluarkan semua kargo dari pesawat, mengeceknya, dan kemudian memasukkan semuanya kembali. Ini semua demi alasan keselamatan penerbangan, btw. Walaupun keterlambatan ini tidak terlalu menggangguku (aku sengaja memilih penerbangan dengan waktu transit 3 jam di Paris-CDG untuk jaga-jaga andai kejadian semacam ini terjadi) selain harus duduk satu jam lebih lama di dalam F-GTAY, tetapi tidak demikian bagi banyak penumpang lain yang memiliki waktu koneksi yang jauh lebih singkat, bahkan koneksi ke penerbangan antar-benua, di Paris! Aku bersimpati terhadap pramugara/i-nya btw, karena beberapa penumpang melampiaskan kekesalannya kepada mereka. Tetapi pramugara/i-nya tetap kalem dan profesional dalam situasi ini, yang mana membuat senang deh melihatnya.
Dan juga, Nice Cote D’Azur yang selalu kece nan indah banget. Bandaranya bisa dilihat dengan jelas kan 😀 .
Nice
Anyway, Nice memang sebagaimana yang kuingat, kotanya asyik, haha 😆 . Perjalanan ini membuatku bertanya kepada diri sendiri mengapa aku tidak mengunjungi kota di Cote D’Azur ini lebih sering! Maksudku, ini baru kali keduaku loh di sana, dan yang sebelumnya dan kali pertama adalah 5,5 tahun yang lalu!
Sisi gelap dari Laut Tengah
Cuacanya sendiri “gado-gado” banget di perjalanan ini, dimana cuacanya menjengkelkan di hari Sabtu (soalnya hujan, haha) tetapi sempurna banget di hari Minggu! Bahkan, aku merasa aku memakai terlalu banyak pakaian hari itu (sehingga agak terasa kurang nyaman) tetapi nggak ada pilihan lain soalnya aku sudah otw ke bandara, haha. Dan juga aku kelupaan membawa kacamata hitamku sehingga aku harus memicingkan mata! Haha 😆 .
Promenade Des Anglais dengan cuaca Cote D’Azur yang sempurna di hari Minggu.
Yang berikut ini bisa dibilang beruntung maupun sial. Kebetulan akhir pekan ini adalah akhir pekan pembukaan dari Carnaval De Nice; dan aku sama sekali tidak tahu akan hal ini sampai ketika aku tiba di sana. Ini artinya rencanaku di perjalanan ini tidak aku sesuaikan dengan jadwal acara ini, dimana aku tidak memiliki tiket maupun tidak siap secara fisik untuknya (Acaranya berlangsung di lama hari dan aku sudah kecapaian waktu itu! Haha 😆 ). Sisi baiknya adalah ada beberapa hiasan yang berkaitan dengan karnaval di kotanya sehingga nampak “unik” dan lebih meriah daripada biasanya, haha…
Carnaval De Nice
Ngomongin makanan, karena waktuku hanya sebentar di sana, aku hanya memiliki waktu untuk satu kali makan malam saja. Aku memutuskan untuk mampir di sebuah restoran di dekat hotel. Ketika melihat menunya, aku melihat sebuah menu yang namanya adalah “Masakan Niçois”. Iya, masakan yang namanya seperti menantang kita dengan berkata “Nggak mungkin deh lebih lokal/khas daripada masakan ini!“. Haha. Jadi jelas dong ya aku memesannya.
“Masakan Niçois” yang enak banget.
Dan ternyata memang enak! Seperti tipikal di daerah ini, masakannya nampak seperti fusion (kurang lebih begitu) antara makanan Prancis dan Italia, dimana beef stew disajikan dengan tagliatelle dan beberapa masakan sampingan vegetarian!
Perjalanan ini memang adalah perjalanan yang seru ke Nice; tetapi memang terlalu singkat. Jadi kesimpulannya, sepertinya aku harus mempertimbangkan untuk mengunjungi Nice lebih sering, dan menginap agak lamaan dikit gitu di sana! Haha 😆 .
Flight: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL605
Equipment: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD named “Bougainville”
ATD: 11:56 CET (Runway 24 of AMS)
ATA: 13:28 PST (Runway 28L of SFO)
I managed to snatch seat 10K, a window seat in the first row of economy comfort, while checking-in online the day before the trip. I was able to get this seat in economy comfort for free thanks to my new Platinum status (Normally, one would have had to pay €160 extra just to sit there on this flight to San Francisco!). Anyway, seat 10K was actually the second best seat for me on this flight. The best one would have been seat 10A because it would provide a bird’s eye view of San Francisco upon landing but that seat had already been taken, damn! Haha 😛 .
Checking in for my flight KL 605
Long story short, I arrived at Schiphol and checked my luggage in, upon which I also got a paper boarding pass. I waited for the flight at the KLM Crown Lounge and then went to the gate about 20 minutes before boarding time. The flight today would be operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD which KLM named “Bougainville”.
KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD was ready to go to SFO
As you could see in the photo above, the weather at Schiphol today was not at the best condition. After all passengers at the gate boarded, the captain informed us that we were not given the green light to depart yet because we were still waiting for some connecting passengers whose coming flights to Amsterdam were delayed due to Schiphol’s current limited runway capacity. And so we had to sit in the plane for about an hour before we were finally given the permission to go. We took off from runway 24 and PH-BHD turned northwest towards California.
Finally taking off from runway 24 of AMS
Let’s start with the seat. KLM configured their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with the 3-3-3 layout in economy. This layout was actually fine. But to me, the “problem” was, just about two weeks prior I was flying a Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 777-300ER which Garuda also configured with the 3-3-3 layout (While many other airlines, including KLM, chose to configure their Boeing 777s with the 3-4-3 layout). However, a Boeing 777-300ER was a bigger airplane, hence wider cabin, than a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. I guess because of this, somehow PH-BHD’s cabin felt a little bit “crammed” to me, haha.
A KLM Dreamliner selfie
Anyway, shortly after take-off, a snack and drink service was provided. The snack was a delicious roasted almond and I chose to pair it with white wine, haha. After the snack service, the flight attendants distributed the warm tissues service, a typical KLM’s long-haul service in economy which was really nice IMO.
I then started to watch the classic movie The Graduate at the AVOD IFE. Speaking of the AVOD, I wasn’t that much impressed with the content (in terms of movies and songs) this time, unfortunately. Though, perhaps the fact that there had been not a lot of new movies which excited me in the past several months might play a role in this too, haha.
The lunch service on board KLM flight KL605
The lunch service was provided not long after; with the choice being a vegetarian or a meatball dish. Obviously I opted for the meatball one, haha 😛 . And it was good!
Just after lunch, the map showed that we were already flying above … Greenland! I was of course excited about this and looked out the window! Greenland was, unlike its name, fully white as it was covered with snow and ice, haha.
Greenland, which looked more white than green to me.
PH-BHD then continued to fly towards Canada, upon which an ice cream snack service was provided. After finishing The Graduate, I decided to watch a second movie, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. And also, I tried KLM’s wifi which were available on their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The wifi access was based on data instead of time, which was a factor I did not really like. But in terms of price, I thought their pricing was fair enough, even though a few times I had small problems with the connectivity.
Btw, as usual in a long-haul KLM flight, the flight attendants went on many rounds around the cabin bringing a tray of drinks for the passengers, which was, of course, such a very nice service! More snacks were also available at the galley. As we were entering the United States air space, the late lunch service was provided, which was also tasty.
The late lunch service on board KLM flight KL605
Long story short, at around 1 PM local time we started our descent towards San Francisco International Airport. We were not able to recover from our departure delay, though; and so we still arrived in San Francisco about one hour behind schedule. At 1:28 PM, we landed at runway 28L of San Francisco International Airport, here is the landing video:
PH-BHD parked at the International Terminal where I saw Emirates’, Japan Airlines’, Korean Air’s, Air France’s, and Aeromexico’s planes. Our delay meant that we arrived after all these airlines resulting in: very long lines at immigration! 😖 I had to wait for more than an hour before clearing immigration! And so when I arrived at the baggage area, my bag was already waiting for me nicely there, haha.
I exited the terminal and went to the BART station to take the train to Downtown San Francisco. And here, my two weeks vacation in California started!!
TO BE CONTINUED…
Vis a vis with PH-BHD
My economy comfort seat 10K
The amazing legroom of seat 10K in economy comfort
Penerbangan: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL605
Pesawat: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner rego PH-BHD bernama “Bougainville”
ATD: 11:56 CET (Runway 24 of AMS)
ATA: 13:28 PST (Runway 28L of SFO)
Aku berhasil mengamankan kursi 10K, kursi jendela di baris pertama kelas economy comfort, ketika check-in online sehari sebelum berangkat. Aku bisa mendapatkan kursi economy comfort ini dengan gratis loh berkat status Platinum baruku ini (Normalnya, seorang penumpang harus membayar ekstra €160 (sekitar Rp 2,6 juta) untuk duduk di kursi ini di penerbangan ke San Francisco!). Anyway, kursi 10K sebenarnya adalah kursi terbaik kedua di penerbangan ini bagiku. Yang terbaik adalah kursi 10A karena dari sana aku akan mendapatkan pandangan San Francisco dari atas ketika mendarat. Tetapi sialnya kursi itu sudah diambil orang lain nih! Haha 😛 .
Check in untuk penerbangan KL 605
Singkat cerita, aku tiba di Schiphol, meng-check-in-kan bagasiku, dan mendapatkan boarding pass fisik. Aku menunggu penerbanganku di KLM Crown Lounge dan kemudian berjalan ke gate sekitar 20 menit sebelum waktu boarding. Penerbangan hari ini akan dioperasikan dengan pesawat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner rego PH-BHD yang KLM beri nama “Bougainville”.
Pesawat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner-nya KLM rego PH-BHD siap untuk berangkat ke SFO
Seperti yang terlihat di foto di atas, cuaca di Schiphol hari ini memang sedang kurang oke. Setelah semua penumpang yang berada di gate naik ke dalam pesawat, kaptennya memberi-tahu bahwa kami masih belum diberikan lampu hijau untuk berangkat karena ternyata kami masih harus menunggu beberapa penumpang connecting yang penerbangannya terlambat mendarat di Schiphol akibat kapasitas landasan pacu bandara yang dikurangi karena kondisi cuaca. Jadilah kami harus duduk di dalam pesawat selama satu jam-an sebelum akhirnya bisa berangkat. Kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 24 dan kemudian PH-BHD berbelok ke arah barat laut menuju California.
Akhirnya lepas landas dari landasan pacu 24nya AMS
Mari ngomongin masalah kursi. KLM mengonfigurasi Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner mereka dengan layout 3-3-3 di ekonomi. Layout ini sebenarnya oke-oke aja sih. Yang jadi “masalah” bagiku adalah baru sekitar dua minggu sebelumnya aku terbang dengan pesawat Boeing 777-300ERnya Garuda Indonesia yang mana Garuda konfigurasi dengan layout 3-3-3 juga (Padahal banyak maskapai lain, termasuk KLM, memilih layout 3-4-3 untuk pesawat tipe Boeing 777 ini). Namun, Boeing 777-300ER kan adalah tipe pesawat yang lebih besar ya, yang mana artinya juga memiliki kabin lebih besar, daripada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Aku duga karena ini, kabinnya PH-BHD ini jadi terasa “sempit” untukku, haha.
KLM Dreamliner selfie
Anyway, tidak lama setelah lepas landas, layanan snack dan minuman diberikan. Snack-nya berupa kacang almond panggang yang mana rasanya enak banget loh; dan tentu saja aku temani dengan white wine, haha. Setelah layanan snack, awak kabin membagikan layanan tisu hangat, sebuah layanan khasnya KLM di ekonomi yang menurutku oke.
Aku kemudian mulai menonton film klasik The Graduate di AVOD IFE. Nah, ngomongin AVODnya nih, aku kok agak kecewa ya dengan isinya (dalam hal pilihan film dan lagu), sayangnya. Mungkin ini diakibatkan karena memang tidak ada banyak film yang menarik sih beberapa bulan belakangan ini, haha.
Layanan makan siang di penerbangan KLM KL605
Layanan makan siang disajikan tak lama setelahnya; yang mana pilihannya adalah menu vegetarian atau menu bola daging. Ya jelas lah ya aku memilih bola daging, haha 😛 . Dan rasanya enak!
Setelah makan siang, peta menunjukkan bahwa ternyata kami sudah berada di atasnya … Greenland! Jelas dong aku excited dan langsung menengok keluar jendela! Greenland itu, tidak seperti namanya, berwarna putih banget karena memang terselimuti salju dan es, haha.
Greenland, yang nampak lebih putih daripada hijau untukku.
PH-BHD kemudian lanjut terbang menuju Kanada, dimana layanan es krim dibagikan. Setelah selesai menonton The Graduate, aku memutuskan untuk menonton film kedua, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. Oh iya, pesawat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner-nya KLM juga dilengkapi dengan wifi loh. Tetapi wifi-nya menggunakan kuota paket data sih, bukannya waktu, yang mana merupakan satu faktor yang aku kurang begitu suka. Tetapi untuk masalah biaya, aku rasa harga aksesnya cukup fair juga, walaupun terkadang aku konektivitasnya bermasalah sih.
Btw, seperti biasa di penerbangan jarak jauhnya KLM, awak kabinnya aktif berkeliling kabin sambil membawa nampan berisi minuman untuk para penumpang yang mana, jelas, adalah pelayanan yang oke banget! Snack juga disediakan di dapur pesawat. Ketika kami memasuki area udara Amerika, layanan makan siang kedua dibagikan, yang mana rasanya juga lumayan.
Layanan makan siang kedua di penerbangan KLM KL605
Singkat cerita, sekitar jam 1 siang waktu setempat pesawat mulai turun menuju Bandara Internasional San Francisco. Kami tidak berhasil memotong waktu keterlambatan kami, sehingga kami tiba di San Francisco sekitar satu jam terlambat. Jam 1:28 siang, pesawat mendarat di landasan pacu 28L Bandara Internasional San Francisco, berikut ini video pendaratannya:
PH-BHD parkir di Terminal Internasional dimana aku melihat sudah ada pesawatnya Emirates, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Air France, dan Aeromexico. Keterlambatan kami berarti kami baru tiba setelah semua maskapai lain ini yang berakibat pada: antrian yang panjang banget di imigrasi! 😖 Aku harus mengantri selama lebih dari satu jam loh! Dan jadilah ketika tiba di area bagasi, bagasiku sudah menungguku di sana, haha.
Aku keluar dari terminal dan berjalan menuju stasiun kereta BART untuk naik kereta menuju Downtown San Francisco. Dan di sini, liburan dua mingguku di California resmi dimulai!!
As my Instagram followers (@azilko) have known, yesterday I went on another Avgeek Weekend Trip. Yeah, yeah, I know, I just came back from my 2017 year end trip to California just literally 48 hours before! Quite crazy I know and indeed I was pushing my body to the limit here, haha 😛 . But I feel like it was actually good to help me combat this terrible jetlag! 😀
Anyway, here is the routing this time:
The routing this weekend. Created with gcmap.com
Yeah, quite simple yet efficient. Perfect for my currently jetlagged condition, I guess, haha.
I took a KLM’s flight KL1233 from Amsterdam to Paris with a Boeing 737-800 reg PH-BXL. Then I took an Air France’s flight AF1318 to Frankfurt with an Airbus A320-200 reg F-GKXL. Lastly, I took a KLM Cityhopper flight KL1770 back to Amsterdam with an Embraer ERJ190 reg PH-EXC.
In most part, all were regular and pleasant flights with KLM and Air France. With my Platinum status, I could assign myself seats in economy comfort for free in both KLM flights, haha. I also noticed that yesterday in particular was not a really busy flying day. The KLM Crown Lounge at Schiphol was not that busy, and all the seats next to mine in my Air France and KLM Cityhopper flights were empty!
Anyway, here are the photos from this trip:
KLM’s Boeing 737-800 reg PH-BXL
My economy comfort seat 4F on board KLM’s PH-BXL
Taking off from runway 09 of Schiphol
The snack service on board KLM’s flight to Paris
Boarding Air France’s Airbus A320-200 reg F-GKXL
My economy seat 3F on board Air France’s F-GKXL
Empty seats next to mine, yay!
The snack service on board Air France’s flight to Frankfurt
My economy comfort 6F on board KLM Cityhopper’s PH-EXC
Again, an empty seat next to mine, yay!
The snack service on board KLM Cityhopper’s flight from Frankfurt
KLM Cityhopper’s Embraer 190 reg PH-EXC
BAHASA INDONESIA
Seperti yang followers Instagramku (@azilko) ketahui, kemarin aku pergi dalam sebuah Avgeek Weekend Trip. Iyaa, tahu kok. Aku memang baru saja pulang dari perjalanan akhir tahun 2017ku ke California cuma 48 jam sebelumnya! Agak gila memang ya, dan memang rasanya aku seperti memaksakan tubuhku sendiri ke limit deh, haha 😛 . Eh tetapi aku pikir-pikir ini sebenarnya bagus lho untuk membantuku melawan jetlag yang parah banget ini! 😀
Anyway, berikut ini rutenya kali ini:
Rutenya akhir pekan ini. Dibuat dengan gcmap.com
Yup, memang cukup sederhana dan efisien. Cocok lah untuk kondisiku yang memang sedang terkena jetlag ini, haha.
Aku menaiki penerbangannya KLM KL1233 dari Amsterdam ke Paris dengan Boeing 737-800 rego PH-BXL. Kemudian aku naik Air France AF1318 ke Frankfurt dengan sebuah Airbus A320-200 rego F-GKXL. Dan terakhir, aku menaiki penerbangan KLM Cityhopper KL1770 kembali ke Amsterdam dengan sebuah Embraer ERJ190 rego PH-EXC.
Secara umum ketiganya adalah penerbangan reguler dan nyaman dengan KLM dan Air France. Dengan status Platinumku, aku bisa memilih kursi di kabin economy comfort dengan gratis di kedua penerbangan KLMku, haha. Aku juga perhatikan kemarin bukanlah hari yang sibuk loh di udara. KLM Crown Lounge di Schiphol tidak lah terlalu sibuk, dan semua kursi di sebelahku di penerbangan Air France dan KLM Cityhopper-ku juga kosong!
Anyway, di atas adalah foto-foto dari perjalanan ini.
Since 2014, Amsterdam’s Schiphol and Paris’ Charles De Gaulle have been the two airports I travel to/from the most. This is hardly surprising given that I am residing in the Netherlands and KLM and Air France are basically married, haha. Anyway, an implication of using both airports a lot is that I have started to form a preference regarding on which runway/direction my flight would land at both.
Of Schiphol (AMS)
Clearly, not the Polderbaan.
I have previously mentioned that Schiphol’s runway 18R/36L, or also known as the Polderbaan, is my least favorite of the airport’s six runways due to its distance from the terminal building. At the time, I mentioned that I liked the other five equally and had no preference amongst them. However, though, things start to have changed a little 😛 .
My rather recent boring Avgeek Weekend Trip made me realize that I think I have developed a “preference” for one of the five runways; but only for landing. And that is: runway 09/27, or also known as the Buitenveldertbaan; and specifically runway 27 because, from my empirical observations, landing is performed on the runway 27 side while take-off from the runway 09 side for Buitenveldertbaan. And here is why:
Landing path of flight KL1246 at the Buitenveldertbaan. Map is from flightradar24.
The map above shows the landing path of my flight KL1246 that evening. As you can see, landing at runway 27 would require the plane to fly above the southern part of Amsterdam. Hence, if you are seated on the window seat in the right side of the plane, you would be provided with a really cool bird’s eyes view of the city!
Of Paris – Charles De Gaulle (CDG)
For the same reason as for runway 27 of Schiphol, my favorite landing runway of Paris-CDG is runway 08R. Landing on this runway would mean the plane would have to fly above the beautiful city of Paris. For instance, here is the landing path of flight AF7641 I took a few months ago with an Air France’s Dreamliner from Lyon:
Landing path of flight AF7641 at runway 08R. A screenshot from flightradar24 app.
This means that if you are seated on the window seat in, again, the right side of the plane, you would be provided with a bird’s eye view of the city! There are exceptions, of course, for instance on flight AF 7641 I took above. A landing path like this would also provide passengers sitting on window seats on the left side of the plane with a cool view of Paris.
A bird’s eye view of Paris!! You can spot the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the famous Champs-Élysées here.
Paris-CDG Airport is equipped with four parallel runways, so why runway 08R in particular and not runway 08L, 09L, or 09R? In the screenshot above, you can clearly see that the airport is located to the north east of Paris. Runway 08R is the southern most runway of the airport and, hence, landing on this runway would mean that you would get the best possible (closest) view of Paris than when landing on any other runways!
BAHASA INDONESIA
Sejak tahun 2014, Bandara Schiphol di Amsterdam dan Bandara Charles De Gaulle di Paris telah menjadi dua bandara dari mana aku terbang ke/dari paling sering. Ini tidak mengherankan sih karena aku tinggal di Belanda dan KLM dan Air France kan pada dasarnya suatu kesatuan ya, haha. Anyway, satu implikasi dari ini adalah aku mulai membentuk preferensi mengenai landasan pacu/arah pendaratan favoritku ketika mendarat di kedua bandara.
Untuk Schiphol (AMS)
Jelas bukan Polderbaan.
Sudah kusebutkan sebelumnya bahwa landasan pacu 18R/36Lnya Schiphol, alias Polderbaan, adalah yang paling tidak kusukai dari enam landasan pacu bandaranya karena jaraknya yang jauh dari gedung terminal. Waktu itu kusebutkan bahwa aku menyukai lima landasan pacu lainnya secara sama rata lah. Namun, ternyata aku sudah sedikit berubah, haha 😛 .
Perjalanan Avgeek Weekend Tripku yang membosankan baru-baru ini membuatku menyadari bahwa aku mulai membentuk “preferensi” untuk satu dari lima landasan pacu lain bandaranya; tetapi untuk mendarat saja. Dan landasan pacu itu adalah landasan pacu 09/27, atau dikenal juga dengan nama Buitenveldertbaan; dan khususnya landasan pacu 27 karena, dari pengamatan empirisku, pendaratan selalu dilakukan di sisi landasan pacu 27 sih sementara lepas landas dari sisi landasan pacu 09 untuk Buitenveldertbaan. Berikut ini alasannya:
Jejak pendaratan penerbangan KL1246 di Buitenveldertbaan. Peta dari flightradar24.
Peta di atas menunjukkan rute pendaratan penerbangan KL1246ku malam itu. Seperti yang bisa dilihat, mendarat di landasan pacu 27 berarti pesawatnya harus terbang di atas Amsterdam bagian selatan. Jadi, jika kita duduk di kursi jendela di sebelah kanan pesawat, kita akan mendapatkan pemandangan yang kece akan kotanya!
Untuk Paris – Charles De Gaulle (CDG)
Untuk alasan yang sama seperti landasan pacu 27 Bandara Schiphol, landasan pacu favoritku untuk mendarati di Paris-CDG adalah landasan pacu 08R. Mendarat di landasan pacu ini berarti pesawatnya harus terbang di atas kota Paris. Misalnya saja, berikut ini jejak rute pendaratan penerbangan AF7641ku dari Lyon yang kunaiki beberapa bulan yang lalu dengan Dreamlinernya Air France:
Rute pendaratan penerbangan AF7641 di landasan pacu 08R. Sebuah screenshot dari app flightradar24.
Ini berarti jika kita duduk di kursi jendela, lagi, di sisi kanan pesawat, kita akan diberikan pemandangan yang kece akan kotanya! Eh, ada pengecualian sih memang, seperti misalnya penerbangan AF7641ku di atas. Rute pendaratan semacam ini juga memberikan pemandangan keren kota Paris bagi penumpang yang duduk di sisi kiri sih.
Pemandangan kota Paris dari atas!! Di foto ini, kita bisa melihat Menara Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, dan Champs-Élysées yang terkenal itu.
Bandara Paris-CDG dilengkapi dengan empat landasan pacu paralel. Jadi mengapa kok aku hanya suka landasan pacu 08R saja, dan bukannya landasan pacu 08L, 09L, atau 09R? Nah, di screenshot di atas, bisa kita lihat bahwa bandaranya berlokasi di timur lautnya Paris. Landasan pacu 08R adalah landasan pacu paling selatan dari bandara ini sehingga mendarat di landasan pacu ini akan memberikan pandangan yang terbaik (paling dekat) dengan kota Paris daripada di landasan pacu lainnya.
ENGLISH
BAHASA INDONESIA
