KLM has launched a premium economy cabin, Premium Comfort Class, and the good news for locals and for inbound visitors, is that it’s coming to South Africa in 2023.
In fact, South African passengers will be among the first in the world to enjoy Premium Comfort Class when it officially launches on routes to and from Amsterdam from next year. “We are very excited for the launch of the Premium Comfort offering on South African routes next year,” said Wilson Tauro, Country Manager: Southern African Region at Air France KLM. “We strive to give our South African travellers the best in-flight experience and we look forward to having both our business and leisure travellers experience this game-changing new offering soon.”
Premium Comfort Class promises more space, luxury, service options, comfort and privacy than Economy Class, at lower prices than World Business Class. The new Premium Comfort Class allows KLM to more closely meet the needs and wishes of both leisure and business travellers.
The experience will start at the airport, where passengers will have more flexible baggage arrangements and SkyPriority privileges, including preferential check-in and boarding.
Premium Comfort is an entirely new inflight class with its own cabin, offering a new type of seat as well as distinctive service and catering concepts. Depending on the aircraft type, the number of seats will vary from 21 to 28. They will be wider than standard seats, offering more leg-room, a larger screen and a footrest. Premium Comfort seats can also recline further than those in Economy Class. The new seats in Premium Comfort Class, apart from their elegant design and comfort features, are also lighter than previous designs.
“We have great expectations for this new Premium Comfort Class based on extensive market research. The new class will meet the wishes of business passengers as well as leisure travellers, strengthening KLM’s standing as a global network carrier offering an appealing and varied range: World Business Class, Premium Comfort and Economy Class. It also reaffirms our partnership with Delta Air Lines, Air France and Virgin Atlantic on North Atlantic routes, where we can now combine all products on all routes,” said Boet Kreiken, Executive Vice President of KLM Customer Experience.
The new cabin class has a distinctive catering concept. On intercontinental services, one or two hot meals will be served, depending on the duration of the flight. There will always be a choice of meat, fish or vegetarian dishes. After the meal, passengers will be offered coffee, tea, liqueur and ice cream. A variety of snacks and cocktails will also be served between meals, largely selected from those that were previously popular in World Business Class.
KLM says the first aircraft equipped with Premium Comfort Class will operate on routes to North America, and it anticipates that passengers will be able to book Premium Comfort to a growing range of destinations from the end of July 2022.
