KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is introducing a premium economy travel class, an intermediate cabin offering with more space, luxury, service options, comfort and privacy than in economy class, at lower prices than its World Business Class. Named Premium Comfort Class, this option has been designed to appeal to both leisure and business travellers.

Premium Comfort has its own dedicated cabin, with 21 to 28 seats, depending on the aircraft type. The seat is a new, lighter weight version of Collins Aerospace’s MiQ platform, which brings comfort enhancements over KLM’s standard economy seats, including more seat pitch (38in vs 31in), a deeper recline (8in vs 5-7in), a larger IFE screen (13.3in vs 9-11in) and a footrest. The seat was customised in a joint project between Collins Aerospace and specialists at KLM Customer Experience.

The reconfiguration of aircraft cabins to accommodate Premium Comfort will be carried out by KLM Engineering & Maintenance at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Catering
Premium Comfort also has its own catering concept. On intercontinental services, one or two hot meals will be served, depending on the duration of the flight, with a choice of meat, fish or vegetarian dishes. After the meal, passengers will be offered coffee, tea, liqueurs and ice cream. Snacks and cocktails will also be served between meals, which will be largely selected from those that were previously popular in World Business Class.

The catering materials used in Premium Comfort will be mostly reusable, including the cutlery, bowls and plates made of lightweight polypropylene, while those that are not reusable are made of recycled PEF. All materials were carefully assessed in terms of circularity and weight.

“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 customer experience at KLM.

The first aircraft equipped with Premium Comfort Class will operate on routes to North America, and KLM expects that passengers will be able to book Premium Comfort to a growing range of destinations from the end of July 2022.