KLM’s New 787-10 Business Class to Los Angeles: Charming, Comfortable, and Very Dutch

KLM is not usually the airline people fantasize about when they think of long-haul business class. There is no over-the-top suite, no private room in the sky, and no attempt to outdo the Gulf carriers or top Asian airlines on spectacle alone. But on this flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles, KLM’s new 787-10 business class won me over in a different way. The seat was comfortable, the cabin looked clean and modern, the crew were genuinely lovely, and the airline’s small Dutch touches gave the experience real personality. It was not perfect. The lounge food was weak, the bedding left something to be desired, and the catering was a bit uneven. But overall, this was a very likable way to cross the Atlantic.

That, more than anything, is what defines KLM’s new business class for me. It is not the most luxurious product in the sky, and I would not put it in the same league as the very best business class offerings from airlines like EVA, ANA, or Qatar. But it feels coherent. It knows what it is. The cabin is stylish without trying too hard, the service is warm, and the whole experience feels distinctly Dutch in a way that made the flight memorable.

Schiphol and the Ground Experience

The experience began in Amsterdam, where Schiphol did what Schiphol usually does: it functioned. I do not think this is an airport that inspires much romance, especially in the morning, but it is generally efficient enough and easy to get through. Nothing about the ground experience felt especially premium or exciting, though. If anything, the weakest part of the trip came before boarding.

The KLM lounge, at least in the morning, was underwhelming from a food perspective. There was enough to nibble on, sure, but not much that felt particularly appealing or memorable. This is not the sort of lounge where I would advise showing up hungry and expecting a proper pre-flight meal. It worked as a place to sit, recharge, and wait for departure, but the food was not a highlight.

Thankfully, once it was time to board, the actual reason I was there took over: KLM’s new 787-10 business class cabin.

First Impressions of the New Cabin

On first glance, the cabin makes a strong impression. KLM has gone in a direction that feels modern and restrained rather than flashy. The color palette is soft, cool, and calming. There is a lot of pale blue and grey, and the whole space feels airy in a way some darker premium cabins do not. It is not dramatic, but it is elegant.

The layout also looked immediately more competitive than KLM’s older business class products. The seat shells provide decent privacy, the cabin feels uniform and well-organized, and the overall effect is polished. A lot of European carriers still lag behind when it comes to business class hard products, either because their cabins feel dated or because they look generic. This one did not. KLM’s new 787-10 seat finally feels like a proper modern long-haul business class product.

It also helps that the aesthetic feels very specifically KLM. Some airlines create cabins that could belong to anyone. This one could not. The use of color, the tidy styling, and the subtle design choices make it feel unmistakably Dutch.

The Seat: Comfortable and Well Designed

The seat itself was one of the strongest parts of the flight. For sitting upright, relaxing, watching a movie, or just spending a long daytime stretch crossing the Atlantic, it worked very well. It felt comfortable, private enough, and thoughtfully laid out. The large monitor looked sharp and nicely integrated, and the storage space around the seat was functional without feeling cluttered.

This is the kind of seat that makes a good first impression because it feels intuitive. Nothing seemed especially awkward or over-engineered. It was simply a comfortable place to spend a long flight. That matters more than airlines sometimes realize. Not every premium product needs to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it just needs to be comfortable, modern, and sensibly designed. KLM gets that right here.

That said, the sleep experience was a bit less impressive than the seat itself. The seat remained comfortable when converted for rest, but the bedding provided left a bit to be desired. It did not feel especially plush or substantial, and compared to stronger competitors, the softness and overall coziness were lacking. So while I would absolutely call this a comfortable business class seat, I would stop short of calling it an especially luxurious bed.

Service

If the seat is one of the best parts of the hardware, the crew were one of the best parts of the experience overall. The cabin crew on this flight were lovely. Not performative, not stiff, not robotic, just genuinely warm and pleasant to interact with. That made a real difference.

Some airlines have excellent seats but manage to make the whole flight feel cold. That was not the case here. KLM’s service style on this flight felt easygoing and friendly without becoming sloppy or overly casual. It gave the cabin a welcoming tone. I never felt like I was being processed through a system. I felt taken care of.

That matters a lot more than people give it credit for. A good crew can elevate a product that is merely solid into one that people actually want to fly again. That is exactly what happened here.

One thing KLM does particularly well is giving the experience actual character. This is not a sterile premium product designed in a vacuum. It has quirks, and thankfully many of them are charming.

The signature KLM cocktail was one of those details. It arrived in a vibrant, eye-catching blue and was genuinely good. It looked a little theatrical without being tacky, and it felt like the sort of small branded flourish that helps make a flight memorable. In a world where so many airline drinks blur together into forgettable glasses of champagne or generic cocktails, this stood out.

Then there are the little ceramic Dutch houses KLM distributes to business class passengers, one of the airline’s most famous traditions and one of the most charming airline collectibles out there. I love these. They are small, ceramic miniature canal houses inspired by Dutch architecture, and they are the sort of tactile, oddly endearing souvenir that gives the airline real identity. Plenty of airlines hand out amenity kits and call it a day. KLM sends you off with a little piece of the Netherlands. It is cute, it is distinctive, and it is one of those details that makes people remember the brand.

It is exactly the sort of thing that should not matter as much as it does, and yet absolutely does.

The Meal Service: Better Than Expected

The onboard dining was probably the most mixed part of the flight. Looking at the menu, I was not entirely convinced. Some of the options felt a bit odd on paper, and at first glance the meal service did not scream “top-tier business class dining.” But in practice, it turned out to be more complicated than that.

The standout for me was the Indonesian main course, which was actually very good. It was flavorful, satisfying, and easily the strongest part of the meal service. KLM has long had ties to Indonesian cuisine in its onboard catering, and this was the clearest example on the flight of something genuinely working. It felt richer, more confident, and better executed than some of the other menu items.

That said, I would still describe the overall food experience as uneven rather than excellent. Not everything landed with the same success, and the meal as a whole did not feel consistently strong enough to compete with the best business class catering out there. Some elements looked more interesting than they tasted, and while I would not call the food bad, I also would not call it a major reason to seek out this product.

Still, credit where it is due: the Indonesian option was legitimately good, and that kept the meal service from sliding into disappointment.

Mid-Flight Snacks

One of the more memorable parts of the flight was also one of the least glamorous. KLM’s fries, served mid-flight with sauce in a little toothpaste tube, were great.

This is exactly the kind of thing I mean when I say KLM has personality. Fries in business class are a slightly ridiculous concept, and yet they work. They were good, comforting, and amusingly Dutch in spirit. The little sauce tube was especially cute, one of those tiny service details that should feel gimmicky but instead comes off as genuinely charming.

This is not caviar. It is not truffle pasta. It is fries on an airplane. But honestly, they were memorable in a way many supposedly premium snack offerings are not. I appreciated that KLM leaned into something playful instead of pretending every part of the service had to be solemn and luxurious.

Comfort and Practicality

For a long flight to Los Angeles, this is a business class product that works. That may sound like faint praise, but it is not. Plenty of products look good in photos and become irritating over the course of a real long-haul journey. KLM’s new 787-10 seat held up well. The cabin felt calm, the crew were warm, the seat was comfortable, and the service had enough personality to keep the experience from feeling generic.

No, it does not have the best bedding. No, the lounge food is not very good. No, the onboard catering is not a world-beater. But the fundamentals are strong, and more importantly, the flight is pleasant. That counts for a lot.

Final Thoughts

KLM’s new 787-10 business class is not the most luxurious product in the sky, but it is one of the more charming. The seat is comfortable, the cabin looks great, the crew are lovely, and the airline’s signature Dutch flourishes, from the bright blue cocktail to the collectible ceramic houses, give the experience real identity. Even the fries, silly as they sound, added to the sense that this is an airline willing to have a little personality.

The weak lounge food, mediocre bedding, and uneven catering keep this from the top tier of long-haul business class. But I still came away liking it a lot. KLM may not overwhelm you with luxury, but on this Amsterdam to Los Angeles flight, it delivered something a lot of airlines fail to: a business class experience that felt coherent, comfortable, and genuinely endearing.

And frankly, that can be enough.

I booked this ticket as part of a larger itinerary from Istanbul to Los Angeles for just 60,000 Flying Blue points plus taxes and fees, which made the experience feel even more compelling. For a modern long-haul business class seat on KLM’s new 787-10, that is a very solid redemption and a good reminder that Flying Blue can still offer real value when the pricing lines up.