My Review: KLM 787-10 World Business Class

Updated on August 27th, 2026 at 05:23 pm

KLM’s 787-10 World Business Class is a comfortable, well fed, brilliantly served business class that won’t wow you on design, but gets almost everything else right. Chaotic AMS boarding and patchy wifi are the only real dents in an otherwise very solid product.

Considering the relatively small population of Netherlands, its flag carrier KLM is a major airline. Even if now having joined forces with Air France, they still operate under their own identity and branding.

KLM can perhaps be characterized as a quirky airline with the branding and experience influenced by specific elements of Dutch-ness. I have not flown KLM long haul since I was a child and was curious what the latest KLM Business Class would be like.

From friendly crew and service to rather intriguing catering to a parting gift for memorabilia collectors, it sure leaves an impression!

• 38 fully lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout, with direct aisle access from every seat
• JAMCO Venture seat, also used in a handful of other cabins including Zipair’s business class and Air Europa
• Two-course main meal service plus a lighter pre-landing meal, with an à la carte style menu
• Rituals Amsterdam Collection amenity kit, noise-cancelling headphones, pillow and blanket at every seat
• Large touchscreen IFE with a secondary handheld remote/screen
• Paid wifi (business class gets complimentary access to basic messaging apps only)
• Complimentary KLM Crown Lounge access at AMS for all long-haul business class passengers
• Signature Delft Blue house gift on intercontinental flights

Check In, Security & The KLM Crown Lounge

I checked in for the flight on the mobile app and, travelling without checked bags, had no interaction with check-in staff on the ground.

I headed straight through to security after arriving at Schiphol airport. As a business class passenger, you can use the Sky Priority lanes to make your experience of going through a little faster.

AMS airport has been notoriously bad at managing security and many other operations recently, but thankfully this seemed somewhat resolved at the time of my travel.

My boarding card showed an invitation for the KLM Crown Lounge 52, tucked between concourses E and F, where I spent almost two hours before my flight. Between the showers, the workstations and the terrace overlooking the tarmac, it has most of what you’d expect from a flagship lounge. It’s worth visiting, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it if my time was precious otherwise. I’ve covered it in full in my dedicated Crown Lounge 52 review.

Boarding

I arrived at our designated gate around 30 minutes before departure.

And as you can see, it was rather chaotic. There was no clear, visible priority lane for premium travellers.

I wasn’t at all keen on pushing through so many people, so I just hung back for a while until they actually started general boarding.

Eventually I was able to get through the crowds while they were calling forward business class passengers.

My boarding pass was flagged as needing extra checks. They could have asked for this on the app while checking in. I later noticed I’d received an SMS from KLM giving me a heads up about it, so I suppose that’s something.

The Seat & Cabin

KLM’s largest Dreamliners have one large business class cabin consisting of 38 seats in a standard 1-2-1 configuration. Signature KLM blue colours each seat, and this was a new seat type for me.

The seat here, while only subtly different to KLM’s 787-9s, is unique. The JAMCO Venture seat is only used by a handful of other airlines, including Zipair’s business class and Air Europa. These reverse herringbone seats are much lighter and easier to install and maintain, boasting sustainability credentials as well as reduced operational costs for KLM.

First impressions: it looks good, but stops short of evoking any excitement. From some angles the cabin just looks dull and boring, and you’d rarely guess it’s a brand new plane.

The cabin looks much better in full mood lighting, however, where the design seems to come to life more.

Storage options felt quite limited within the seat, with the open space at the end of the countertop being the main place to put anything.

Amenities & The Amenity Kit

Placed at each seat was a full size pillow, noise-cancelling headphones, an amenity kit, and a bottle of water on the side panel.

The kit is part of KLM’s collaboration with Rituals, in a Tulip and Japanese Yuzu scent from the brand’s Amsterdam Collection (the same scent you’ll find in the Crown Lounge showers, so it starts to feel like a running theme by the time you board). Inside was a face cream, lip balm, dental kit, eye shades, earplugs, and flight socks, plus a KLM branded pen.

Nothing flashy, but everything you actually need to survive eight hours in a metal tube. Further amenities are available in the lavatories, such as facial mists and hand cream.

Food & Drink Service

Immediately upon boarding, business class passengers are offered a welcome drink of choice, from champagne to juices. I opted for a fresh orange juice at that point.

About 20 minutes after take-off there was a hot towel service with further drinks. I chose champagne for the drinks service.

KLM Business Class Menu to Chicago

KLM 787 World Business Class Menu 6

KLM 787 9 World Business Class Menu 6

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Daniel, the gentleman serving me for most of the flight, was polished and enthusiastic about his job, which helps set a good tone. He always addressed me by name. Given Dutch people generally speak good English, it was no exception here. When I seemed unsure of my choice, he was more than happy to elaborate and share his own thoughts.

The meal started with a large salmon pasta shells starter, with a side of salad.

As you can see, it was very elegantly presented, and a great starter to eat. I particularly liked the mesclun salad here, with pine nuts, olives, and deliciously sweet pearl drops.

When Daniel came by to check if everything was okay, I mentioned how much I liked the salad, and he offered to bring me another one. I refused, knowing I had much more to go still.

For the main, I opted for the Thai themed “Tasting of Delicacies” option, which consisted of:

• Tom Ka Kai beef curry with beef strips
• Chicken red curry
• Green curry sauce, bamboo shoots and stir-fried veg
• Jasmine rice

Everything was fragrant, fresh and flavourful. I was getting quite full already, but I still finished it, knowing I’d still want dessert.

Finally, after a little breather, the dessert arrived, and immediately looked rather like an afternoon tea selection.

All washed down with a nice mint tea 🙂

Entertainment & Wifi

While the 787-10 is wifi enabled, KLM does not give business passengers any complimentary access besides basic messaging apps like WhatsApp. Full wifi access is paid, typically priced by the hour or for the full flight (roughly the €12 to €30 range, or the equivalent in Flying Blue miles, though this varies by flight). Unfortunately, the wifi barely worked for most of my flight.

The IFE programming, however, was very decent, with plenty to watch. You can even browse the catalogue in advance here.

While the main IFE screen can be controlled by touch, you also get a handheld controller, which can act as a secondary screen if you want to check the flight map or play a game.

The Bed

A couple of hours after lunch, I decided to have a little nap and set up the bed.

Turndown service isn’t offered by KLM, nor is there any proper mattress padding.

The bed felt reasonably comfortable until I turned over a couple of times and found my knees hitting the shelf below the IFE screen. Not great. I also noticed that, although it’s supposed to be possible, I couldn’t tilt the IFE screen down in bed mode, so you can’t really watch anything properly once you’re fully flat.

Pre-Landing Service

There was about an hour where there was no sign of any staff at all.

About an hour before landing, the crew sprang into action with the second meal service, which I’d classify as somewhere between a snack and a full meal. I chose the burger.

The burger was excellent. To finish off, I ordered some more tea, which arrived with some nice chocolate biscuits.

The Delft House: KLM’s Signature Farewell Gift

Just before landing, the CSM went around the cabin thanking us for flying KLM and offering a choice of mini Dutch houses, the same ones you’ll see all over the Crown Lounge and various bits of KLM marketing.

The tradition goes back to the early 1950s, when KLM was looking for a way around limits on the value of gifts airlines could give passengers. Since each hand-painted Delft Blue house is filled with Bols Genever (Dutch gin), it technically counts as a drink served in a souvenir container rather than a gift, and the workaround stuck. Every house is a scale replica of a real, historically significant Dutch building, and a new one is unveiled every year on KLM’s October 7th birthday. They’re now only given out in intercontinental business class, and there’s a free app collectors use to track which numbers they own.

It’s a genuinely unique piece of Dutch memorabilia, and being ceramic, it does weigh a little more than you’d expect in your carry-on. I opted for house number 8, which some say is a lucky number.

Landing & Arrival at ORD

Landing and disembarkation were both orderly, no complaints there. Immigration was a different story: the arrivals area at ORD was mid construction, and queues moved painfully slowly. I got through eventually with no real issues, then picked up the CTA Blue Line into the city.

Overall Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed my flight and think this is a very solid hard product, with a few minor caveats that might bother some (yes, yours truly). The boarding experience needs improvement. What I was pleasantly surprised by was the quality of the catering, and the staff were some of the best European crew I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.

I’d happily fly KLM on these Dreamliners again. If you’re keen to see what sister airline Air France is like, check out my Air France 777 Business Class and Air France A350 Business Class reviews.

Faze

Faze, founder of Wander Up Front and Elevate Your Stay, is a London-based travel specialist with a deep passion for aviation and unique destinations. With over 2 million miles flown, he has spent the last 8 years focusing on First and Business class experiences and travelled to 99 countries.

Faze provides straightforward, no-frills insights into premium airline products and services, sharing what matters to help travellers make informed choices.

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