All the 10s for our 10th Dreamliner

On a sunny Wednesday morning, KLM welcomed its 10th Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at Schiphol. Because I really wanted to see this new addition close up, I got out of bed bright and early to witness its arrival and compile a full report. Here’s what I learned.

A 10-hour flight (well, almost)

The new arrival took off from the Boeing plant at Everett (near Seattle, USA) and landed at Schiphol at 08.00 on Wednesday, 23 August. The flight lasted just over nine hours, but let’s call it 10, so that it matches our 10th Dreamliner.

Dreamliner

10 flowers

KLM is one of the few airlines that gives its aircraft names. All of KLM’s Dreamliners are named after flowers, which are a typical Dutch export product. Our 10th Dreamliner is called Margriet in Dutch, as you can see on the left flank of the plane. You’ll find its English name, Marguerite, on the other side. Our other Dreamliners have names like Sunflower, Jasmine, Lavender and Lily. Here’s a previous blog about the naming of KLM planes.

Dreamliner Margriet

1,000 hours of entertainment

Aboard our intercontinental flights, passengers have access to no less than 1,000 hours of interactive entertainment. Should you ever wonder what’s under the hump on a Dreamliner’s back, that’s the antenna for the Wi-Fi signal, ensuring that passengers can be online 24/7. But who needs the internet when you have so many hours of film, music and games on board, right?

Dreamliner

10 wheels

The Dreamliner has 10 wheels: two under the nose and four on either side under the wings. These ten wheels carry the entire weight of the plane, which can be up to 252,650 kilos. Hope you don’t find all these facts too “tiring”…

Wheels

787-10?

There are three types of 787; the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10. Say that 10 times in quick succession! The 787-8 is the shortest type and the 787-10 is the longest, while the 787-9 is somewhere in between. KLM currently only operates 787-9, but we will begin adding 787-10s to our fleet from June 2019, enabling us to carry more passengers and cargo.

Engines at 10 kilometres

The Dreamliner has 20-30% less environmental impact than comparable aircraft. Because of the carbon composites used in construction, the Dreamliner is lighter, which means it burns less fuel and produces fewer emissions. The same goes for the engines. Less fuel = lower emissions = less environmental impact. But the engines produce more than enough thrust to propel the Dreamliner to a cruising speed of 910 kilometres per hour at an altitude of 10 kilometres.

You may also notice the “shark’s teeth” at the back of the engine, which not only look cool, but also help to reduce engine noise. These chevrons, as they are officially called, also ensure that there is less noise aboard the aircraft, thus ensuring greater comfort.

50, 40, 30, 20, 10, touch down!

The cockpit has futuristic heads-up display, which is a transparent screen giving pilots the most essential flight data as they look out of the cockpit window. This is especially handy during take-off and landing, when the pilots have to keep their eye on everything at once.

Dreamliner HUD

11th Dreamliner

Our first Dreamliner arrived in November 2015. The 11th is scheduled to arrive in January 2018.

That concludes my report. I hope you enjoyed playing “Spot-The-10s”. That said, I give the Dreamliner a rating of 10 out of 10!

Posted by:   Jelte Vlasblom  | 
Join the conversation Show comments

ALETTA VANDERNAT

Mijn beste vriendin die in Amerika woont heet Margriet

Matthijs Visser

I strongly suspect that this is the plane we saw at the front of the assembly line when visiting the Boeing factory at the start of July (the Lelie was sitting on the flightline at that time; ready or close to ready for pick up). It had the KLM logo on the tail already, but no other paint / markings yet. Very neat to see it being delivered.

Jelte Vlasblom

Hi Matthijs, that sounds like a cool visit!

Marguerite Gootjes

Hi, Nice to have a plane named after me with the French name (not English) Marguerite. Would love to see it myself. Great that it is so conscious of the environment too. Proud of KLM!

Robbert van der Mije

O
f course the French name is on the “droite” KLM is a French owned company.

Jan Korsman

so right after all it is “AirFranceRoyalDutchairlines” !

Costas Charizanopoulos

That’s really Great! Congratulations!

Víctor Abujatum

Good report and photos. I ❤️KLM

Calixto

Beautiful aircraft klm! Great job at investing in aircrafts that use less fuel. Maybe now you can finally drop the absurd high ticket rates to destinations like the dutch antilles and paramaribo in summertime, so parents with children have a chance also to visit their native countries.

EMUAKPEJEKESSENA

HI KLM

Alex

Is it true the 787-10 will carry 330 passengers (4 more economy rows)?

Jelte Vlasblom

Hi Alex, the 787-10 will have 338 seats in total (264 economy, 36 economy comfort and 38 World Business class seats).

Rienus van Beek

Is this one doing the Carabean?

Jelte Vlasblom

Hi Rienus, unfortunately the Dreamliner isn’t flying to the Caribbean. On https://787dreamliner.klm.com/en_gb/destinations you can take a look at the destinations this beauty flies to.

Leo van der Voort

Very nice KLM!!
PROUD TO BE A KLM FAN!!

Anne

Thank you for the lastest interesting blog really keeps me updated.

Jelte Vlasblom

Hi Anne, thank you for your comment!

Ernesto O Jabibi

Congratulations KLM!! I have flown the 787 Dreamliner several times and I absolutely love it!! Now I will have to try yours as I do really like your airline, personnel, service and your fleet of great aircrafts!!

Frank van der Voet

Vanmiddag (Vrijdag) heb ik de Margriet gespot op YYC – Schitterend mooi te zien!

Gary

Nice plane. Just recently flew KLM, great airline.

Vanessa

Especially loved the innovative window screen
shades which turn dark blue, according to your own wish

Al Mueller

Excellent report on a gorgeous aircraft, Jelte. I made my first trans-Atlantic flight as a school boy aboard a new KLM DC-8 in 1961. Every detail of that flight is etched in my memory. I still travel via KLM whenever possible.

Dan

Very beautiful aircraft. I look forwatd to having the opportunity to fly on the 787.

Eric

I flew on KLM’s Dreamliner last weekend from Beijing back home and it was a great experience. Quiet compared to all other aircrafts and also atmosphere on board was better. Less dry air.

Jelte Vlasblom

Nice to hear you had a pleasant experience with our Dreamliner!

EMUAKPEJEKESSENA

HI KLM EMUAKPEJE KESSENA LOVE

Sam

Nice Blog Jelte!

Jelte Vlasblom

Thank you! :)

Zwangerschapsmasker

Keep up the good work! Thanks.

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