KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flies the Embraer 190 (sometimes the shorter Embraer 175) aircraft as Flight KL1911 between Amsterdam (AMS) and Hanover (HAJ). The aircraft offers a capacity of 100 passengers in a two-class configuration.

KLM runs two daily flights between AMS and HAJ Sunday through Friday and only an evening flight on Saturdays. The evening flight (KL1911) departs AMS at 16:45 hours and arrives at HAJ at 17:40 hours, with a block time of 55 minutes.

The late-night departure takes place at 21:05 and arrives in HAJ at 22:05. This article reviews the economy cabin onboard the Embraer 190STD Cityhopper (Registration PH-EZL).

Boarding

The boarding process started approximately 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. I was late to the departure gate, and the boarding had already begun. After scanning the boarding pass, we took a long stairwell down to the ramp for boarding. The aircraft had already been refueled, and the cargo was being loaded onboard. Additionally, the potable water was being transferred to the aircraft.

Photo: Omar Memon | Simple Flying

Passengers boarded the aircraft through the attached airstair. Climbing up the airstair was not convenient while carrying hand luggage. Several passengers with multiple belongings struggled to board. However, the ground staff assisted the ones in need. It is common for small aircraft not to have access to a jet bridge at various European airports. It is worth mentioning that passengers with special needs boarded using a lifting platform.

Seat configurations

In a typical configuration, there are 20 seats in business class and 80 in economy class, both in a 2-2 configuration. All seats have a width of 17 inches (43 cm), with business seats having a pitch of 32 inches (81 cm) and 30 inches (76 cm) in economy class.

The airline also offers Economy Comfort seats on some E190s, which are part of the Economy cabin but feature an extra two inches of pitch and legroom. These seats are generally offered to Flying Blue Platinum members. The Flying Blue Gold and Silver members receive a discount to book these seats.

Photo: Omar Memon | Simple Flying
 

Seats in all cabins have a leather exterior and reasonable legroom. I was seated in a window seat in row 20. The evening hop to HAJ wasn’t a full flight, with nearly 30% of the seats unoccupied.

A short flight

With the actual flying time of only 41 minutes, the prescribed cruising altitude was 23,000 ft (7000 m) and a maximum ground speed of 381 knots (438 mph/705 kph). The numbers for altitude and speed were obtained from FlightRadar24.com after the flight.

Photo: Omar Memon | Simple Flying
 

The aircraft climbed for approximately 13 minutes, followed by a level flight of only eight minutes. The descent and approach phase consumed the longest time, precisely 20 minutes.

In-flight service

The in-flight service started shortly after the aircraft reached its cruising altitude. The flight attendants handed each passenger a water bottle and a bag of chips.

Photo: Omar Memon | Simple Flying
 

It is noteworthy that those weren’t any regular potato chips. The KLM chips were a surprising mix of potato and beetroot chips.

Photo: Omar Memon | Simple Flying

After a short uneventful (but bumpy) flight, the arrival terminal at HAJ welcomed us with an available jet bridge. The de-boarding started shortly after the aircraft came to a complete stop. The cabin crew and first officer greeted the passengers on their way out.

Have you taken a short flight with KLM on one of its Cityhoppers? How was your experience? Tell us in the comments section.