Review of SilkAir flight Singapore → Bandung-Java Island in Economy

For the May Day long weekend holidays that just passed, I took a trip to nearby Bandung, Indonesia, just to enjoy the cool Bandung weather and feast on Sundanese cuisine. The trip was booked on SilkAir at a reasonable fare, with early departure on Saturday and evening arrival on Monday. A week prior to departure, a message was received that the departure flight was retimed from 0830am to 1020am. Then on the day before departure, the flight was again retimed from 1020am to 0950am. Reason given was due to "operational reasons".

Day of departure at Terminal 2. There is a sort of attractiveness about the T2 flipping FIDS.




Self-check-in kiosks printed boarding pass.




Departure from Gate F35, which was also shared with a SilkAir flight to Cebu departing just 10min later. This is one of the dual-docking gates at T2 for narrow-bodies.




Our B738 parked at the nearer airbridge while an A320 was parked at the other bridge.







29 April 2017
SilkAir
MI 192
Singapore (SIN) - Bandung (BDO)
B737-800
9V-MGG
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H04M


Boarding the aircraft.




Welcomed by the crew and headed past the Business Class cabin.




Into economy class.




Settled at 22F. Legroom was probably only slightly better than the budget carriers.




View out the window.




View of seat. The seatback magazine compartment seemed redundant as the inflight magazines were still placed in the normal seat pockets.




Blankets and pillows were available on request, or help yourself from the overhead bins.




Boarding in progress. Flight was about 85% full.




Packed wet towels were distributed.




April issue of inflight magazine.




SilkAir's IFE system, SilkAir Studio (wireless streaming IFE) entertainment options. Not too big a selection.








Safety video played.




The BSI sky interior lightings were turned on as we started the taxi to the runway.




Taxi to Rwy02C.






Video of taxi.




Holding short of runway and departure from Rwy02C.






Making a right turn over the island which many Singapore guys have "fond" memories of.










Video of the departure.




Climbing through the clouds. The captain also explained that the re-timed flight was due to Bandung Airport's closure for military exercise.






Meal service started and we were served by 2 stewards and a stewardess in economy. Meal carts started from the front and mid-cabin, heading rear-wards. Service was friendly and efficient.






Meal delivered. The choices were Nasi lemak with fish or Chicken with mashed potatoes. A full selection of beverages was offered. I had the Nasi lemak. The fish did not taste too fresh but the rice and condiments were excellent.








Chicken with mash potatoes choice which a friend selected.




Cruising




Silent short features were shown, but I made use of SilkAir Studio to catch a movie on my mobile phone instead.




Lavatory was basic with minimal amenities.




Cabin view.






We were soon descending and approaching Bandung. However, due to the early arrival and the airport not yet opened for traffic, we were put in a holding pattern for the next 30min. Captain informed that we were number 3 in the hold.








Flying in a holding pattern.




After 6 rounds of hold, we were given approval to start the approach into Bandung. The approach into Bandung is interesting as it requires the aircraft to descend into and make a loop over the city due to the high mountains around.










Landing in Bandung Rwy29.














Video of landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daLDfz0_Fs


Backtracking down the runway.




Look, an airshow! There was the Bandung Aerofest event at the airport, which now explains the closure.




Taxi to the parking bay anf engine shutdown for pushback into bay.




The parking bays in Bandung are so small that aircraft needed to be pushed back onto the bay. Passengers walking along the tarmac to other aircraft were held back till our engines were shut.






Disembarking.






Disembarking the old-fashioned way via stairs.






And a walk across the tarmac to the arrival immigration. It is free-for-all on the tarmac and really seemed like an airshow site. Wonder how it would be like if there are 2-3 flights boarding or disembarking at the same time.






Immigration and customs at the small airport was quick (only maximum of 6 international flights a day) and the city was only a quick 4km away.

As it was still early to check-in, we deposited our luggage at the hotel and went to seek lunch. Lunch was at Warung Sangrai and it was really good!






Quick walk around the Heritage Outlets before proceeding to Hummingbird Cafe to chill out with cake and coffee.






Checked into Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel, directly opposite the BIP mall. The hotel was very confortable and getting a room on the top floors afforded a great view!






Dinner was a simple afair of Bakso and Bakmee before catching a movie at the BIP mall opposite.