Hello there! thekoalatraveller is going on yet another holiday trip.
This time, I will be flying on Thai AirAsia from Singapore to Phuket,
It is the June school holidays here in the sunny island of Singapore, and the perfect time to explore some new destinations.
This is my first trip this year 2019, and also my first time flying with Thai AirAsia.
Flights with the AirAsia group depart from Changi Airport's newest, and smallest terminal, T4, which is where I departed from for this trip. Terminal 4 looks almost brand new, with airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Vietnam Airlines using the terminal.
Flight routing
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The Journey Begins
Let's take a look at Changi Airport's T4.
Very bright check-in hall.
There’s a sense of spaciousness thanks to the high ceilings, a common theme that runs across all of Changi's terminals. Similar to Terminal 3, the many skylights and floor to ceiling glass walls allows natural light to flow in, providing a naturally ambient daytime experience for passengers and at the same time, reducing the use of electricity.
Ground EXperience - SIN
Singapore is home to the world's best airport. Situated on southern end of Changi airport, T4 is the smallest of four, but also the most advanced, offering an end-to-end Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) experience aimed at improving operational efficiency and reducing wait times for passengers. I arrived at 10 am, 4 hours before the flight.
AirAsia Group's check in counters are located at Row 4, and can be easily spotted by the many travellers awaiting to get their boarding passes at the Self Check-in kiosks, and drop off their baggage at one of the many Self Bag-Drop counters.
Changi's T4 is home to many amazing artworks, featured prominently in the terminal, aiming to provide travellers with a relaxing ambience.
From the stunning Petalclouds, a kinetic sculpture, found in the Central Galleria, to The "Travelling Family", an aluminium sculpture by renowned Swiss artist, Kurt Laurenz Metzler. Metzler is well known for combining elements of the figurative and abstract to create thought-provoking sculptures depicting everyday life, such as people reading, working or travelling.
In the transit area, many types of seats are found scattered throughout the terminal. Some are unique, quirky and others are plain simple, fit for the minimalist traveller.
Here's a sneak peek into the snooze lounge, located at level 2M of the transit area.
A short walk to my gate, G12. Boarding commenced relatively quickly after that.
T4 uses new Self-Boarding gates which allows travellers to board the plane by automated boarding kiosks.
9 June 2019
Thai AirAsia
FD377
Singapore (SIN) - Phuket (HKT)
A320-200
HS-ABO
Economy Class
28F
Flight Time: 1H45M
CABIN & seat
AirAsia's Airbus A320s are fitted with 180 Economy Class seats, in a 3-3 arrangement.
With a seat pitch of 28", these seats are limited in legroom and would not be comfortable for flights longer than 4 hours.
The seat itself is well padded, but the downside to this seat is that the design of the seatback literature pocket impedes the legroom slightly.
Wingview for today's flight.
In-Flight experience
During boarding, the cabin crew welcomed the passengers onboard courteously. However, they did not proactively assist in the stowing of luggage in the overhead bins, which I guess that is what differentiates an LCC from a Full-fledged airline. The crew though, were friendly and genuine.
As expected, on a Low Cost Carrier (LCC) such as AirAsia, there is no seatback entertainment screen.
In the seat pocket, many literature options are available for browsing.
Items in the seat pocket included the English and Thai versions of Travel360 - the Airasia inflight magazine, Buy-On-Board menu, Airsickness bag and duty-free shopping guide.
Departure was at 1.50pm, 35 min behind schedule.
Shortly after takeoff, inflight service commenced with Cabin Crew handing out pre-booked meals.
Meals were able to be bought online, with most dishes at an affordable price of 5SGD. However, due to the short flight time from Singapore to Phuket, I decided against purchasing inflight meals.
A look at the buy-on-board options from the menu. Looking at the selection though, I felt that it was really extensive for an LCC like AirAsia.
Hence, I gazed out of the window as my source of entertainment and watched the clouds go by as we proceed towards Phuket.
View of the cabin inflight.
After a short 1h45mins, we started to descend into the beautiful skyline of Phuket, Thailand. Arrived 18 minutes behind schedule.
GROUND experience - hkt
Although Phuket Airport is quite a small airport, it was modern and immigration was efficient.
