Review of Thai Lion Air flight Ubon → Bangkok in Economy

Intro

After five busy days with the family of my wife to finally do our wedding for her parents, which of course was long due, it was now time for us to return back to Krung Thep. Given that the 5th of december is a national day in Thailand, ticket prices were quite steep and we simply chose the cheapest option for us in the early afternoon, which turned out to be Thai Lionair. A single month later, we received a notification from them that our flight was canceled and that we were rebooked to the later flight. The email did not state anything about a possibility to change to a different flight or receive a full refund and nor did any of the systems allow us to do. In the end we didn't really bother about it and let it go.

Flight

After a ride of approximately an hour, we arrived to Ubon Ratchathani's International Airport and dropped off our Sixt' rental car with the drop-off section being quite despite having two flights arriving and departing at the same time. It's quite often crawling when two aircraft are arriving, but today's a different story.

The departure hall hasn't changed much since my last departure from here last year.

Check-in was not too busy and took about five minutes to clear. A lady next to the counter asked us to weigh our handlugage if it remains below 8 kg, which it fortunately did. The friendly check-in agent pointed us about the times and wished us a pleasant trip.

While checking in, the foreigner  next to me flying with Thai Vietjet was making a scene with one of the check-in agent when she told him that he needed to pay for his luggage as he bought the cheapest fare without any add-on, while exceeding his limits. He basically expected free luggage when he opted for the cheapest fare. The check-in agent was fair and square to him to a point that she shut him down by saying that he has to pay or he will be denied boarding……

With about an hour to departure we went through security within a matter of just a minute with no lines at all and came to airside with enough seating and limited facilities, so I would highly recommend not to go to early to this airport as you'll be bored out of your mind.

The bottom floor basically had only two coffeeshops and a souvenirshop.

With about 30 minutes to departure, our aircraft parked into stand. Today's flight would be performed by HS-LGO, which is a 10.5 year old Boeing 737-800 that was newly delivered to Lion Air in July 2013. It joined the fleet of Thai Lion on the 24th of November 2023, which meant that this aircraft has only been flying with them for just over a week. 

Boarding was called right on time and went quite efficient and smoothly with a flight attendant that was very cheerful in greeting us. It's crazy to consider that the A320 of Thai Vietjet hasn't been sprayed in it's original colours up to this date yet as the former carrier is still visible.

Given that the seat next to me was already occupied by a lady, I took a shot of the row in the opposite direction to give you a view of the seat of the aircraft. To be frank the padding was decent for a low-cost, but it was definitely reducing the legroom.

The reduced legroom as you could see. I was able to fit, but my knees were kind of poking in the seat in front of me.

The literature in the seat pocket in front of you contained a safety card, BoB Menu & a Sickbag.

Individual air vents were on your seat.

An impression of the cabin.

Another impression of the cabin with blue lighting and all bins closed. This style of cabin does make it feel wider than it actually is.

Pushback was a whole minute past our scheduled departure with a quick safety demonstration. 

Roaring to cruise level.

I don't think they're selling much on those shorter domestic hubs as the flight attendants didn't come around with trolleys and basically walked past the alley with a Menu card to ask whether people were willing to order something. I think only four or five people decided to opt for something.

Though photos below show you the BoB menu Thai Lion offers .

As you can see above, the prices of the menu weren't extremely pricey, but options were quite limited ranging from six different snacks and six different light meals of which they were basically some different kind of instant noodles or soup. Though the flight attendants who were very cheerful did their best to try to sell some products.

The flight itself went on without a problem and touchdown followed soon with six minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time.

I wonder if they're ever going to scrape that 747 of Orient Thai

Parking next to a Nok Air. An airline that's currently really struggling with financing and received an official warning from the THAI CAA about the number of flight cancelations. I hope they survive as I really like the airline.

Disembarkation followed soon and went quick. Once again the flight attendants wished us a pleasant journey with the biggest smiles. All I hope it wasn't a smile to be happy for us to be gone? :)

It took about another five to ten minutes for our luggage to appear on belt no. 14. European airports often promote their technology for the luggage, yet the speed it is delivered to us is often awful compared to Asian Airports.

Thanks for stopping by!