Welcome to this short flight report of my short trip to Penang over the Vesak Day long weekend.
This will be my first time flying AirAsia so I kept my expectations low, expecting the bare minimum of just getting my friends and I safely to Penang.
Enchainement de vols
- 1AK1720 - Singapore to Penang
- 2AK1729 - Penang to Singapore
Air Asia uses Terminal 4 at Changi Airport, the least convenient terminal since it requires a shuttle bus from Terminals 1 to 3. I caught a public bus to get there.
Changi Airport Terminal 4 Blossom Lounge
As I had priority passes to spare, I visited the Changi Airport T4 Blossom lounge to make myself comfortable before my flight.
As it was breakfast, the lounge was stocked with breakfast food. There was a fridge full of delicious Udders ice cream, a local Singaporean brand. There were only 2 flavours: Salted caramel and Mango sorbet.
There was also a salad bar for people to get their dietary fibre intake.
A small bakery area contained croissants, mini muffins and even a pancake maker.
I got myself some food and enjoyed a can of fruity Taiwanese beer.
In addition to these, the other hot food offerings were laksa made to order, fried noodles, fried chicken pieces, chapati and dhal.
There was also a fridge full of juices, tea, alcohol and a coca-cola dispenser.
In my opinion, a good lounge to be in before your flight, but don't expect Singapore hawker level standard of food.
Soon enough, it was time to board. Ferrying us to Penang is 9M-AHZ, an A320 that's almost 16 years old at the time of writing. Once again, I kept my expectations low before I boarded.
Inflight experience: Good food, gets the job done
I went to 15C after boarding. As a man who is 1.77m tall, legroom was pathetic. I think the seat pitch is 28 inches. This was me seated completely upright, and my knees already touched the seat pocket.
Anybody who is taller than me should pay for an extra legroom seat to preserve your sanity and kneecaps.
Flight time was announced to be 1h 5 minutes, but the actual duration was 59 minutes. Thank goodness!
The crew got around to begin serving pre-ordered meals as soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off.
As Air Asia's meals are very reasonably priced, I pre-ordered myself a Bukhara chicken biryani, together with coconut water. I believe it cost me around S$7 to S$9, way cheaper than Scoot's meals.
I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the food was. Now I have a good reason to fly Air Asia. The food! I would try the nasi lemak next time.
The plane landed with a loud thud on the runway, startling most people.
As we did not purchase any baggage, we spent around 20 minutes clearing the entirety of Penang customs and continued our short break.
