TRIP REPORT: Back from Thailand on Tigerair (Tigerair A320)

Chiang Mai to Singapore with Tigerair, Singapore’s largest low-cost carrier

FOREWORD

This trip report is dedicated to all my team members who flew up north with me to Chiang Mai, local church 

members at Brighton Abundant Life Church (Chiang Mai), Pastors, ministry leaders, and team leaders.

BACKGROUND

This trip report will cover Tigerair’s (Tiger Airways) A320 service from Chiang Mai to Singapore, as I travelled with a group of friends from my church up to Chiang Mai for the purpose of serving God and his people in Thailand.  Tigerair is a Low-Cost Carrier (widely referred to as a ‘budget airline’) based in Singapore and has recently earned itself the right to be branded as Singapore’s largest Low-Cost Carrier.

I did not have any expectations prior to the first leg up north from Singapore to Chiang Mai as I have not travelled on a Low-Cost Carrier since 2010. This trip report will only cover the inbound flight.

DEPARTURE DAY

After a sumptuous lunch at a local restaurant on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, we hopped onto another Songthaew for the 20min shuttle to the airport. Traffic is generally congestion-free in this city, if you compare it to Bangkok for example. The airport is divided into two concourses, with the South Concourse serving mainly international flights and the Northern Concourse serving domestic flights.

However, there was a centralised check-in facility in the middle of the airport. Much alike Phuket International Airport, there is an initial round of security check before you enter the airport terminal, where you will have your baggage tagged with a pink sticker indicating prior inspection.

We then proceeded to the check-in counters to have our bags checked-in and tagged. A window seat was requested and the check-in agent duly obliged. 21F was issued for yours truly and soon everyone else had their boarding passes too.

AIRSIDE

Airside and landside facilities at Chiang Mai International Airport are located on different floors, with landside located downstairs and airside upstairs. Security and immigration was a breeze at this airport, as compared to my previous experiences at Los Angeles and Phuket, partly due to the lack of huge aircraft like 747s and A380s.

Security was standard (shoes on, laptops/iPads off). Unlike Singapore Changi Airport, there was no ‘holding pen’ or enclosed gates for passengers to gather before the flight.

FLIGHT DETAILS

Flight Route: Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX/VTCC) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS)

Flight: TR2177

Aircraft Type: Airbus A320-232

Aircraft Registration: 9V-TAF 

Gate at Origin: Gate 9

Gate at Destination: Gate E6

Cabin: Economy

Seat: 21F, later changed to 28F

Cabin load factor: 67%

Scheduled Flight Duration: 3:05

Actual Flight Duration: 2:47

FLIGHT PROPER :)

Boarding was called 30mins before scheduled departure at 1610 local time. Passengers who purchased Tigerair’s ‘Board Me First’ add-on were allowed to board prior to the other passengers, ensuring sufficient space for their hand-carry baggage. I counted less than a handful of passengers who utilised this service.

My boarding pass was checked against my passport and soon I was down a warm and stuffy jet bridge leading on to 9V-TAF, the aircraft operating the flight back to Singapore.

I was greeted at the door by one of the four cabin crew on this three hour sector and directed down the aisle to my seat. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the cabin as I looked down the aisle. It looked worn and tired and its old-school cushioned seats lacked the elegance of leather seats found on other Tigerair birds. I also discovered that seats had outrageous defects.

Good-enough seat pitch 

I proceeded to my assigned seat at 21F, nine rows ahead of the last row on this aircraft. A check on SeatGuru confirmed a narrow 29” seat pitch, barely enough even for Asian men. It was hard to imagine this aircraft plying intra-Australia routes as Tigerair Australia. Thankfully, there was enough space for me to stow my hand-carry under the seat in front of me despite the narrow seat pitch/width.

The “Cabin crew, all passengers aboard, arm doors and cross check” cue was given at 1620, 10mins before departure time. This got me a little excited as I began to entertain the thought of an early arrival into SIN. Safety demo began two minutes later and concluded at 1629.

Our technical crew then came on the microphone in an attempt to inform us of our flight route, cruising altitude, flight duration etc. However, due to her thick European accent, most of us were left wondering whether or not it was an attempt to annoy us with the frequent “ze” and “uh”s.

We were left sitting on the tarmac for a good eight minutes. Pushback began at 1637 and we lined up to face south for a departure to the north. Both engines spooled up and we started our taxi down the perimeter runway at 1639, bare on-time.

Chiang Mai International Airport is a single-runway aerodrome, with its only runway in a north-south direction. On this particular day, the wind sock was showing gusts almost perpendicular to the direction of the runway, of which I anticipated a challenging take-off roll for our technical crew. Also, Chiang Mai International Airport is known for poor visibility all year round due to smog and haze. Being situated in a valley, between a bustling city to the east and high hills to the west, added to the thrill prior to departure.

At precisely 1645, we lined up on the runway and started our take-off roll. I was able to get some good shots of the city during the initial climb out of the airport.

The seatbelt sign was switched off 10mins later and I migrated toward the aft of the aircraft, before finding plenty of empty rows and settling in 28D/E/F.

The cabin crew were released from their jumpseats and started preparations for the buy-on-board dinner service. Passengers who had pre-booked meals with the airline received theirs first. The seat pocket contained a menu booklet, appropriately titled ‘tigerbites’, for passengers intending to purchase a meal or grab a snack to choose from. I must credit Tigerair for the variety offered in the menu; from simple potato crisps to old school peanuts to classic sandwiches and hearty meals, Tigerair has covered them all. Alcohol and soft drinks were also avalible for purchase, although at outrageous prices that would make one of my close friends flip. 

He would later convince me from buying a chicken sandwich simply because of its price.

Other contents in the seat pocket included an in-flight magazine titled ‘tigertales’, an in-flight shopping catalogue titled ‘tigershop’, and a really aesthetically-pleasing safety information card titled ‘tigersafety’. I made it a point to sweep everything away from the seat pocket at the end of the flight. These contents now call my room ‘home’ and my other in-flight memorabilia ‘family’.

Service concluded in 20mins and the crew went back to the aft galley to chit-chat among themselves for the remainder of the three hour flight.

With practically no in-flight entertainment, a few of us made it a point to sprawl out and get some rest for the flight. I also observed some of my friends using their time wisely and completing their schoolwork instead of indulging in the boring activity of staring out of the windows and watching the cloud formations. I adopted a lie-flat position which used covered the entire row, also enabling me to stare out at the window for extended periods. A couple of friends  joined me and we chatted about how fulfilling the trip has been for us.

Halfway through the flight, I went to the aft galley to check if there was any interesting scenery for me to write home/instagram. Although it was a typical sunset, I was amazed and in awe at how well the cloud formations and setting sun complemented each other.

I almost succumbed to temptation and purchased a sandwich for S$12. Thankfully, Rich was there and managed to convince me against it. Bless you, my brother.

I entertained more visitors at my ‘home’ and engaged in more conversations. Common topics included spiritual growth, aviation-related topics, the flight, Malaysia 370 (which at that point was still missing) and quite interestingly, at a point, resolution of misunderstandings, all at FL380.

Nothing much happened after and there were no more interesting incidents to report.

Cabin photo. Worn, tired and dirty seats.

DESCENT/ARRIVAL

The captain came on the microphone for the first time 25mins prior to arrival, informing us in clear and audible English of our imminent descent to Singapore Changi Airport. I expected an approach for either of the runways facing north (RWY 02C and RWY 02L) and thus switched over to the last row where the ‘A’ seat was free.

At row 30A/B/C, I discovered even more defects that I thought needed the urgent attention of Tigerair’s operations and service staff.

It was interesting to note that Tigerair technical crew would instruct their cabin crew to take their seats 10mins to touchdown. At Cathay Pacific, you would hear the “cabin crew, prepare for landing” announcement 30mins prior to arrival and 15mins at Singapore Airlines. I was able to shoot a video of our approach for RWY 02L, capturing the busy shipping lanes, East Coast Park, and landmarks like the Singapore Expo and ITE College East in the video.

Approach chart for RWY 02C. I was looking at the wrong chart as we were making an approach for RWY 02L instead.

The landing was almost perfect. Light flare before touchdown and appropriately-timed deployment of spoilers (those boards you see rise up when the aircraft lands). A long taxi from RWY 02L on the west side of the airport to our gate at Terminal 2 on the east side of the airport soon followed. We were assigned Gate E6 at Terminal 2, in between another Tigerair A320 and a Scoot 777-200.

Parking brakes were set and almost immediately after, passengers began crowding over the tiny aisle, in an attempt to retrieve their baggage from the overhead compartments. Before I left the aircraft, I decided to take a gamble and asked the cabin crew (in a polite manner, of course) if I could enter the cockpit to snap a few photos and have a chat with the technical crew.

“We will get back to you, just hold on a moment”

…

“Sure, the captain is fine with it. But we will have to wait for all the passengers to disembark before you can enter”

Those few words made the flight a lot better :)

I was welcomed into the cockpit by the duo of European technical crew. I had a brief chat with the English captain about the take-off from Chiang Mai, how wind and poor visibility affects landings/departures etc. You know, the usual aviation enthusiast stuff. I also found out that our First Officer was from Switzerland, which explains her accent when speaking on the microphone.

That's yours truly on the extreme right

I bade the cabin and technical crew farewell, and made my way out of the aircraft and jet bridge.

With that, my experience on TR2177 came to an end.

SIN always impressed me with its efficiency. With less than 3 people ahead of me in the biometric lands, I completed immigration in under 5 minutes was welcomed back to Singapore. 

CONCLUSION

I hope you have enjoyed my trip report. I must apologise for the lack of photos though, I promise more on my future flights. Tigerair is definitely a good Low-Cost Carrier to fly if you are cash-strapped or do not feel the need to splurge on other Full-Service Carriers to get you from point A to point B. The crew were also efficient and business-friendly, not the overly-friendly type you encounter on Cathay Pacific, or the rude and cold ones on Singapore Airlines.

Thank you.