TRIP REPORT: Stardusting to Phnom Penh (Jetstar Asia A320)

Singapore to Phnom Penh, on Jetstar Asia budget class

BACKGROUND

This will be a short trip report, and will cover my flight to Cambodia with Jetstar Asia in mid-March 2016 with a group of friends from my church for missions work.

Founded in 2004 in response to the launch of other emerging low-cost carriers back then, Jetstar Asia has grown steadily since – jumping from just four destinations in 2004 to more than 25 across 12 countries (as of March 2016). The airline operates a common fleet of 18 Airbus A320s, which has proved itself to be a popular aircraft type for low-cost carriers in the region. The airline prides itself on offering no-frills service for cheap and affordable airfares, while other upgrades and perks may be purchased for a nominal fee.

This was to be my first flight on Jetstar, but definitely not the first time on a low-cost carrier.

AIRLINE INFO

Brief information about Jetstar Asia;

Name: Jetstar Asia Airways

IATA Code: 3K

ICAO Code: JSA

Main Base: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS)

Number of aircraft in fleet: 18

Main aircraft types: Airbus A320

Average age of fleet: 6.1 y/o

Destinations: 26

Alliance: nil

Parent company: JV between Westbrooke Investments (51%) and Qantas Airways (49%)

DEPARTURE DAY

I started my day at 9am in the morning. Had a quick shower and some last minute preparations, and we were off to the airport in Papa’s humble Sylphy. My team had arranged to meet at 11am at the Jetstar check-in row, so I had ample time to have breakfast with my family. Singaporean toast and eggs always works best.

CHECK-IN

Jetstar operates dedicated check-in rows at rows 2 and 3, with row 2 being fitted with self-check-in kiosks. These kiosks are referred to as Common-Use Self-Service (CUSS), and aims to reduce passengers’ queuing time and the dependence on check-in agents. However, Phnom Penh-bound flights were not eligible for CUSS check-in, and hence we were directed to the check-in desks at row 3.

We were flying on the first day of the week-long school term break which resulted in long queues for group check-in. This process took around 20 minutes for our group of 23 passengers. I was assigned 14D on the aisle.

Once check-in was completed, we proceeded through the formalities to have our passports checked, but not before a couple of group photos.

AIRSIDE

Some of my friends decided to grab some food from the food court located in the terminal after immigration. Other than the usual options at food courts, there were also fast food chains like Subway and Texas Chicken. I took this opportunity to have a brief session of planespotting at the central apron.

Quiet central apron

Feat. Cathay Pacific and Thai AirAsia

We made our way to the gate at C19, which was at the end of the finger pier.

Terminal 1 airside

Terminal 1 airside

FLIGHT DETAILS

Flight route: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS) to Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH/VDPP)

Flight: 3K 593

Aircraft type: Airbus A320-232(WL)

Aircraft registration: 9V-JSS

Gate at origin: C19

Gate at destination: 11

Cabin: Budget

Seat: 14D

Cabin Load Factor: 72%

Scheduled flight duration: 2:10

Actual flight duration: 1:55

Credits to their owners (:

Credits to their owners (:

BOARDING

I entered the gatehold room about 30 minutes before departure with a group of my friends. Boarding had already commenced by then and the gatehold room was relatively empty. Gate C19 shares its security facilities with gates C25 and C26.

Our boarding passes were scanned and checked against our passports, with the smaller stub being retained by the ground handling agent. We went straight on to the aircraft through the passenger loading bridge and I was on board within two minutes after security.

Fancy PLB…hmm hmm

We were greeted by Candice, the customer service manager for today’s cabin crew.

“Hello, welcome aboard!”

SEAT FEATURES

I made my way down the aisle and located my seat – 14D for the day, one row behind the emergency exit row.

The cabin for today’s flight features Jetstar Asia’s refurbished product, introduced in the early 2010s after delivery of their second batch of A320s. These seats can be differentiated from the other product by the location of the seat pocket. On the older cabin, seat pockets are located in the traditional position, under the tray table. The newer product has their seat pocket above the tray table, worked into the seat in front.

Seat pocket contents

DEPARTURE

We pushed back five minutes before the scheduled time of departure and made our way towards the departure runway for the day. I was seated on aisle seat, and thus did not manage to snap any interesting photos. Still, I was able to track our progress on flightradar24.

10 minutes after our scheduled departure time, we lined up on runway 02C and the miniature engines on our A320 spooled up to take-off thrust. We were airborne within 40 seconds, but not without battling some crosswinds on the take-off roll, evident by the slight swaying of the fuselage on the sprint down the runway.

The seatbelt signs were extinguished 15 minutes later, and our cabin crew sprang into action as they prepared for their buy-on-board service. I managed to grab a couple of overwing shots as my seatmates answered nature’s call and made a dash for the bathrooms.

CRUISE

As the crew were kept busy in the galleys stocking up various snacks and meals, I left my seat and moved rearwards in search of empty rows of seats. A check with Candice confirmed a relatively low load of 130 passengers, which works out to roughly 72%.

I settled in 29A, the window seat left-hand-side, on the second-last row of the cabin. Our cabin crew came down the aisle offering buy-on-board food and beverages, but I refrained from purchasing anything for the sector due to its short flight time and exorbitant prices. I got started on this trip report as well, as there wasn’t much to do.

View of the cabin

About an hour after departure, we encountered some turbulence – which was unlike any I’ve experienced in Southeast Asia. It was similar in intensity to that of transpacific jet streams, but thankfully nowhere near its duration. The rough air lasted around 30 minutes, but strangely enough passengers weren’t ordered back to their seats as the seatbelt signs did not come on.

It was a quite fascinating sight as I witnessed how our A320’s autopilot batted the rough air to keep us straight and level. 

PRE-DESCENT

We started our descent into Phnom Penh as soon as the turbulence ended. I could spot land from out of my window – which turned out to be the Vietnamese district of Hà Tiên, a stone’s throw away from Sihanoukville, southern Cambodia.

We got lower and lower, and were treated to some interesting landscapes over southern Cambodia.

ARRIVAL

Approaches into Phnom Penh in the March-April period are most of the time challenging, as warm coastal winds from the south rush to meet the cool spring weather up north, offering pilots and passengers the thrill of a crosswind approach.

Our approach brought us across the world-renowned Mekong River…

…and the Tonle Sap River, which flows all the way from the lake of the same name up north in Siem Reap.

Phnom Penh is located on the banks of both rivers, which merge to flow down south to the South China Sea.

We got lower and lower, and passed over numerous landmarks in downtown Phnom Penh.

The crosswinds got fiercer the lower we got, and being seated at the rear of the aircraft, I could feel every swerve and lurch as our aircraft’s trusty rudder battled to keep us aligned.

I managed to film the final approach, do check it out at this link!

Safe on the tarmac in Phnom Penh

As Phnom Penh is a relatively small airport, our aircraft did not have to taxi long to arrive at our gate. There were however a good mix of airlines from across the region that afternoon. We were guided into gate 11 within five minutes after touchdown and had the passenger loading bridge greet us almost immediately after.

Bassaka Air’s A320, China Southern’s A321 and Thai’s A320 all made an appearance in Phnom Penh that afternoon.

Pulling into our stand

Being the rear-most passenger on the flight, I did expect a long wait to deplane. I took this opportunity to settle across the aisle at 29F to work the ground handlers tossing our bags into the baggage trolley.

I thanked the crew on my way out and stepped into the unrelenting Cambodian heat.

CONCLUSION

The experience with Jetstar Asia has been a pleasant one. Though there was not much to comment about with regards to service (due to the nature of low-cost airlines), we still managed to get from point A to point B comfortably and on time. This allowed us to spring into action right after we touched down, so kudos to the airline for that.

Thank you for reading this short trip report, your comments and feedback are always appreciated!

TRIP REPORT: Homebound on the Greatest Way to Fly (Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class)

Hong Kong to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, in Business Class

BACKGROUND

This trip report will cover my recent flight over the holiday season with Singapore Airlines, my home carrier that I’ve grown to hate and love at the same time.

Singapore Airlines (or SIA, as it is more widely referred to by locals) used to be one of the best airlines in the world. At a point in time, SIA offered service that even other airlines talked about. In its heyday, SIA’s customers enjoyed many unique services that were previously unheard of, such as a choice of meals, free drinks and free headphones – even in Economy Class. SIA was also the first airline to fly the Airbus A380 (the world’s largest passenger aircraft) in 2007, otherwise known as the superjumbo or the double-decked plane.

BOOKING

Papa has accrued enough frequent flyer points prior to this trip (from his frequent intra-asia work trips) to score upgrades for the four of us for both sectors.

Booking was completed directly on SIA’s website (singaporeair.com). The airline recently launched a redesigned website, and it was running on the beta version when we made our bookings. I did not encounter any noticeable glitches or bugs throughout the process. Due to certain regulations when redeeming award tickets, my family had to split our bookings for this trip.

Passport details and frequent flyer statuses were updated, and our booking became confirmed in a matter of minutes.

We were directed to the seat selection page thereafter, and yours truly elected to go for seat 14A on the second leg of this trip, the window seat on the left-hand-side of the aircraft, in the smaller and more private forward cabin. My brother will take 15A, while my parents selected 16D and 16F, straddling our family across three rows.

AIRLINE INFO

Some information about Singapore Airlines;

Name: Singapore Airlines

IATA Code: SQ

ICAO Code: SIA

Main Base: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS)

Number of aircraft in fleet: 107

Main aircraft types: Airbus A330, Airbus A350 (66 on order), Airbus A380, Boeing 777

Average age of fleet: 7.2 y/o

Destinations: 63

Alliance: Star Alliance (joined April 2000)

DEPARTURE DAY

My day started at 0930. We decided to skip breakfast on our last day and opted to head directly to the airport instead. We had arranged for airport transfer service the night before, and after a shower we headed down to catch the shuttle, which arrived promptly at 1000.

Looking down Hennessy Road from the viaduct

Crossing Tsing Ma Bridge

The journey to Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok Airport was scheduled to take 40 minutes. Along the way to the airport, I found out which aircraft was to operate our flight back to Singapore.

The aircraft operating SQ’s A380 service to Hong Kong was the seven-year-old 9V-SKH. A check on an online forum, SQTalk, revealed that this aircraft was fitted with SQ’s new premium economy cabin.

CHECK-IN

We arrived at Terminal 1 at 1040, right on schedule. Not bad at all considering the constant peak hour traffic around downtown Kowloon and Hong Kong! The shuttle dropped us off door 1, where most of Cathay Pacific’s passengers would check-in. It was a short walk to the SQ counters located around the middle third of the terminal.

Wright Flyer model

Our passports and travel documents were presented to check-in agent, along with our baggage for the flight to Singapore. He cross-checked against his computer screens and recommended rearranging us along rows 24 and 25, further back in the rear business class cabin. We politely turned down his suggestion and he proceeded to process our boarding passes and sent our check-in baggage down to the baggage handling area for sortation and security screening.

Our boarding passes were printed and returned to us along with our passports. The boarding gate was yet to be assigned then. We were invited to use the SilverKris Lounge and proceeded through the formalities (security, immigration) which thankfully took less than ten minutes.  

LOUNGE

The SilverKris Lounge is Singapore Airline’s flagship lounge for passengers traveling in its premium classes. These lounges are operated and managed fully by the airline, and this guaranteed a consistent level of service rendered to passengers traveling in its premium classes. As we were traveling in Business for this trip, we were all eligible for entry into the same lounge. Hurrayyyyyyyy!

The lounge was located near gate 15 and was easy to locate with the aid of the signage around the airport.

Entry to the SilverKris Lounge was through a common entrance. As we handed our boarding passes to two hongkee attendants with the most well-rehearsed smile and greeting you can ever imagine. Showers were located just behind the entrance, before splitting into the First and Business Class sections.

There was a selection of alcohol and soft drinks, together with hearty main courses and dim sum around the buffet table. Singaporean favorites like assam laksa were also available on demand. I got myself some chow consisting of: douhua (tofu pudding), apple juice and haagen dazs ice cream and settled down at one of the pod-like workstations in the lounge.

I left the lounge about an hour before departure for a walk around the massive terminal building.

AIRSIDE

Hong Kong International has long been one of my favorite airports due to its expansive and spacious ambience. The terminal was not lacking in natural light, and this provided plenty of opportunities for planespotting.

Delta's N853NW

Cathay Pacific's B-HNG

Thai's HS-TGW. Spotted her up close and personal in March 2015 while transiting at BKK.

FLIGHT DETAILS

Flight route: Hong Kong International Airport (HKG/VHHH) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS)

Flight: SQ 863

Aircraft type: Airbus A380-841

Aircraft registration: 9V-SKH

Gate at origin: 15

Gate at destination: B5

Cabin: Business

Seat: 14A

Cabin Load Factor: 100%

Scheduled flight duration: 4:00

Actual flight duration: 3:55

BOARDING

I returned to the gate just as Suites and Business Class boarding was called. As security was completed before the immigration checks, there was no need for another round at the gates. I met up with my family at the gate and had our boarding passes checked before boarding. As we entered, Red Kebaya Patricia and In-flight Supervisor (IFS) Razid was standing at the door ready to greet and welcome passengers.

“Good morning Mr Lim, it’s a pleasure to see you back again! 16D, turn left please!” – as Red Kebaya Patricia greeted papa with a smile.

We turned left to enter the smaller business class cabin on the upper deck and proceeded to our assigned seats. While my brother and I were seated on the left side of the aircraft, my parents took the chance to enjoy a little privacy as they were seated on the last row on the cabin, in 16D and 16F.

Blue Kebaya Angeline then went from seat to seat to introduce herself as the cabin crew serving our section. Pre-departure beverages were offered, and I took this opportunity to have my first legal glass of champagne.

SEAT FEATURES

While the rest of the passengers boarded, I began exploring the seat’s features. The business class product offered on SQ’s A380s are branded as the ‘long-haul business class’ on the airline’s websites. Introduced in 2006 on the 777-300ERs, these seats boasted a glorious seat pitch of 55” and seat width of 31”. The width is better than the seat pitches of low-cost carriers like Tigerair and Jetstar Asia, where their seat pitch is a meagre 29”. This product has won numerous awards and still remains one of the top business class products in the world today.

Yours truly in the amazing seat

There was a little cubby in the seat for passengers to extend their legs

Season's Greetings

Food menu

Numerous options for passengers to charge/stream from their devices

And a spectacle receptacle, which I used to store my phone 

Seat controls and the IFE remote are positioned on the side, and included buttons to adjust the level of recline, reading lamp, and cabin crew call bells.

I booted up the KrisWorld entertainment system and began browsing through some of the selections from the 15.4” wide screen.

DEPARTURE

20 minutes later, Captain Patrick Tan came on the microphone to welcome passengers on the flight. A smooth flight to Singapore was predicted. I just finished my champagne and went on to select the best IFE channel on any flight – the moving map.

We pushed back pretty soon after, right on time at 1410, and the all-too-familiar safety video was played on every PTV screen in the aircraft.

"Fasten your seat belt, and tighten it"

9V-STN was spotted at the adjacent gate. She completed SQ 856 and was resting at the gate having arrived 20 minutes prior, before her return flight to Singapore.

A relatively long taxi to the runway followed, and we passed by many aircraft of various types and airlines.

Solo Jetstar Pacific against many Cathay Pacifics

Jetstar Asia's 9V-JSU. I would later fly on two of her siblings in three months time

Lil' Corporate Jet, N15VC

The taxiing to the active runway took 25 minutes..

At 1437, we lined up on runway 7R and the aircraft began her take-off roll. The A380 was really quiet and being seated ahead of the engines, I didn’t hear much noise at all. We were airborne soon after.

"Cabin crew, prepare for take-off"

"Singapore 863 super, cleared for take-off, runway 07-right"

The video of the take off roll can be found here;

Housing estates in the town of Tuen Mun

A right turn followed, and Kowloon came into sight

Zoomed in photo showing the Kowloon Peninsula. Kai Tak can be seen in the background

Victoria Harbour

The seat belt signs were extinguished about 10 minutes later, and Blue Kebaya Angeline appeared at my seat to offer a second round of beverages and to distribute slippers and socks.

SQ's idea of an 'amenity kit'

Slippers and socks is SQ’s idea of an amenity kit, though the airline is known to distribute eyeshades on redeye or longer flights. This is a huge difference from other mainstream carriers, as airlines like Emirates and Lufthansa are well-known for their aesthetically-pleasing and chic amenity kit designs. Still, slippers and socks were perfectly fine for a 4hour lunchtime flight.

Blue Kebaya Angeline returned 5 minutes later to take our meal orders, and I chose to go with the sea bass option.

I was beginning to get bored and jumped out of the moving map channel, only for this to happen.

I rang the cabin crew call bell, and red kebaya Patricia appeared in seconds. Noticing what the screen was showing, Patricia proceeded to reboot it for me, while assuring me everything will be back to normal within 10 minutes.

 I took this opportunity to explore the different cabins of the aircraft, except the Suites Class cabin of course.

The aft Business Class cabin

Premium Economy cabin, located on the lower deck just behind the Suites cabin. Frequented by snobs as I would find out from my friends and my own personal experience...

MEAL SERVICE

When I returned to my seat, blue kebayas Angeline and Sharon were already walking around the cabin to set our tables for lunch. The tablecloth was laid, and soon the much-anticipated meal service began!

The appetizer was served;

Smoked Duck with Lemon Mint Salad with line and honey vinaigrette

The duck was well-seasoned and tender, and went well with the dressing. I finished everything on that plate except the onions, because I absolutely detest onions. While passengers enjoyed the appetizers, red kebaya Patricia went around the cabin offering passengers some breads to go along between the appetizer and entree. I went with the garlic bread.

Soon after, the appetizers were cleared and entrees were brought out from the galley plate by plate instead of serving them from carts and trays.

Pan Fried Fillet of Sea Bass with poached vegetable, steamed potatoes and olive caper tomato sauce 

The fish was fresh and flaky, but was really bland. Thumbs down for SQ’s HKG-based caterer :(

Really cute salt...

... and pepper shakers

Our plates were cleared after most of the passengers were done with their entrée.

Angeline and Sharon came down the aisle once again to offer desserts, cheese and post-entrée beverages. I elected to go with the Christmas-themed treat of log cake, against the other choices of ice-cream, cheese and fruits.

Merry Christmas to one and all

The cake wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t that bad either.

CRUISE

The meal service came to an end our tables were cleared. Inflight Wi-Fi was available on that aircraft, and with compliments of DBS Bank (a major bank in Singapore), passengers in the premium classes were treated to 15mb of complimentary Internet access. The service was provided by OnAir. All we had to do was to search for the Wi-Fi signal from our smartphones, and were automatically brought to the log-in page.

I used my 15mb of data to send a few texts for the sake of novelty.

There was nothing much to do from then on, and I carried on watching my movie. That is, until I knew what was to come…

SURPRISED

About 30 minutes after the service, I flipped through the beverage menu and pressed the crew button after deciding what I wanted. Blue kebaya Angeline responded promptly within 15 seconds, and I ordered myself a nice cup of mocha. SQ had actual espresso machines onboard their A380s.

My mocha didn’t come for about 10 minutes. Knowing that a wait of more than 10 minutes for a drink is unacceptable for Business Class, I was about to press the crew button again when…

“Happy Birthday to you~~”

Blue Kebayas Angeline, Sharon, two other green kebayas and my family appeared by my seat to sing a birthday song for me. One of the cabin crew brought a tray assembled with a birthday card, a mango cake, a glass of champagne, some memorabilia, as well as my mocha. Seems like they didn’t forget about it after all!

I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful gesture and certainly brought my experience with SQ to new heights.

PRE-DESCENT

Around an hour before our scheduled arrival in Singapore, Captain Patrick came on the microphone to inform the passengers about the weather conditions and estimated time of arrival in Singapore. We were going to be five minutes ahead of schedule (though I wished we could have another five hours to go. Heehee)

I had a small slice of the cake and shared the rest with the crew and my family.

ARRIVAL

Weather conditions were bad in Singapore that day. Though there wasn’t any rain or severe wind shear, the presence of large clouds blocked out most of the sun, depriving passengers of the sights of the famous harbour approach into Singapore’s RWY 02L/02C.

Cloud and visibility definitely not okay

We started descending lower and lower, and I switched to the air map channel as I would on every flight. Kodaline and Passenger were put on replay for the approach.

Above Tioman

Nothing else really happened for the rest of the flight, and before we knew it, we were already line up on a good 10-mile approach for RWY 02L.

Cloud and visibility definitely not okay

First part of the harbour

Bedok Jetty and East Coast Park

Over Xilin Ave and the NEWater plant

Changi Business Park, aka Chang-alore

Changi City Point

"Approaching minimums..."

SASCO

We touched down and made a quick taxi to the assigned gate at Gate B5.

Papa had arranged for a cockpit visit with IFS Razid prior to arrival, and once all the other 400+ passengers had disembarked, I made my way with my family down the forward stairs for a visit to the superjumbo’s flight deck. The flight was crewed by three captains (four stripes) and a senior first officer (three stripes). My request to take photos of the cockpit was rejected, but understandable as the technical crew are never obliged to accede to such requests. After a quick conversation with the four gentlemen, I bade farewell to them and the cabin crew and left the aircraft.

With that, the Singapore Airlines Business Class experience came to an end.

Immigration was quick and easy, as per normal, and we collected our baggage from the carousel all in a matter of 10 minutes. A short walk to the taxi stand at Terminal 3 marked the end of the holiday, and we were home within 45 minutes after arrival.

CONCLUSION

I thoroughly enjoyed myself with Singapore Airlines that day. The crew on the flight played a huge role towards the overall positive experience. Celebrating my birthday with me certainly sealed my impressions of the airline, and brought expectations and impressions to greater heights.

The HKG-SIN sector is never an easy flight for the crew too. Other than the relatively short service time that they had to contend with (most A380 flights are over seven hours), they also had to prepare the cabin for the return sector after the first leg up without much rest. Unlike flights to North Asia, Australia, Europe and the US, cabin crew on HKG flights do not get to layover in Hong Kong for a night.

Even so, the airline still has much to improve, whether is it against the threat posed by the emerging Middle Eastern carriers (Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad), they also have to be aware of the competitive prices offered by other carriers on similar routes as well. SQ still charges 10-20% higher than other full-service carriers on some intra-asia routes.

Thank you for reading this trip report, and as always, your feedback is appreciated :)

Special thanks to my friends (DN, LT, DK and YN for making this TR possible)