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.
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Quiet central apron
|
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Feat. Cathay Pacific and
Thai AirAsia
|
We
made our way to the gate at C19, which was at the end of the finger pier.
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Terminal 1 airside
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Terminal 1 airside
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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
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Credits to their owners (:
|
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Credits to their owners (:
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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.
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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.
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Seat pocket contents
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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.
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View of the cabin
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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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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Bassaka Air’s A320, China
Southern’s A321 and Thai’s A320 all made an appearance in Phnom Penh that
afternoon.
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Pulling into our stand
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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!
