Background
I early 2011 my friend Satchmo and I decided to go on a spotting trip to Asia in late October. We had been planning to visit Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from the very beginning and focused on getting on Qantas' A380 between LHR and SIN. I had flown Qantas before, but I wanted to increase the number of A380 carriers in my log to five. At a later date, we also decided to include Jakarta where we had never been before. Of course we tried to get as many new airlines and interesting types as possible and it took a while to create an exciting itinerary. Finally, we booked 10 flights operated by 8 different carriers (including four new ones) and reserved hotel rooms in Singapore (one night), Kuala Lumpur (one night), Jakarta (two nights) and Bangkok (one night). We exclusively combined one-way flights and one-way combos, so we had eight different flight reservations in the end. Here's what the preliminary itinerary looked like:
Munich-London
London-Singapore
Singapore-Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta
Jakarta-Singapore
Singapore-Phuket
Phuket-Bangkok
Bangkok-Mumbai
Mumbai-London
London-Munich
While Satchmo was planning to use our entire time at Jakarta for taking pictures, I decided to squeeze in a domestic day trip. I found an interesting combo on two new carriers and added three more flights:
Now I was looking forward to 13 flights on 10 different carriers - including 6 new ones - and 4 widebodies (details to follow in the next parts). At that point of time I couldn't imagine that I would end up on 14 flights, 7 new airlines and 5 widebodies.
After a short, but relaxing night at the Changi Village Hotel we returned to the airport about two hours before departure. We had failed to check in online in the evening before, but we hadn't been surprised considering that we had only received an Air India reservation code after making our booking on CheapTickets. Codeshare partner Air India had sold that early morning Singapore Airlines flight (SQ106 = AI7244) much cheaper than the operator. We hadn't been able to reserve seats in advance either - and our first names had even been confused with our last names in the reservation. But we had definitely entered our names correctly...
The friendly SIA check-in agent didn't mention the names issue at all, but we failed to get decent seats. Apparently most passengers had either pre-reserved their seats or checked in much earlier - SQ106 is probably mostly used as a connecting flight. We got possibly the worst seats on the plane - middle seats in the first row of Economy Class. However, we didn't mind so much because we were still glad that we had arrived in Singapore in due time after all the hassle caused by the Qantas grounding (you can find all details here).
We still had plenty of time left for some airside spotting. Here's 9V-SKK, the one and only A380 delivered to SIA in 2010:
Picture by Satchmo
VT-JBE is one of 46 737-800s in the Jet Airways fleet. Expect to see a PlaneHunter report about such a bird soon:
Picture by Satchmo
I logged 24 new registrations until departure - in addition to 17 on the day before. That's not bad considering that I could only spend a relatively short time for spotting at SIN, other than originally planned. Now I'm hoping that I can make up for that during my next visit in May.
When we returned to the gate, we found 9V-STE being prepared for our flight to Kuala Lumpur:
Picture by Satchmo
The plane was delivered in April 2009 and is one of 19 A330-343Es in the fleet. 15 more frames are on order.
Friendly flight attendants welcomed us on board - but that's what to expect on SIA. However, what I don't like about the famous "Singapore Girls" is the extensive use of makeup - some of them look as if they wear masks!
The 19-inch wide seats are exactly the same ones as on the A380 and the 777-300ER - a bit hard, but still comfortable:
Unlike many people, I don't like the bulkhead rows, because I cannot entirely stretch out my legs:
Modern handset (stored in the immovable armrests) with LED channel display and qwerty keyboard on the back:
Shopping guide and inflight magazine:
I didn't find a mistake this time - well done, SIA:
The KrisWorld IFE guide informs about 140 movies, 180+ TV programs, 779 CDs, 22 radio channels and 80+ games:
After boarding had been completed, the captain made a welcome speech and announced a flying time of 40 minutes for this short segment - SIA's shortest, by the way. The captain also referred to a cruising altitude of 6000 meters.
Safety video:
My favorite feature:
We had been pushed back almost on time, but it took 24 more minutes until 9V-STE started its unspectacular takeoff roll.
The flight attendants left their seats shortly after takeoff and Satchmo quickly went to the back of our section to take a cabin picture:
Picture by Satchmo
I guess the SIN-KUL and KUL-SIN sectors are the only ones in the SIA network without food service in Economy Class, but we were offered tea and coffee, served on small trays:
Exactly 14 minutes after takeoff, the captain announced that descent would begin in three minutes...the flight attendants really had to hurry now!
Almost there:
Other than originally announced, we already touched down after a flying time of only 32 minutes. After all other passengers had left the cabin, Satchmo took some more cabin pictures. Pleasant colors:
Picture by Satchmo
At least one shot through a window:
Picture by Satchmo
We took the Aerotrain to the main terminal and quickly passed immigration - it's such a pleasure to enter Malaysia. After grabbing our luggage, we picked up our reserved rental car and started looking for acceptable spotting spots.
Kuala Lumpur Spotting
If you don't have a car, you can visit the observation deck in the main terminal. But be aware that it's difficult to take decent pictures through the windows. Apart from that, many planes are too far away. The facility is nice for registration spotters, though.
The main terminal and satellite gates can be quite deserted depending on the time of the day:
These birds have meanwhile been integrated into the Malaysia Airlines fleet:
Even if you have a car, it may be difficult to find a good spot in these days. Due to construction work for the new low cost terminal, certain roads were not accessible. Unfortunately, it was impossible to find a place to take pictures of approaching aircraft. Finally, we discovered a spot in a piece of jungle from where we could see departing aircraft. Unfortunately, most Malaysia Airlines narrowbodies weren't high enough yet because they don't taxi all the way to the end of the runway from their main terminal or satellite gates.
Here's our Proton - a Malaysian car, btw:
It was sad to see all the trash lying around:
Nevertheless, I guess one should always keep a proper distance to the dense bushes - you never know what creatures may live there.
In the course of several hours we saw many interesting planes and Satchmo was able to take very nice pictures. What we liked most were the AirAsia logojets. This is 9M-AFB, AirAsia's second A320, wearing "Junior Jet Club" colors:
Picture by Satchmo
9M-AFE is promoting the ASEAN Basketball League:
Picture by Satchmo
9M-AFK in "WOW" colors has meanwhile been transferred to Indonesia AirAsia as PK-AXS:
Picture by Satchmo
9M-AFQ is promoting the "Zoom! Malaysia" tourism campaign:
Picture by Satchmo
9M-AHQ wears the dark blue and orange colors of BankRakyat:
Picture by Satchmo
Traffic was really low during certain times of the day, but what can you do? In the late afternoon we had dinner at the airport and finally went to the Concorde Inn hotel which is located about three minutes away from the main terminal (by car). The hotel is nothing to write home about. It reminded me of military barracks, but it was acceptable for one night. On the next morning we continued spotting from the jungle location for a while and finally returned the car by noon.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, RR: 79 Reply 1, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 17789 times:
Tuesday, November 2011
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Jakarta (CGK)
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL809
Scheduled times: 17:10-18:10
Actual times: 17:10-17:57
Flight duration: 01:31 (hrs)
Distance: 699 miles
Economy Class, seat 58J
Boeing 777-306ER
PH-BVC (s/n 787), named "Sian Ka’an National Park"
Delivered in 05/2009
1st flight on PH-BVC
6th 777-300ER flight
30th 777 flight
After returning the car, we printed our boarding passes at a check-in kiosk. We were glad that the 777-300ER was back on the route as originally planned. Some weeks after booking, KLM had switched to the -200ER which I had already flown on. Finally, the -300ER showed up again. All nine two-seat-rows had only been available for an extra charge, so we had reserved a window and an aisle seat in the last 3-4-3 configured row.
While Satchmo went straight to the gate area, I stayed some more time at the observation deck. Three hours before departure I was finally able to get rid of our suitcase and went to the satellite building, too. I logged a total of 98 new registrations during our two-day stay which wasn't bad.
Satchmo had managed to take a nice picture of Firefly 737-800 9M-FFF during the Aerotrain ride - user Initious knows that plane well:
Picture by Satchmo
You find a piece of rainforest behind glass in the middle of the satellite building:
Picture by Satchmo
9M-MTD is one of Malaysia Airlines' new A330-300Es - too much white for my taste:
Picture by Satchmo
Here's another relatively new A330-300, AirAsia X 9M-XXH:
Picture by Satchmo
Satchmo was on the right spot when our KLM plane arrived:
Picture by Satchmo
Here it is at the gate – PH-BVC, one of five Boeing 777-300ERs in the fleet, delivered in May 2009:
Awesome plane, beautiful livery:
Picture by Satchmo
KLM's 77Ws are named after renowned national parks. Sian Ka'an is a biosphere reserve in Mexico:
Picture by Satchmo
Shortly before boarding, the gate area was totally crowded. I had only seen a fraction of arriving passengers immediately turning into the gate, so most people had booked the 5th freedom flight between KUL and CGK. I guess KLM is quite popular on the route due to its relatively low fares.
Friendly flight attendants welcomed us on board - that's what you can usually rely on when flying KLM. "Economy" it says on the head rest covers - isn't that more than obvious when you find ten seats in a row on a 777?
Picture by Satchmo
Picture by Satchmo
KLM wants an extra €30 if you want to reserve a seat in a row of two:
Picture by Satchmo
Seat width 17.5 inches, pitch 31 inches:
At least the handset is located next to the screen and not in the armrest. And we were glad about the lack of an IFE box. The seat itself wasn’t bad, but if you have to sit in the middle between two people, the lack of elbow/shoulder space is annoying. I felt more cramped than on Emirates’ 3-4-3 configured 777s - probably because KLM offers less legroom:
While the cabin was in good condition in general, I noticed many scratches on the frames of the aisle seats - most likely a result of trolleys crashing into them while being moved through the narrow aisle.
Welcome screen:
Language selection:
Main menu:
KLM's latest IFE system offers more than 900 hours of interactive entertainment, including more than 80 movies, numerous TV programs, hundreds of CDs, language courses, audio books and games.
Headphones:
Safety card and inflight magazine:
I couldn’t find any mistake here either - well done, KLM:
After boarding had been completed, the captain made a welcome speech and announced a flying time of 1 hour and 40 minutes. We left the gate exactly on time and rolled onto the runway only 12 minutes later.
Takeoff into grey skies...
Picture by Satchmo
Picture by Satchmo
...and thick and high clouds:
Picture by Satchmo
I watched nothing else than the airshow:
Dinner was served half an hour after takeoff. There wasn't a choice and I was skeptical that it would be a "delicious meal" as advertised on the pretty foil:
The main course presentation was okay...
...but neither the chicken satay nor the rice tasted good. That main course reminded me of a cheap instant meal from the supermarket. The chocolate cake with vanilla sauce and the cucumber and apple salad weren't bad, but the latter contained hard pieces of apple skin.
I had a chilled Heineken with the meal - but I can only wonder why they introduced these tiny 250ml cans:
The scenery outside looked threatening in the evening sun - these thick clouds appeared while we were still flying at cruising altitude:
Picture by Satchmo
Picture by Satchmo
Less than 30 minutes before landing, we went to the rear galley to get some more interior shots. The cabin was packed:
Picture by Satchmo
When Satchmo was blocking the aisle while taking cabin pictures, the purser - a tall blonde lady - wanted to pass. However, she didn't want to disturb him and kept waiting patiently. Then Satchmo noticed her and apologized, but she smiled and asked if he was satisfied with his pictures. We soon found ourselves in a very nice conversation and we told her about our hobby, our trip and the fact that I write reports. She was positively surprised about that. "So how did we perform?", she asked. I replied that the "crew is great as usual on KLM", but we also expressed our dislike for the 3-4-3 configuration and the limited seat pitch.
A male flight attendant who had served us before was passing and told her with a wink: "Don't tell them too much, these guys took pictures of everything!" Even though the plane had already started descending, we continued talking for a while. Finally, she wrote down the airliners.net web address as well as my username and asked for our seat numbers.
Shortly after we had returned to our seats, the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses offered to international Business Class passengers since the 1950s. That was a great surprise!
Beautiful light effects...
Picture by Satchmo
...and beautiful raked wingtip:
Picture by Satchmo
Final approach:
Picture by Satchmo
We touched down after a flying time of 1 hour and 31 minutes and arrived at our Terminal 2 gate 13 minutes ahead of schedule.
There were no lines at visa sales counters, but we were stuck in a queue at immigration. The officer wasn't friendly at all and asked me numerous questions. We were finally able to pick up our suitcase and started looking for the way to the Jakarta Airport Hotel located right above arrivals at Terminal 2E. The terminal halls are old, crowded and not cooled appropriately, so we were glad when we could finally enter the hotel lobby. Friendly receptionists welcomed us and quickly handed out the room key cards.
The hotel is showing its age and the rates aren't cheap, but the location is excellent if you don't want to leave the airport. You can even enjoy great apron and runway views from the room. Here's our KLM 77W again, ready for its return journey to Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam:
Later in the evening, we took a shuttle bus to Terminal 1 to have a look at the spotting facilities and the area where my Sriwijaya Air domestic flight would depart from on the next morning. Story to be continued...
Conclusion
There's not much to say about the short hop on Singapore Airlines. The carrier's A330s are equipped with comfortable seats and the latest IFE system, flight attendants and ground staff members were friendly as usual. We had wanted to try the airline's A330, but under normal circumstances I wouldn't pay SIA's "premium fares" which may be twice, thrice or four times as high as the low cost competition's fares on the route.
Average catering, bad seat comfort, but good IFE system and great crew - that's how I would summarize the flight on KLM. The flight attendants and the purser in particular turned this flight experience into a very positive one in the end. While I would avoid these 3-4-3 configured 77Ws on long-haul flights, I would consider KLM again between KUL and CGK due to its low fares.
infodesk From Switzerland, joined May 2006, 1245 posts, RR: 34 Reply 3, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 17237 times:
Hi PH,
How exciting to enjoy two relatively short flights on widebodies. I'm impressed that SQ found time to serve tea & coffee, must be tough for the crew. The meal looked on KLM looked good,(even if it didn't taste it) for a flight of that length.
Satchmo got some lovely shots of the clouds on the KUL-CGK leg, very effective.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): You find a piece of rainforest behind glass in the middle of the satellite building:
Such a nice change from standard airport architecture.
That legroom does look tight, wouldn't fancy a long flight.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Shortly after we had returned to our seats, the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses offered to international Business Class passengers since the 1950s. That was a great surprise!
What a nice gesture and warmly welcomed I'm sure. Those Delft houses do quite well on ebay I've noticed!
Happy flying
Infodesk
"Do nothing in haste, look well to each step and from the beginning think what may be the end" - Edward Whymper
volvair From Germany, joined Oct 2011, 167 posts, RR: 10 Reply 4, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 17234 times:
Servus PH,
great continuation of your TR series. Good to see that this part of your journey went much smoother than the ride down to SIN. Also very good to see your TR backlog clearing up. Mine could need some clearing, too
Thanks a lot for including Satchmo's pictures as well. The captures of the sunset on your flight to Jakarta are exceptionally stunning!
SQ seem to be okay on what is certainly one of the shortest A330 hops out there.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter):
I had a chilled Heineken with the meal - but I can only wonder why they introduced these tiny 250ml cans:
Well, because it's Heineken and 250ml of that "fish-water" should suffice . Same goes for the 250ml Warsteiner bottles LH has on domestic hops
Great to hear about your positive experience with KL. I need to fly them soon!
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 5, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 17234 times:
Hi PH!
Great report as usual!
Looks like your traveling in Asia went better than the trip to get there. It will be interesting to read if that trend continues.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Unlike many people, I don't like the bulkhead rows, because I cannot entirely stretch out my legs:
While I do enjoy the occasional bulkhead seat, I must say that I agree with you, for the same reason.
Quoting nipoel123 (Reply 2): Thanks for the lovely read, I'm looking forward to the next part,
Hi Nick, thanks for your comments!
Quoting nipoel123 (Reply 2): Good to see that you enjoyed your KL flight. This summer, I'll be trying them out myself.
Hopefully you won't spend 12 hours on the 77W!
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): How exciting to enjoy two relatively short flights on widebodies.
Hi Hannah, thanks for your reply! Yes, we had tried to include some widebody hops from the very beginning.
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): I'm impressed that SQ found time to serve tea & coffee, must be tough for the crew.
No doubt about that! Would be interesting to know what they have to serve in J Class.
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): Satchmo got some lovely shots of the clouds on the KUL-CGK leg, very effective.
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): That legroom does look tight, wouldn't fancy a long flight.
I wouldn't recommend that!
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): What a nice gesture and warmly welcomed I'm sure.
Absolutey!
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): Those Delft houses do quite well on ebay I've noticed!
Interesting. But I will keep them.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): great continuation of your TR series.
Servus volvair, many thanks for your feedback!
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): Good to see that this part of your journey went much smoother than the ride down to SIN.
Yes, I was glad about that.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): Also very good to see your TR backlog clearing up. Mine could need some clearing, too
Well, there's still lots of work ahead. I won't be able to clear the backlog before the next bunch of interesting flights.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): Thanks a lot for including Satchmo's pictures as well. The captures of the sunset on your flight to Jakarta are exceptionally stunning!
Yes, these pictures are awesome.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): SQ seem to be okay on what is certainly one of the shortest A330 hops out there.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4): Well, because it's Heineken and 250ml of that brackwater should suffice . Same goes for the 250ml Warsteiner bottles LH has on domestic hops
They should introduce Bavarian beer.
Quoting volvair (Reply 4):
Great to hear about your positive experience with KL. I need to fly them soon!
Flew it in the opposite direction, my first flight on an A333, and my first visit to Singapore. Short but great flight, and SIN was amazing.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): SQ106 is probably mostly used as a connecting flight. We got possibly the worst seats on the plane - middle seats in the first row of Economy Class.
Interesting, my flight from KUL to SIN had one of the lowest load factors I have ever encountered, around 30% I'd say. I had 3 rows (=24 seats) to myself in the back. I did find that they were loading quite a lot of cargo at KUL.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): We had been pushed back almost on time, but it took 24 more minutes until 9V-STE started its unspectacular takeoff roll.
I found my take-off to be quite spectacular, one of the shortest rolls I ever felt, and an amazing left turn right over the airport!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Jakarta (CGK)
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL809
Flew that one too, after AK took me back to KUL from SIN. It felt good to fly KLM and experience a bit of Dutch after being away from home for over a month.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): I had only seen a fraction of arriving passengers immediately turning into the gate, so most people had booked the 5th freedom flight between KUL and CGK. I guess KLM is quite popular on the route due to its relatively low fares.
Same meal as I had. Nothing to special, especially after you've had some real chicken satay in Kuala Lumpur.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Shortly after we had returned to our seats, the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses offered to international Business Class passengers since the 1950s. That was a great surprise!
Nice gesture!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Later in the evening, we took a shuttle bus to Terminal 1 to have a look at the spotting facilities and the area where my Sriwijaya Air domestic flight would depart from on the next morning.
I also had a flight the next morning, to DPS. Did you stay in a hotel in the city or at the airport. If the latter, which hotel did you stay in, if I may inquire?
Quoting infodesk (Reply 3): I'm impressed that SQ found time to serve tea & coffee, must be tough for the crew. The meal looked on KLM looked good,(even if it didn't taste it) for a flight of that length
Air Asia even performed a full round of BOB as well as serving a few pre-ordered (hot) meals!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): Like I said on FB, brings back memories to my flights on SQ107 and KL809 last november!
What a coincidence!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): Flew it in the opposite direction, my first flight on an A333, and my first visit to Singapore. Short but great flight, and SIN was amazing.
Sounds great! Singapore is a great city.
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): Interesting, my flight from KUL to SIN had one of the lowest load factors I have ever encountered, around 30% I'd say. I had 3 rows (=24 seats) to myself in the back. I did find that they were loading quite a lot of cargo at KUL.
I guess SQ106 is a popular connecting flight.
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): I found my take-off to be quite spectacular, one of the shortest rolls I ever felt, and an amazing left turn right over the airport!
Interesting. But everything feels different from a middle seat in the front.
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): It felt good to fly KLM and experience a bit of Dutch after being away from home for over a month.
Yes, I can understand that!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7): Nothing to special, especially after you've had some real chicken satay in Kuala Lumpur.
akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2334 posts, RR: 53 Reply 9, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 16962 times:
PH, PH,
Do I read what I read? Pinch me! Pinch me!
Were you really coming to my home country Indonesia? You were!
I had to.. I just had to read every single word of this special trip report. So indulging, so delightfully sweet, so exciting… and so quick the story came to an end.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): At a later date, we also decided to include Jakarta where we had never been before.
The best decision. I do hope more fellow A.netters will follow your example.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): and our first names had even been confused with our last names in the reservation. But we had definitely entered our names correctly...
I believe you. What about this? Herman and I unintentionally swap identity for our upcoming flight with Silkair.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): what I don't like about the famous "Singapore Girls" is the extensive use of makeup - some of them look as if they wear masks!
SQ just has to hire another cosmeticians. If you remark, than there is definitely something to be addressed immediately!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): I had a chilled Heineken with the meal - but I can only wonder why they introduced these tiny 250ml cans:
I would say, abandon Heineken. I wonder why KL did not offer Tiger instead?
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): ...but neither the chicken satay nor the rice tasted good.
What a pity. Both of them look so tasty.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): When Satchmo was blocking the aisle while taking cabin pictures, the purser - a tall blonde lady - wanted to pass. However, she didn't want to disturb him and kept waiting patiently. Then Satchmo noticed her and apologized, but she smiled and asked if he was satisfied with his pictures.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): A male flight attendant who had served us before was passing and told her with a wink: "Don't tell them too much, these guys took pictures of everything!" Even though the plane had already started descending, we continued talking for a while. Finally, she wrote down the airliners.net web address as well as my username and asked for our seat numbers.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): Shortly after we had returned to our seats, the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses offered to international Business Class passengers since the 1950s.
I am amazed. Truly amazed! The crew members have set a notable example. Vueling (especially Sara), do you read this?
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): The officer wasn't friendly at all and asked me numerous questions.
Sad but true fact of most CGK’s immigration officials.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 1): Here's our KLM 77W again, ready for its return journey to Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam:
Gorgeous picture!
PH, I got a feeling that today did not go too well at the office, but you have made my evening with this cheering story. Thank you so much.
With all excitements you can ever imagine, I am looking forward to the next part.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7):
I found my take-off to be quite spectacular, one of the shortest rolls I ever felt, and an amazing left turn right over the airport!
Interesting. But everything feels different from a middle seat in the front.
That's true!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 8): Quoting roberts87 (Reply 7):
Did you stay in a hotel in the city or at the airport.
We stayed two nights in the Jakarta Airport Hotel. Where did you stay at?
I stayed at the FM Resort Hotel. On the expensive side, but a nice spa/pool and restaurant on sight, as well as a personal pick up service.
eicvd From Ireland, joined Mar 2008, 2068 posts, RR: 5 Reply 11, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 16876 times:
Hi PlaneHunter
Another great report, an excellent read just like part 1. I really like those light effect pics from the KL flight, beautiful scenes like that can make great flights even better. Looking forward to reading the next few reports from this trip, your domestic flights around Indonesia sound very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Dublin, where Sam Maguire will be coming home to in mid September
FLIEGER67 From Turkey, joined Sep 2003, 4391 posts, RR: 57 Reply 12, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 16857 times:
Hey, Udo,
sure a great read, That´s what I call a perfectly timed story with my arrival from SIN earlier today.
KL sounds really good on this route, interesting, definitely.
Looking forward to you´re Indonesia domestic experience now.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Finally, she wrote down the airliners.net web address as well as my username
Could it be another possbile future A.netter ?
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses
It sure is very nice of her to give your the amenity kits and the Delft houses .
Thank your for writing this TR . I always enjoy your and Satchmo´s pictures and I love how detailed your TR´s are .
AlwaysOnAPlane From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2010, 299 posts, RR: 2 Reply 14, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days ago) and read 16519 times:
Hi PH.
Great report again.
Good to hear things ran nice and smooth at this point.
Cool that you got the SQ A330. I remember last time I flew SQ they were just being introduced. I actually took the SIN-KUL shuttle just for fun during one of my stays in Singapore, back then on the 772 when they still had a F cabin on this route. Well, it was a SQ regional style J seat but with an F on the glassware and napkins. Quite a nice meal offered though.
KUL is a funny kind of airport. So big, yet such little traffic as you pointed out in your report. I love the indoor rainforest though.
Really good to see some of these different "themed" AirAsia jets. I quite like this also.
Your KL flight sounded good and the welcomed gifts from the crew, well thats just brilliant. Little things go a long way.
Those stormy looking cloud pictures on your way down to CGK look interesting. I love to see these kind of pictures.
aflyingkiwi From New Zealand, joined Nov 2010, 488 posts, RR: 3 Reply 15, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 15991 times:
Thanks for the great read PlaneHunter!
It sounds like you had 2 relatively uneventful widebody hops, I guess Asia is slowly becoming the only place where you can regularly find widebodies on short hops like SIN-KUL.
Service on SQ looked quite nice. Good to see that they were still able to offer a beverage run despite the short length of the flight.
Great to hear that you had a set of welcoming crew on KL. I'm sure receiving those gifts would've made your day though the 10-abreast seating does put me off.
Looking forward to the report of your Indonesian domestic legs.
767747 From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 1750 posts, RR: 26 Reply 16, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 15882 times:
Good report, PH!
Looks like you had a nice flight with KLM overall - How great to have such a good conversation with the cabin crew, and how nice you received a little gift! When my fiancee and I flew back from CPH to ORD, I talked with one flight attendant serving Economy for a long time; really nice guy, I would have loved to have had a beer with him after the flight. We talked about flying, SAS, the airlines, Copenhagen, etc.
Sorry to hear your flight with SQ wasn't more special. While I would like to try SQ, I do get the impression their service seems a bit overly robotic.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, RR: 79 Reply 17, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 15603 times:
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): Do I read what I read? Pinch me! Pinch me!
Were you really coming to my home country Indonesia? You were!
I had to.. I just had to read every single word of this special trip report. So indulging, so delightfully sweet, so exciting… and so quick the story came to an end.
Hi Suryo, thank you so much for your nice comments! I'm glad you liked it.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): The best decision. I do hope more fellow A.netters will follow your example.
Let's hope so. CGK is excellent for spotting and there are so many interesting domestic trip options.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): What about this? Herman and I unintentionally swap identity for our upcoming flight with Silkair.
Oh, hopefully you won't run into trouble!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): Can I see it before next week Saturday?
No, unfortunately. It'll take some more time.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): SQ just has to hire another cosmeticians. If you remark, than there is definitely something to be addressed immediately!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): It seems to become an obsession somehow.
Probably, yes.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): It reminds me of the cabin serving while flying SZB-SIN leg in 1989.
Sounds nice! MH or SQ? I guess there weren't any more options back then.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): Why did the committers do such thing to such nature beauty?
I'll never understand that.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): big spins, snakes, scorpions and many more.
That's what I meant.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): I wonder why KL did not offer Tiger instead?
Tiger would have been nice.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): I am amazed. Truly amazed! The crew members have set a notable example.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): Sad but true fact of most CGK’s immigration officials.
That's bad to hear. My impression is that Indonesian people are very friendly in general.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): PH, I got a feeling that today did not go too well at the office, but you have made my evening with this cheering story. Thank you so much.
I'm happy to hear that, thank you!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 10): I stayed at the FM Resort Hotel. On the expensive side, but a nice spa/pool and restaurant on sight, as well as a personal pick up service.
Hi again! Sounds good, I will keep that in mind.
Quoting eicvd (Reply 11): Another great report, an excellent read just like part 1.
Many thanks, Mark! I'm glad you enjoyed reading.
Quoting eicvd (Reply 11): . I really like those light effect pics from the KL flight, beautiful scenes like that can make great flights even better.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 12): sure a great read, That´s what I call a perfectly timed story with my arrival from SIN earlier today.
Servus Markus, thanks for commenting! I'm already looking forward to read about your experiences.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 12): KL sounds really good on this route, interesting, definitely.
And it wasn't expensive at all.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 13): Very nice to another part of your TR series online .
Hi Daniel, thanks a lot for your reply!
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 13): The shortest flight I ever had was YYJ-YVR . The flying time was only 15 minutes .
Nice. My shortest has been PXO-FNC, flying time 11 minutes.
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 14): I actually took the SIN-KUL shuttle just for fun during one of my stays in Singapore, back then on the 772 when they still had a F cabin on this route. Well, it was a SQ regional style J seat but with an F on the glassware and napkins. Quite a nice meal offered though.
Interesting, good choice. Were you able to finish your meal?
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 14): KUL is a funny kind of airport. So big, yet such little traffic as you pointed out in your report. I love the indoor rainforest though.
It has improved due to AirAsia's growth - and MH seems to be expanding again.
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 14): Really good to see some of these different "themed" AirAsia jets.
It would be boring without them!
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 14): Your KL flight sounded good and the welcomed gifts from the crew, well thats just brilliant. Little things go a long way.
Yes, that made this flight special.
Quoting AlwaysOnAPlane (Reply 14): Those stormy looking cloud pictures on your way down to CGK look interesting. I love to see these kind of pictures.
Quoting aflyingkiwi (Reply 15): I guess Asia is slowly becoming the only place where you can regularly find widebodies on short hops like SIN-KUL.
True. But the expansion of LCCs in these markets has already changed the situation. There used to be even more widebody flights on certain routes some years ago.
Quoting aflyingkiwi (Reply 15): Good to see that they were still able to offer a beverage run despite the short length of the flight.
Quoting aflyingkiwi (Reply 15): Great to hear that you had a set of welcoming crew on KL. I'm sure receiving those gifts would've made your day
Quoting 767747 (Reply 16): Looks like you had a nice flight with KLM overall - How great to have such a good conversation with the cabin crew, and how nice you received a little gift!
Quoting 767747 (Reply 16): When my fiancee and I flew back from CPH to ORD, I talked with one flight attendant serving Economy for a long time; really nice guy, I would have loved to have had a beer with him after the flight. We talked about flying, SAS, the airlines, Copenhagen, etc.
Sounds good!
Quoting 767747 (Reply 16): While I would like to try SQ, I do get the impression their service seems a bit overly robotic.
Yes, I can only agree with you.
Quoting akhmad (Reply 9): With all excitements you can ever imagine, I am looking forward to the next part.
Quoting eicvd (Reply 11): Looking forward to reading the next few reports from this trip, your domestic flights around Indonesia sound very interesting.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 12): Looking forward to you´re Indonesia domestic experience now.
Quoting aflyingkiwi (Reply 15): Looking forward to the report of your Indonesian domestic legs.
Quoting 767747 (Reply 16): Looking forward to your next trip!
B738FlyUIA From Switzerland, joined Dec 2009, 473 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 15503 times:
Hi PH
Thank you for sharing your next part of the TR!!!! Is really great and have been on the leg SIN-KUL but that was many years before with a A310!!!! The load factor was very high only the KUL's airport was then little different!!!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): While I would avoid these 3-4-3 configured 77Ws on long-haul flights
I wonder why this is like you wrote it as the B77W is quite new!!!!
But your pic's are wonderful.... I like them a lot and look forward to the next part!!!!!!
Cheers
TR will follow; ZRH-DME SVO-HKT, HKT-SIN, SIN-KUL, KUL-HKT, HKT-SVO & DME-ZRH on LX, UN and AirAsia
B738FlyUIA From Switzerland, joined Dec 2009, 473 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 15402 times:
Grüezi PH!!!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): Very nice. Was it a -200 model? I flew SIN-DPS on such a classic bird in 1997.
Yes, as far I remember it was a -200... arriving after the ZRH-SIN sector I was so amazed that the next day I booked a trip SIN - KUL for a day!!!! it was really very interesting and nice.... was in 1994 if not mistaken!!!!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 19): Btw - will you write a report about your upcoming journey to Vietnam? I'm particularly interested in the UN 777.
Yes I will and thank you for noticing this!!! Actually I have already started to make the improvement of the TR.. Previous was not the best effort I put in to it and missed according to some user comments a couple of things!!!!! I'm very looking forward to the trip and sorry this is little OFF TOPIC due your TR!!!!
To your signature I can only agree with you... even I've chosen a little different way of the way but the DME will be the second destination that will arrive for the transfer and SVO was also in my TR the second time in Dec'11!!!
Cheers
Zolti.
TR will follow; ZRH-DME SVO-HKT, HKT-SIN, SIN-KUL, KUL-HKT, HKT-SVO & DME-ZRH on LX, UN and AirAsia
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6191 posts, RR: 79 Reply 21, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 15362 times:
Quoting B738FlyUIA (Reply 20): Yes, as far I remember it was a -200... arriving after the ZRH-SIN sector I was so amazed that the next day I booked a trip SIN - KUL for a day!!!!
Good decision!
Quoting B738FlyUIA (Reply 20):
Yes I will and thank you for noticing this!!!
I'm looking forward to it!
Quoting B738FlyUIA (Reply 20): Actually I have already started to make the improvement of the TR.. Previous was not the best effort I put in to it and missed according to some user comments a couple of things!!!!!
We have all started writing one day.
Quoting B738FlyUIA (Reply 20): I'm very looking forward to the trip and sorry this is little OFF TOPIC due your TR!!!!
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 22, posted (1 year 3 months 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 15301 times:
Very nice report Udo...really want to get back to Asia again soon now!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Codeshare partner Air India had sold that early morning Singapore Airlines flight (SQ106 = AI7244) much cheaper than the operator.
The last time I flew this route I booked the MH codeshare as it was cheaper - took an age to get the airmiles out of LH though. In Business you only get a small sandwhich - they didn't even load any wine onto the plane!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): 9M-AFK in "WOW" colors has meanwhile been transferred to Indonesia AirAsia as PK-AXS:
I like this one best. I hadn't realised there were so many AK liveries
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): 9M-MTD is one of Malaysia Airlines' new A330-300Es - too much white for my taste:
Yeah, not a good design. They should have got ride of the awful '70s typeface and done something a bit more modern
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): A male flight attendant who had served us before was passing and told her with a wink: "Don't tell them too much, these guys took pictures of everything!" Wink
Haha
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Shortly after we had returned to our seats, the purser came back and gave us two bags with presents - amenity kits from Business Class and Bols filled miniature Delft Blue houses offered to international Business Class passengers since the 1950s. That was a great surprise! thumbsup
Come to the BRU meet in September and I might get you another one!
Nick
one mile of road leads to nowhere, one mile of runway leads to anywhere
25 PlaneHunter: That sounds very good! Will you write a report? Thanks a lot! I'm not sure if I have time in September, but I will keep it in mind. PH
26 nipoel123: Of course I will, I'm not sure if it will be up to your quality, but I'll give it a try. I forgot to mention, but there's also two domestic WS flight
27 PlaneHunter: I'm glad you'll write a report - and I'm sure it will be a good one! Excellent. You cannot find many reports about that relatively large LCC here. PH
28 sultanils: Hi PH, What a very nice and entertaining piece! Your friend Satchmo provided you once again with excellent photos troughout the report. I loved the se
29 rvxkaz: Hi PH! I've been really busy as of late but just a quick reply on your beautiful TR! Great photos (as always) detailing the service products of SQ and
30 lukeyboy95: Hi Udo, Another corroboration with this mysterious Satchmo! Superb photos, clearly structured and well illustrated. Particularly enjoyed it. There had
31 B738FlyUIA: Thank you PH... I'm leaving next Tuesday morning
32 airbuseric: Hi, PH! great report, nicely designed again and a good amount of great quality pics. Well done Satchmo! But the drink service on these trays... very n
33 PlaneHunter: Hi Nils! Thanks so much for your nice comments! Really? Most of them are very nice IMO. Almost, yes. But they keep changing them and adding new ones.
34 akhmad: You have made a good point here. I have just contacted Silkair to rectify the situation. MH. My thee came in a cup on accompanying saucer.
35 AlwaysOnAPlane: Hi PH. Yea, I'm sure it was no problem, although I can't for the life in me remember what dish was served?
36 PlaneHunter: Good decision! You never know. Alright. Do you remember the aircraft type? No problem! That happens to me, too. PH
37 akhmad: A300B4-203. Unfortunately I did not memorize the registration. I was nine back then.
38 PlaneHunter: Ah, good old A300B4. I'm pretty sure I flew on such a bird when I was a kid - most likely Hapag Lloyd, but there's no way to find it out. PH
39 flightsimboy: Some more surprises from PH!! Though hints of the surprise are at the start of each TR! Fortunately it was just for 40 minutes. I seriously had no ide
40 sultanils: Thanks for looking this up. Now I see them altogether, I must admit there are some nice ones among them. Still I prefer special schemes that are not
42 ryan h: Great report and pictures. The new malaysia scheme is one of the new white schemes that I don't think is too bad.
43 PlaneHunter: You're welcome! I agree that some schemes aren't pretty. But it's still nice to see some variety. Other large LCCs with boring fleets could learn a l
44 mxp: HI PH great second part of your trip report. I was very very waiting for him. I did 3 years ago SIN-KUL with the 772 and in fact the flight was 40% fu
45 PlaneHunter: Hi Alberto, many thanks for your comments! I'm glad you liked the second part, too. I'm not sure when the third part about CGK and my day trip will b
46 flightsimboy: PH, just a bit concerned you did not reply to my comments. You always take time to otherwise
47 FlyingFinn76: Hi PH, Good to see the second part of your grande Asian trip. SIN-KUL is actually the only flight I've done with SQ, albeit with a 772 back then. This
48 PlaneHunter: Hi flightsimboy! I enjoyed reading your first comments early in the morning and I have no idea why I forgot to reply. Sorry for that! Your comments a
49 LXM83: Hello PlaneHunter Interesting report. Always nice to get some 5th freedom flights! I agree with you! Plus it gives you a rather limited view inside th
50 PlaneHunter: Hi LXM83, thanks for replying! Good points. SIA's fare was about twice as high if I remember correctly. Absolutely! PH
51 717Flyer: Hi PH, Very nice to see the next part of your Asian adventure popping online and a very nice comparison between Singapore Airlines and KLM. You are a
52 PlaneHunter: Hi 717Flyer, many thanks for your feedback! Who knows...many of their FAs would definitely look nicer without makeup. I don't go into detail about fa
53 The777Man: Hi PlaneHunter ! Thanks for another amazing report with amazing pictures ! Too bad you got bulkhead seat with not so great legroom on SQ; some carrier
54 byronicle6: Hi PH! Really enjoyed the second installment of your trip around SE Asia, and great photos Satchmo! Glad to hear this part went much smoother than the
55 PlaneHunter: Hi Lars, many thanks for your feedback! Unfortunately, there aren't many alternatives. Absolutely! I'll definitely choose that hotel again. Hi byroni
56 abrelosojos: Very cool report - I was pretty impressed by the action of the KL crew. They still remain one of the few crews in Europe that deliver a consistently g
57 OA260: Hey Udo very nice report and pics. I like the KLM interior cabin but not the 10 abreast seating. Id deffo pay the EUR30 if I was taking them in Y . Re
58 PlaneHunter: Hi Alex, many thanks! The crews have always been nice on my KL flights. Thanks for your comments, Philip! I'd only pay it on a long-haul flight. PH[E
59 ronerone: PH, Another excellent report with great pictures! I think the PH/Satchmo codeshare is very productive when it comes to TRs, so i hope you both keep th
60 MSS658: Hi PH Great work you have done there. In first place I'm glad you could resume your schedule as planned! Too bad you had the middle seat on your SQ le
61 eastafspot: Hey PH, Another great report, lovely pictures especially from your spotting session in Kuala Lumpur. how many different liveries do Air Asia have? Ser
62 PlaneHunter: Hi Roni, thanks a lot for your nice comments! I'm sure there will be many more PH/Satchmo trip reports in the future. That sounds very bad. Wow - I'm
63 LH4116: Hey PH, finally found some time to read your report, and I must say you've made a great job as always! So I assume the code-shares were one of the rea
64 airbuseric: Hi Jonas, I feel a bit uncomfortable with you reply on PH's report; sorry to get back on this Poor? Really a lot of airlines ask money for exit rows,
65 LH4116: Hoi Eric, First of all I didn't mean to offend, I was more expressing my way in a jokeful manner (hence the exaggeration with the michelin restaurant)
66 signol: Hi PH, great report as always! A pity you had middle seats, every A.netter's 2nd worst nightmare (after a window seat with no window ) Still, on such
67 PlaneHunter: Hi Jonas, thank you for commenting! Good to hear you enjoyed it. Jet Airways seems to be doing well - report about its quality product to follow! I d
68 ba319-131: Great report PH, an enjoyable read this Friday night. - Wow, must be one of the shortest widebody flights. - Nice looking cabin! - Is it really worth
69 PlaneHunter: Hi Mark, many thanks for your feedback! It seems SIA wants to make a difference. Yes, it's a nice facility. Yes, I had been there before. And you nat
70 parton87: Hello PH! Thanks for the nice continueation of your Asia travels! Both SIA and KLM looks good on this short flights! Never flown on SIA but with KLM f
71 initious: Hi PH, Great to see that you had a hell of an adventure after landing into Singapore. It is definitely a bonus to be flying on SQ's new A333s for SIN-
72 PlaneHunter: Hi Robert, many thanks for your feedback! That's good to hear! I cannot remember, Satchmo reserved the car. I'll check again. I'm not a fan of the ol
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. Same goes for the 250ml Warsteiner bottles LH has on domestic hops 
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