airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 2 months 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 4944 times:
THE BACKSTORY
As per the previous Trip Report, we each got a $15 Jetstar travel voucher because we purchased the Plus Bundle. Aaron and me decided to have a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur on yet another 3K flight.
PART I: Return to Kuala Lumpur
31st March 2012, Saturday
SIN-KUL
Carrier: Jetstar Asia Airways (3K)
Flight: 3K 683
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A320-232 (9V-JSG)
Seat: 22A/22B
Terminal: 1
Gate: C15
Estimated Departure: 0710hrs
Actual Departure: 0711hrs
Estimated Arrival: 0810hrs
Actual Arrival: 0823hrs
We left his place in the East at about 0508hrs. It was raining fairly heavily as we drove along the East Coast Parkway expressway to Changi Airport and reached Terminal 1 at 0521hrs. The Departure Hall was relatively sparse, and there weren’t many people at Row 8, so check-in was a breeze. We then went airside.
Not many people around
Row 7
T1 airside after remodeling
SIN is not spotter friendly with the highly reflective glass, a CX 777-300
China Southern Airlines A321-231 (B-6270) followed by five 3K A320s
Flights out for that morning
In my opinion, the most boring 7-Eleven outlet in Singapore
Usually I’m on the other side
We then took the Skytrain over to Terminal 2, to see if there’s anything interesting going on over there, but we didn’t find much. Save for a ANA ladies speaking in Japanese as they walked past. Gosh, I miss ANA already!
Departures from Terminal 2
Dunkin Donuts for breakfast
Entertainment center in Terminal 2
We then took the Skytrain back to Terminal 1 and headed over to our gate. The waiting area was as empty as the last time we boarded a 3K flight.
Our plane for today, 9V-JSG
The empty waiting area
Only to find out the whole world was in the jetbridge
Chirpy Flight Attendants at the door who directed everyone to their seats greeted us. Unfortunately, the overhead compartments were completely full throughout and thus we had to put all our stuff underneath the seats. Oh well.
Seats 1A, 1B and 1C
The China Southern Airlines A321 earlier on
The doors were closed and armed after some time. Pushback commenced at 0711hrs and we taxied out to Runway 20C in the grey and drab weather outside. There wasn’t much of a queue in the takeoff department so we got on 20C fairly quick. We were airborne at 0731hrs!
We flew through the grey for the most part of the flight. Pity though, but since it was such a flight views didn’t really matter
The cabin in mid-flight
Legroom of 22A
Vandalized tray table, unsightly!
Another unsightly thing
The safety card was in a nice state
Seat pocket contents, featuring Taylor Swift & Zee Avi
The flight attendants promptly went up and down the aisle with the trolley calling out for anyone who wants to purchase any drinks and such. Being such a morning flight, everyone seemed like they’d rather have some shut-eye.
We commenced descent at 0748hrs. For the first time since takeoff, views other than grey clouds popped into view.
To me, it was quite a leisurely taxi and we were treated to plane eyecandies.
MH planes aplenty
MH widebodies
This Airline, I’ve never seen before
Malaysian Airlines Boeing 747-4H6 (9M-MPK)
As expected, the mad rush to get off even before the doors are disarmed
From this point on, we roamed about airside of both the Satellite and Main Terminals. KLIA definitely is better place to spot than Changi!
Fellow Singaporean ship, Silkair Airbus A319-132 (9V-SBD)
9V-JSG’s nose
Malaysian Airlines Boeing 747-4H6 (9M-MPL)
Departures that morning from the Satellite Terminal
Air Mauritius Airbus A330-202 (3B-NBM)
Malaysian Airlines Airbus A330-223 (9M-MKV)
Cathay Pacific Airways Boeing 777-367 (B-HNH)
Emirates Boeing 777-36N/ER (A6-EBN)
Nepal Airlines Boeing 757-2F8 (9N-ACA)
China Southern Airlines Airbus A320-232 (B-2367)
Taking the Aerotrain over to the Main Terminal
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-8H6 (9M-MXG, 9M-MXE), 737-8FZ (9M-MLG) and others in the back
Scale models on display
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-8H6 (9M-MLK)
After getting our fill of plane spotting, it was time to go take the KLIA Express out to KL Sentral. Except that works were being carried out on the existing train tracks and as such, only KLIA Transit services were being run. The difference between the two is that Transit stops at intermediate stations while Express speeds straight to KL Sentral.
The race is on! A CX Airbus A330 decided to compete with our KLIA Transit train. We lost, obviously!
airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (1 year 2 months 1 week 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 4505 times:
PART II: The Scenic Flight Home
1st April 2012, Sunday
It was quite a brief trip with no shopping but a lot of eating. Other than spotting for planes, a side mission was to find and eat at places or franchises that are halal in Malaysia than are not in Singapore! One such place was Kenny Rogers (Mac & Cheese mmmmm~).
Accommodation for the night was at the Concorde Inn Kuala Lumpur International, a five to minute shuttle bus ride away from KLIA. The place reminded me of holiday chalets back home in Singapore. It was nice, nonetheless!
KUL-SIN
Carrier: Jetstar Asia Airways (3K)
Flight: 3K 684
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A320-232 (9V-JSB)
Seat: 9A/9B
Terminal: 1
Gate: C33
Estimated Departure: 0840hrs
Actual Departure: 0837hrs
Estimated Arrival: 0945hrs
Actual Arrival: 0934hrs
The shuttle bus reached KLIA Main Terminal at 0645hrs. Not many people were around at this hour, although there was a huge group of tourists queuing up at the Jet Airways counter.
The Departure Hall
Our check-in counter
Dawn at KLIA, l isn’t it?
Since we checked out the airsides of Main Terminal and Satellite the day before, we decide to just sit down until our flight arrives because it hasn’t arrived yet.
Sunlight filtering into the Terminal
The traditional boarding pass and passport shot!
Our plane, 9V-JSB, pulls into the gate
The waiting area
Jet Airways Boeing 737-85R (VT-JBQ)
Screens at our gate, one showing color bars and the other the blue screen of death
A gate attendant suddenly appeared and started to holler for families, people with special needs and priority boarders. The few of us moved forward for boarding, he started to rudely turn us away even though we showed him our boarding pass. He only let us through when he had a second look at our boarding passes and saw ‘PBRD’. What a nice chap..
Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-2H6/ER (9M-MRH) beside us
As expected and yet again, vandalized tray table
And an equally vandalized seat back
Seat pocket contents – no Zee Avi this time!
The legroom at 9A
The doors closed at 0835hrs and the plane commenced pushback at 0837hrs. As we were taxiing out to the active runway, I looked out of my window and noticed that a bee or wasp has decided to hitch a ride by latching itself to the port engine.
When we turned into 32R, the bee/wasp was still there. When the pilot kicked the engines into high gear for takeoff, the bee still held on! I swear, that’s the awesomest bee I’ve ever seen.
The plane banked to the left and made a U-turn. As such, we were flying parallel to KLIA. We couldn’t see much due to the sunlight’s glare on our side. We were still parallel and in view of KLIA when the seatbelt sign pinged off and the crew launched their BOB trolley service. As we had purchased the Starter Bundle, we were entitled to a sandwich and a drink.
Our sandwich and Pepsi
Our 3K crew in action, one of them used to be my classmate back in school!
It was my first time flying along the West coast of Malaysia back to Singapore. The views out there are quite nice, I must say.
Oxbow bends! Reminiscing those Geography lessons back in Secondary School
A slice of the BOB menu, unavailable on this flight though
As expected, we commenced descent not long after we finished our drinks and sandwiches. Flying this route, I saw sights outside that I’ve never seen before..
.. such as this, only now then I’m convinced how small my home country is!
The approach pattern was flying south, overflying the various islets and islands belonging to Singapore. So we could see downtown Singapore and Sentosa. We could even see Universal Studios Singapore!
The Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands Singapore
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-312 (SYE) in Star Alliance livery
FedEx Airbus A310
Cathay Pacific A330
Lion Air Boeing 737-9GP/ER (PK-LJG)
We parked at Terminal 1, Gate C17. When seatbelt sign pinged off, passengers obediently stood up and retrieved their belongings from the overhead compartments. Time to exit!
The door
The last shot
This side of Terminal 1
Since we had no checked luggage, we were free to roam airside. I have never done that before, so might as well right?
The border between Terminals 1 and 3
More duty free shops in Terminal 3
Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-343X (9V-STN) and A380-81 (9V-SKA)
CONCLUSION
For such a short flight, I sure don’t mind flying LCCs. I’m considering flying AirAsia the next time I’m doing SIN-KUL-SIN again. What I liked about these Jetstar flights in the price-performance ratio and the crew on 3K 684, they definitely seem more approachable than the SQ Girl and Boy I encountered in SQ 619 in the previous TR. What I did not like about these flights are the state the plane’s interiors. The vandalism was really an eyesore, and the tray table latch of 9C was very loose which resulted in frequent drops by the tray table.
Thanks for reading this TR! Until then, happy travels everyone!
aflyingkiwi From New Zealand, joined Nov 2010, 490 posts, RR: 3 Reply 2, posted (1 year 2 months 1 week 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 4415 times:
Hi Hafiz,
Nice report. Jetstar Asia seems to pretty much the same as Jetstar here in NZ. I must say that the cleanliness of the seat is horrible, especially on the 2nd flight. I'll be flying Jetstar on Saturday though it's only a quick hop from AKL-CHC. Still looking forward to it though.
Nice report. Jetstar Asia seems to pretty much the same as Jetstar here in NZ. I must say that the cleanliness of the seat is horrible, especially on the 2nd flight. I'll be flying Jetstar on Saturday though it's only a quick hop from AKL-CHC. Still looking forward to it though.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
aflyingkiwi
Hi aflyingkiwi! Yeah, I know they have tight turnarounds and frequencies to meet but surely someone somewhere out there in Jetstar Asia has to keep track of the cleanliness and maintenance of the seats right? I'll let this slide because I earned Qantas Frequent Flyer miles and Status Credits on this flight.
airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 2 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 3593 times:
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Nice report, thanks for sharing. 3K's planes seemed to be outdated on your trip. Especially the pen marks in the seats.
I was hoping that we would get 9V-JSL because it was the one that we flew to KUL in the Japan TR, and the seats still have that new leather smell to them. Not our luck, I guess!
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): SIN airport is nice as usual.
Agreed! So used to SIN that I thought "What a dark and dingy place this is" when I stepped off the aerobridge and into the Satellite Terminal at KUL. But I do miss the iconic 'flipping' Flight Information Display System at T1's Departure Hall though!
byronicle6 From New Zealand, joined Oct 2011, 265 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (1 year 2 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 3587 times:
Hi Airbusmango
Good report with nice pictures!
I really like 3K for a LCC and have never had a problem with the cleanliness of their aircraft. Seems the standards may have slipped for your flights
Quoting byronicle6 (Reply 8): I really like 3K for a LCC and have never had a problem with the cleanliness of their aircraft. Seems the standards may have slipped for your flights
I'm kind of okay with their on-board crew, I just hope that 9V-JSB and 9V-JSG are the only ones with the cleanliness anomalies! But I do have a huge bone to pick with their Call Center though.. and I'm sure I'm not the only one!
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From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, 
Only to find out the whole world was in the jetbridge
The door
The border between Terminals 1 and 3
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