Hello everyone and welcome to another flight report. Since the Corona Virus outbreak has really given my a little extra free time from university , i decided to write a flight report on one my older trips. This time it will be on a Thai AirAsia Airbus A320-200NEO on a short domestic hop from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Do note that the quality of the pictures may not be as good as compared to some of my recent flight reports due to the fact that i didn't have a good phone back then. Anyways like always a video version of this flight report is linked above for those interested.
So lets commence the flight report. We start from the AirAsia check in desks located at the domestic side of the airport. As there was no other AirAsia flight departing at that hour check in went by smoothly.One good thing is that even though AirAsia are a Low Cost Carrier , you get 20 kgs of baggage allowance which i think is quite generous.
After check in ,made my way to the gate area. This airport is not very big so navigating around the airport isn't very hard or tiring.A quick look at the flight board , majority of the flights heading to Bangkok. Also a side note i will not be flying to the main Suvurnbhumi airport but to the older Don Mueng International Airport. This airport is used mainly by LCCs like AirAsia,NokAir etc.
Made it to Gate 3 just in time to see my aircraft pull into the gate. At that time i was excited as i was flying on not only Thai AirAsia first but rather Thailand first Airbus A320Neo. NEO meaning (new engine option) and from this picture you can clearly see those are new and massive CFM Leap engines.
Managed to take closer picture of the aircraft flying me to Bangkok while boarding. A 3.5 years old Airbus A320-200NEO with the registration of HS-BBX.
Made my way to my seat ,17A,for this short flight.My seat was locate just behind the left wing and had quiet a nice view.
The legroom, well for an LCC its quite bearable ,although on a longer flight it can get quite cramped up. Also i have travelled on a regular a320 in the AirAsia fleet an i feel like those aircrafts had better legroom than the newer ones.
The seat pocket contents consisted of the a320-200neo safety card and the "travel3sixty" inflight magazine.(There was also the buy onboard menu and inflight duty free catalogue but somehow forgot to take pictures of them)
The cabin was like any other LCCs around the world, just all covered in different advertisements. Although the cabin interior was fresh looking and clean so definitely a plus point.
We commenced our pushback on time. Turnaround time with airlines like AirAsia are always short and speedy and they always try to not waste minutes on the ground and the aircrafts are always flying and generating revenue.
We then commenced our short taxi to Runway 36.Taxing past a Bangkok Air Airbus A319 also heading to Bangkok.
Line up on Runway 36 and we lift off on our way to Bangkok. Chiang Mai really is a beautiful and green city and i most definately recommend visiting this city.
For those interested the take off video is attached below.
Flying over the lush green hills around Chiang Mai as we climb to our cruising altitude.
Shortly we reached our cruising altitude. For this short flight we only climbed to 24000 feet above sea level.
As i had a lot of Thai Baht change with me decided to get myself something from the inflight menu. Considering the length of the flight and also i wasn't to hungry i went for a cappuccino. This coffee costed be 60 Baht which is roughly 2.5 USD. I feel like this is really good value for money and in my opinion this is what sets AirAsia apart from other LCCs in the region, an extensive menu of food and drinks available at affordable prices.
Meanwhile i gazed out of the airplane window , enjoying the fantastic views while sipping on my coffee.
Very soon we commenced our descent into Bangkok.There were quiet a few clouds forming on our approach into Don Mueng International Airport, hence secured my seatbelt tightly for the rough ride ahead.
For those interested the approach and landing in Bangkok is linked below.
On finals for Runway 21R . Got quiet bumpy on final approach due to some storm clouds.
And we touchdown in Don Mueng International Airport on time. The touchdown wasn't the smoothest but i guess considering the situation with the storm clouds, I'm glad the pilots brought us safely to our destination.
After exiting Runway 21R we taxied towards our gate bringing us to the end of the flight report. Well due to the rain didn't have a good view anymore as no matter how much i tried my phone would just focus on the rain droplets, so apologies for that.
I wouldn't consider a ''60 THB'' instant coffee a good value from my perspective when you know that you could buy them for 5/10 THB in a local store in Thai and for 60 THB you could have a proper good coffee in one of the many coffee shops in Thailand, though while I have my preferrences to Nok Air (if I decide to fly LCC), Thai AirAsia is definitely the best in terms of performance, on-time departures and the prices they charge. Thanks for sharing your report.
Hi Thomas, considering you are in a high cost industry, $2 for a coffee is pretty much decent on any airline, lots of LCCs would charge you $4, yet Air Asia makes sure the quality of products sold on board still maintains its values. For instance, at DMK, we got two coffees at 450 baht ($15), therefore on Air Asia prices are pretty much ''cheap'' considering the industry. Now of course, if you get in a good café in Thailand, you'll enjoy some of the best cafés, way much better than FD's ;) Stay safe!