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Trip Report - Silk Air - Singapore-Langkawi-Singapore

 
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sri_bom
Member


Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 2365
Location: Singapore

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:25 pm    Post subject: Trip Report - Silk Air - Singapore-Langkawi-Singapore Reply with quote

Trip Report:

Trip route:
Singapore-Langkawi-Singapore
Airline – Silk Air
Flight no. MI362 Dep: 8:40 AM
Aircraft type – Airbus A320
Flight duration – 1:30 minutes

Background Info:
If one lives in Singapore, the only way to take a break is to get out of the country. The rich tend to go to Australia/USA/Europe for the holiday gateways where as middle class mortals like me have to make do with the neighboring countries. Not that I am complaining, as there are plenty of things to see. Since there was a long weekend coming up, I thought of making best use of the same and decided to go to Langkawi the island resort in Malaysia. I had two direct connections from Singapore either on Malaysia Airlines or on Silk Air. With Silk Air being 50 SGD more then Malaysia Airlines, I still decided to stick with Silk Air.

Since everybody seems to have covered Singapore’s Changi Airport enough on their trip reports, I will start directly with the flight details

1) Our Bird to Langkawi

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876383238/in/set-72157600944517890/

2) Final call for my flight at the waiting area

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916938/in/set-72157600944517890/

3) Waiting area for the flight

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916944/in/set-72157600944517890/

4) Before boarding the aircraft

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916956/in/set-72157600944517890/

I was very lucky as the agent could book me on the emergency window exit. There was massive leg room. Of course before taking off, one of the hostess explained to me how to open the emergency door incase of any emergency but she said it so fast I could not understand much. Anyways I did have a good look at the door just in case.

5) Leg room from my seat

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916980/in/set-72157600944517890/

6) Leg room from another angle

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916998/in/set-72157600944517890/

Like its big brother Singapore Airlines, Silk Air aircrafts are very clean, sterile and look brand new even though they are not.

7) Cabin shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868916990/in/set-72157600944517890/

7) Emergency video was displayed via drop down screen

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941752/in/set-72157600944517890/

Once we attained cruise altitude, the pilot came online and explained to us our path, our altitude and time to destination. As this aircraft did not have in seat personal video so we had to rely on the pilot to inform us of the flight plan.

My special meal consisted of a vegetarian burger. Although tasty, it was too cold. The meal was supplemented with either orange juice or coffee & tea.

Cool Vegetarian meal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941760/in/set-72157600944517890/



As this was a short flight, the service commenced immediately & I was quite impressed by the crew who were quite young (pretty, with a smile on their face), very efficient in serving meals and also clearing the tray well in advance. In fact they had enough time to offer round two of tea/coffee in a composed and relaxed manner.

In comparison, I find that Singapore Airlines crew always find it a big struggle to give good service in shorter routes specially on Sin-Bkk-Sin, Sin-Dps-Sin & Sin-Hkg-Sin. They tend to forget passenger requests, if requested out of their regular service scope. The call bells are answered late, and it takes ages for them to clear tray tables. Maybe the flights to the above destinations are always full and the aircraft used is much bigger on these routes, but it’s still not an excuse. Our Indian carriers on the domestic sector are able to give a full fledged meal service on flight duration of 1 hour plus, so maybe SQ can learn a few things from them.

Very soon the captain announced that we were descending. We took one short turn to align with the runway, and we touched down quickly. As Langkawi airport does not have aerobridges, we had to wait for the ladder to be aligned to the aircraft which took a good 10 minutes.

Ladder being brought towards the aircraft.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941762/in/set-72157600944517890/

Business class seat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941772/in/set-72157600944517890/

View of aircraft from the aircraft ladder.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941784/in/set-72157600944517890/

View of aircraft from the aircraft ladder
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/868941804/in/set-72157600944517890/

Aircraft shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876383304/in/set-72157600944517890/

Aircraft shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876383358/in/set-72157600944517890/

Aircraft shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875565193/in/set-72157600944517890/

Langkawi Airport
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875565213/in/set-72157600944517890/

I was quite impressed by the airport. Although small, it is very modern with clear signages and layout. It looked like a mini version of one of the bigger international airports.

Arrival Terminal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875595727/in/set-72157600944517890/

The arrival and departure terminals are on the same floor level and are not separated as we normally find in bigger international terminals.

My bags on the belt
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875565229/in/set-72157600944517890/

Trip route:
Langkawi-Singapore- Langkawi
Airline – Silk Air
Flight no. MI367 Dep : 8:45 PM
Aircraft type – Airbus A319
Flight duration – 1:30 minutes

Here is my return trip:

As I mentioned earlier, the airport was very clean, modern and functional. It has common check in areas for most airlines, except Air Asia, where they have there own exclusive counters.

Common check in areas for all aircrafts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875565271/in/set-72157600944517890/

Check in Area for Air Asia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875595885/in/set-72157600944517890/

The airport had quite a few duty free shops. This included separate stores for cosmetics & perfumes, luggage, liquor, cigarettes and chocolates. This was quite impressive for a small airport. Maybe also the fact is Langkawi is a duty free port in Malaysia. Hence, they stock up.

Duty free shops at the airport

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875595991/in/set-72157600944517890/

During my departure time, except for our fligh,t the rest were all internal domestic flights either to Penang or Kuala Lumpur.

Flight details
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875596069/in/set-72157600944517890/

Departure Gates

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875565265/in/set-72157600944517890/

After clearing immigration, we entered the waiting area. The waiting area had a small café but not much choice of food or beverage, except for a few sandwiches and aerated drinks. Again I was impressed that such a small airport had two lounges which cater to business/first class passengers

The Westin Lounge
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875596075/in/set-72157600944517890/

The Golden Lounge
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/875596085/in/set-72157600944517890/
Waiting Area
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876491072/in/set-72157600944517890/

Finally our boarding was announced and we proceeded to board our aircraft. Since it was dark outside and my camera brings out poor night shots, I took only a few photos.

Air Asia on its way to Kuala Lumpur

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876491104/in/set-72157600944517890/

Our plane to Singapore

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876491198/in/set-72157600944517890/

Cockpit view from the ladder
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67514846@N00/876491244/in/set-72157600944517890/

The rest of the journey to Singapore was similar on my way back. Hence nothing much to write about. Overall a good experience with Silk Air. Their service was impeccable. In some aspects they scored better then Singapore Airlines. Of course now we do have a lot of choices to nearby destinations from Singapore on LCCs. Hence to be competitive, Silk Air may have to reduce its ticket price as I find the price the most expensive as compared to other airlines. Again, keep in mind that Silk Air is a full service carrier so there are no hidden costs like LCC’s who tend to charge you even for the air that you breathe in the cabin.

As always appreciate your views and feedback and special thanks to my wife who helped me editing my report so that my English is flawless….

Till my next trip report Cheers……

Sri_Bom
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avbuff
Member


Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thats a few nice pictures .. nice TR..

I understand malaysia is a good break as a holiday. .. I think even the SBS buses go to Johor bahru .. bus no 160 , 170

My cousin also finds Bintan Batam islands as a leisure spot !!!!
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VABBy
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 823
Location: DEL

PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice TR keep them coming and common u can always take Tiger airways to DRW and PER ...... Wink
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Nimish
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Joined: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 9757
Location: Bangalore, India

PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR - keep them coming!

Langkawi used to be one of the cheapest duty free places in the world (the whole island was duty free), and I remember folks from Singapore going to Langkawi for a weekend to enjoy the cheap liquor (about 20-30% cheaper than Singapore Duty free). Is it still the same? And which resort did you stay there at and how much approx did the resort cost?
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sri_bom
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Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 2365
Location: Singapore

PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear All

Thank you for your feedback and appreciations.....

I understand malaysia is a good break as a holiday. .. I think even the SBS buses go to Johor bahru .. bus no 160 , 170

My cousin also finds Bintan Batam islands as a leisure spot !!!!


Sri_Bom: Yes the SBS Transit buses do take you till Johor, but nothing much to do in Johor other then shopping if you want to take the advantage of the weaker malaysian currency compared to Singpaore but all branded stuff are priced same, so no point going over.

Bintan although one hour ferry ride from Singapore some resorts are ridicoulsly priced at SGD 300+ hence dont like to go there as I find it a waste....


Langkawi used to be one of the cheapest duty free places in the world (the whole island was duty free), and I remember folks from Singapore going to Langkawi for a weekend to enjoy the cheap liquor (about 20-30% cheaper than Singapore Duty free). Is it still the same? And which resort did you stay there at and how much approx did the resort cost?

Yes most of the shops in Langkawi Island is still very much a duty free haven and you get good deals on liquour,cigarretes & branded stuff.

I stayed at a resort called Awana Porto MAlai which I found was very good for the price I paid about SGD 130 for 3 nights with break fast. This is a 3 to 4 star hotel.

Sri_Bom
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