Flying with Tigerair from KUL-SIN

Introduction

*Aircraft photos are credited to the respective photographers from Airliners.net 

For my previous trip report with this airline, click here.
One of the airlines that came out into my head was this airline. I was deciding on this or Oman Air. Oman Air has changed its schedule, it would depart KUL at night so that timing was great for me. Previously it stayed overnight at KUL and departed the airport at 0730 in the morning. However, I checked the airfare comparing to Tiger Air, Tiger Air's airfare was 1/5 of what Oman Air was offering and besides the last time I flew on this airline was with its old name, departing from the defunct Budget Terminal in Singapore, that was how long ago I flew with this carrier. I heard lots of complaints about this airline, so it was time for me to check out this carrier to see the situation of this airline myself. I made my booking about a week before departure and it cost me around $30 including tax, with seat selection and without the 20kg allowance, that's still cheap if you ask me.

About the website 

Sorry for the lack of photos, I deleted them by mistake. This airline offers both web and mobile application and both works fine. No issue with either of them. I booked my ticket via the mobile app and I would prefer to view the flight details first before keying in my information, that's the only feedback I have. 

About Tiger Air Singapore

This airline was originally called Tiger Airways and it was set up in December 2003 and officially launched on 15th September 2004 - first flight to Bangkok. This airline is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singapore-based company. It was the first airline to operate from the defunct Budget Terminal and now is operating out of Changi Airport Terminal 2 (July 2015). With a fleet of 25 Airbus A320 aircraft and 38 routes, the airline has plans to fly to even more destinations. It has also code-share with Scoot so that both airlines will join forces to compete against its fiercest rivals, Air Asia and

Jetstar. If you are a Krisflyer member (Singapore Airlines' mileage program), you are pleased to know that you can redeem miles on for vouchers for travel with this airline and Scoot. For more info, please click here.

The old branding

The current branding

The map of Tigerair's destinations 

Besides TigerAir Singapore, there are also TigerAir Australia and Taiwan and you can also interline with Cebu Pacific, Cebgo and Scoot. I haven't flown with TigerAir Australia and Taiwan so can't comment on either airline. 

On the day of departure

I spent a couple of hours at KLIA2 roaming around and enjoying some nice local food over there at one of the cafes. 

Here are some photos

This is the famous KL's style of Hokkien noodles.

Air Asia is doing pretty well

Many leisure travellers were flying on Air Asia, thanks to the airline's vast network. 

Look at the number of flights this airline has!

Tigerair is at the last row, row Z.

Once the passengers check-in their luggage and collect their boarding passes, they head for the departure hall either domestic or international departure.

The tarmac of KLIA2

Do take note of this.

Soon, the check-in counters were opened, and I made my way to the check-in counters.

I didn't want to queue up, so I went to the no baggage counter to do my check-in. As the airline doesn't offer online check-in, do remember to come early to do so. I have seen many cases of passengers missing their flight because they come exactly close to the closure of check-in time, please don't take that risk. Do come earlier, at least half an hour before it closes. 

Got my boarding pass and I am number 72 in the queue! Wow! 

Keeping track of which aircraft taking me home, I spotted in on flightradar24, it was 9V-TAV - a non-'sharklets' equipped Airbus A320 was to take me home. I was disappointed initially, as I wanted the A320 with 'sharklets'. I will definitely try again.

I made my way to the gate L1, quite a short walk in fact. 

Checking my flight, it was on schedule. Glad that it was not cancelled or delayed. 

There are cafes on the airside of KLIA2. It is a huge improvement over the old LCCT. 

The gate was not opened yet so I hang around near the gate for a while. There is free WiFi so you can log in for free and use it for 3 hours. 

Once I was inside, I sat down and waited for the announcement to board the aircraft. It turned out to be a full flight. 

My favourite moment - boarding the aircraft! 

Flight route: KUL-SIN

Miles: 185 

My ride: 9V-TAV 

Airline: Tigerair 

Flight: TR2465

Date: 6th July 2015

Route: KUL-SIN

Terminal: KLIA2 

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Registration: 9V-TAV

Cabin configuration: Y 180

Delivered: 7th April 2011 (From Tiger Airways Australia)

Engines: 2 X IAE V2527-A5 

MSN: 4608

Departure gate: L1 

Arrival gate (Terminal 2 Changi): E2 

Following flight: Guangzhou TR2988

Time of departure: 18:25 

Boarding: 1745

Pushed back: 1815

Take off: 1838

Scheduled arrival: 1940

Actual arrival: 1923 

Duration: 50 mins 

FL: 270 

Departure runway: 33

Arrival runway 20R

I didn't expect much from this airline, as I kept my expectation very low. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the crew greeted me with enthusiasm and it was not just at the beginning, throughout the flight, this set of crew was better than what I expected. 

I got to my seats and a couple sat beside me. I can tell you how tight the seat pitch was, it was tolerable for an hour or two, no more than that. Here are some photos of the cabin. 

The friendly crew greeted us as we walked past her to our assigned seats. There were a couple of times the announcement from the crew telling us to sit at our assignment seats and make way for others, that makes sense.

Black leather seats - similar to Air Asia's. 

Look at how tight the seat pitch is, its around 29 inch. Not good for a 6 foot 4 guy like myself. For a 50 mins flight, it was bearable.

This is my seat, I was hoping for the 2 seats beside remain vacant but that hope was dashed about a few minutes later.

The miserable legroom space

The airline is promoting its mobile app which is quite user-friendly to use. 

Waiting for more passengers to enter the cabin. 

My row of seats was occupied shortly after this photo was taken.

The photo was taken during taking off

The short flight ended soon and we disembarked at gate E2 of Terminal 2, Changi Airport. 

Some photos of the seats while I made my way out. 

Much better legroom space at the emergency row, it is worth paying more for those seats.

For flights for more than 2 hours, I would definitely choose this seat. 

I was amazed when the crew greeted us goodbye, and one of them even bowed when we left the aircraft. Wow! I was shocked for words. The service onboard this flight is probably the best so far flying with Singapore's Low-Cost Carrier and even Air Asia. 

The Captain was very detailed when he made his announcement, he's a young Chinese probably in his mid-20s. I was impressed with him for keeping the passengers in updated with useful information. Announcements made were clear and the crew were helpful and professional throughout, you can't ask more especially on a Low-Cost Carrier. 

The flight to Singapore was uneventful, it was smooth throughout and I managed to snap some window shot photos. 

Before that, let me share what's inside the seat pocket. 

In-flight duty-free magazine

Safety card issue number 7

In-flight magazine 

Disposal bag

The hot meal was offered on this flight but I didn't order since it is short and I wasn't hungry at that time. 

Here are some window shot photos 

We were parked beside Cebu Pacific's Airbus A319 (Ex-Easyjet aircraft)

After engines started and taxi clearance is given, we taxied to runway 33 threshold. 

Runway 33 seemed less busy during that period.

An Air Asia X's Airbus A330 taking off. 

Soon we stopped at this point and waited for about 15 minutes. I had no idea why we were kept waiting since there wasn't any take-off or landing activity going on or any sign of the runway being closed. The Captain didn't say much but he told us that another 10 minutes, we were on our way. 

10 minutes later, we were cleared for taking off. 

The First Officer was doing the takeoff and soon we were climbing over the city, heading towards our destination.

This is not my first time doing joyrides on the same route multiple times in the same week, I did something similar like this when I was in South Korea. Seoul Gimpo to Juju return a few times on Korean Carriers, you can check those reports out at the links below. (You need to view the website version to view them)

Seat belt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff, the ride to Singapore was smooth. 

Cruising flight level at 270. 

We started to descend after 10 minutes at cruising level. 

It was indeed a beautiful day for flying. 

We were soon on approach to Singapore, no holding pattern, just a big loop over the Indonesian islands as we are assigned to runway 20R for arrival.

It was getting dark as we arrived in Singapore.  

Touched down smoothly and we taxied over the overhead bridge via South Cross towards our terminal 2. Usually, runway 20R is used for arrivals regardless of which terminal the airline is using. 

We parked beside this beautiful Swiss's Airbus A340-300 which was to head home to Zurich that evening.

That was it, my trip came to an end, it was an enjoyable one and I have to fly with Tigerair for the "Sharklets"

This is how the "Sharklets" looks like: 

My rating:

Websites (including the Mobile app): 7/10

On ground service: 6/10

KLIA2 Airport Experience: 7/10

In-flight service: 8/10

Cabin interior: 7/10

Seat comfort: 5/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Punctuality: 10/10

Aircraft condition: 10/10

Overall rating: 70/90

Conclusion

I am pleasantly surprised with my experience with this airline. I was expecting a flight delay and possibly average in-flight service, but it was the other way round. We pushed back earlier than the scheduled time and even though we were at the KUL's runway 33 threshold for a good 15 minutes, we landed early. The cabin and flight crew impressed me as they kept us updated and we were well-taken care by them, I would definitely fly with this airline again and perhaps on a longer sector with them. TigerAir also has Taiwan and Australian based carriers that you can consider flying with. From my friend's experience, TigerAir Taiwan's flight service was excellent on his flight, as for TigerAir Australia, I haven't heard many positive reviews of this airline. 

For tall people, do pay more for the better legroom space, it is definitely worth it. I sat at the normal seat and it seems tighter than Air Asia's. 

Thanks for reading this trip report! You can check out my Tigerair Taiwan trip report over here.

Cheers,

Charles