I had the roti prata with eggs at the hotel's buffet. Roti Prata is an Indian flatbread and normally is served with curry and you can add ingredients such as egg, meat, cheese or other flavours to it.
Air Asia is one of the few airlines that allow you to check in one week before the date of departure. So with the check in procedures done and did another round of check that everything was in order, it was time to fly to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Additional checks is recommended especially flying on Low Cost carriers is to prevent getting yourself stuck at the check-in counter due to non payment of luggage or any other reasons.
After the scenic Grab ride from our hotel to the airport, we checked in at the counter and after some enquires from the staff, we were good to go.
The terminal is small in size but there are a few shops and cafes to check out.
Air Asia is the dominant airline at this airport.
As I had a couple of baggages to check in, I had to use the baggage drop counter.
Once that was done, it was time to made our way to the airside.
Security check was a breeze and soon we were at the air side.
Checking my flight status, our flight was going ahead as planned.
I feel that unless you have lounge access, an hour is the most you need to check out the shops and cafe at this airport's airside.
This is Firefly's Boeing 737-800.
This 737 was bound for Langkawi, just a short 20 minutes flight from here.
The parent airline of Firefly, Malaysia Airlines. The Negaruku livery is now part of the standard livery of Malaysia airlines.
There was quite a number of flights departing the same time as mine.
There is charging area for your mobile devices.
Overall it was a pleasant terminal.
This is where my flight was departing from.
9M-AHL was flying in from Singapore.
As it landed on time, I wasn't expecting any delays.
Here it is, 9M-AHL.
Boarding process was according to zone as I was sitting in the middle section of the aircraft, we were allocated to zone 3 (the last zone). The other zones were cleared to head towards to our aircraft, however, I noticed that there were passengers from zone 1 and 2 standing along the corridor waiting and our zone was not called. We spent about 20 minutes waiting and no announcements were made. After another 10 minutes passed, we were having questions about our flight status as our departure time came and go. After seeing the passengers from the other zones returning to our gate, I knew something was wrong. Since we were not given any update on our flight, I went to X (Twitter) and asked the airline, fortunately announcement was made and told us about our aircraft having technical issues and the new departure time would take place 2 hours after our original flight time.
At around 1500, about an hour and a half after our schedule departure, we were finally allowed to board the aircraft and I wasn't surprised when we were pointed to another direction, towards a different aircraft. As for our original aircraft, it was to operate the later flight to Kuala Lumpur, the flight that my replacement aircraft was scheduled to operate. I checked the status of my original aircraft, 9M-AHL, the later flight that it was scheduled to depart was delayed, I guess the issue must have been quite serious to be grounded for quite a number of hours.
Our replacement aircraft, 9M-AQF
As you can see the flight schedule, that was the original schedule, but because of 9M-AHL's delay, the schedule was swop.
As compensation, the airline gave each passenger a packet of Cheezels and a bottle of water.
It's nice to board the aircraft from outside.
'We are all Champions' special livery!
I could have board from the front but since I wanted to snap more photos of the aircraft and cabin photos from the rear, I boarded from the rear instead.
My ride: 9M-AQF (Photo: C.H Kao)
Airbus A320-216 (CEO) Leased from Fly Leasing
We are all champions - 10 years running (Special livery)
Transferred to Air Asia (From Indonesia Air Asia) in Feb 2011
Configuration: Y 180
Engines: 2 X CFM56-5B6/3
4582th Airbus A320 built
Built in Toulouse (TLS)
Current age: 12+ Years old (2023)
Flight route: PEN-KUL
Miles: 201
My seat: 18A (Photo: seatmap.com)
Date of departure: 6th December 2023
Airline: Air Asia
Flight: AK6125
Route: PEN-KUL
Aircraft: Airbus A320 CEO
Registration: 9M-AHL changed to 9M-AQF
Seat: 18A
Gate: 1A
Load: 100%
Schedule departure: 1330 (Flight delay to 1530)
Boarding: 1513
Push back: 1534
Take off: 1542
Flight Duration: 1 hr 5 mins
Actual Flight Time: 43 mins
Schedule arrival: 1435 (Delayed arrival: 1635)
Actual arrival: 1623
Departure runway: 04
Arrival runway: 33
My in-flight experience
After boarding the aircraft, we settled down quickly and the crew apologised to us for the delay. I am glad no one kicked a big fuss about it. Overall I think the airline has done well but the ground staff could have done better by updating us as soon as possible.
After take off, we were greeted by the beautiful view of the surroundings and later on our in-flight meals were served. The service was pleasant and it was what you expect flying on Asian low cost carriers. As for the seat comfort, I find it be slightly better than Scoot's A321NEO but for the legroom space, it is about the same.
As the flight time was short, we had to finish our food quickly as the crew came around collecting our thrash. The flight on route was smooth including the landing in Kuala Lumpur. Despite the late arrival at KUL, I enjoyed this flight. I won't blame the airline for the delay as aircraft and weather issue are beyond their control.
Economy Class Seats
This is a typical low cost carrier seating configuration of 180 seats on the Airbus A320CEO. The seating configuration of 3-3 comes with around 28-29 inches of legroom space and recline up to 3 inches for the regular seats. While for the emergency rows, (row 12 and 14), they have a legroom space of 35 inches and cannot be reclined. As for the seat width, it is 17 inches and every seat can recline up to 3 inches except row Just like the Scoot's A321NEO aircraft, there is no power socket for both USB and AC. However, online streaming and WiFi are available.
The last time I flew with this airline, these same seats were used. I think the airline will stick to these seats on the older A320 until they are withdrawn from the fleet.
These seats do not have usb and power socket.
Even though these seats are from the previous generation, they are comfortable.
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