SINGAPORE to DILI (SIN-DIL) on AustAsia Airlines operated by Silkair A320 in business class
I had been looking at the Silkair flights to Christmas Island (the Indian Ocean one, not the Pacific Ocean one) for a while and so was disappointed when these were discontinued. Malaysian Airlines has picked up the subsidised service from south-east asia to Christmas Island, so a future visit is not impossible. Given my round the world ticket required a minimum of 3 stopovers and the way the schedules worked out I had a spare day for a side trip anywhere I chose.
Since I wanted to go somewhere new (to me) and needed a buffer in case of delays this cut down my options. Then when I read that AustAsia Airlines was commencing flights to Dili, Timor Leste, I knew I'd found my side-trip. Although Silkair operates the flights, it is not a normal Silkair flight – so cannot be booked on the Silkair website, earns no points on Kris Flyer program, no award flights, etc.
However, the basic set-up is of Silkair, thus I was able to check in the night before. This time I was able to check in for the onward flight – I have no idea why I can for this semi-charter flight when I couldn't for a mainstream Silkair flight. This will make the 1 hour turn much easier, which is a relief as I'm sure Dili had no transit facilities (what would be the point given there is only a few commercial flights per week?). I headed to the lounge for a shower and a couple of drinks before the bar closed. Then settled in for the night catching up on messages, drinking coffees, reading some papers I needed to comment on. The T2 first class lounge was essentially deserted – at most there were 4 passengers. It was also rather cold with air-con on a bit high for my liking. Normally SIN airport and its lounges are set a bit warm for me, so this was a change. A lost a bit of work in the wee hours when a power surge reset the computers.
Another shower in the morning to freshen up and keep awake at least until after I was onboard, then off to the gate. Boarding was on time. Business class was full, but not economy class. We had a delay in pushing back due to a runway change and resulting congestion. We left some 25 minutes late.
No DigEplayer on today's flight. The meals and service were the same as the previous day's trip to Kathmandu. With a shorter flight there was less chance to sleep, but I managed an hour or so being woken when we land at Dili. We'd made up time en route thanks to the schedule having a bit of fat in it. We disembark by stairs.
By my reckoning I have now flown over 750,000 miles on Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Silkair, the most of any airline although I have also flown over 600,000 miles on Air New Zealand and a considerable total distance on Qantas.