Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve published a trip report, and since then, a lot has happened in my life. I have joined the workforce, working in Flight Operations at Scoot (very exciting stuff – can’t wait to get our first Dreamliner in November!) It’s been 6 months on the job, and since I never had the time to have a holiday to celebrate my graduating from university, my friends and I decided to spend a couple of weeks in Europe in the summer.

I would like to start this series of reports off by expressing my deepest condolences to the families of the passengers and crew of both Malaysia Airlines flights 17 and 370. Working at Scoot, which itself operates the Boeing 777, and being Singapore based, both tragedies have hit extremely close to home, and the thoughts of Scoot’s Flight Operations department are with our colleagues in MAS, who must be going through the worst times of their lives. Some of my colleagues worked at SIA when SQ6 crashed during takeoff at Taipei, and they have never forgotten the shock and anguish they felt at the time.

The apparent shootdown of MH17 hit even closer to home. The third flight leg on this trip, TG921 FRA-BKK was flown on 16 July 2014. In that section, the airshow map shows the routing of the flight overhead Donetsk approximately 24 hours prior to MH17 meeting its tragic end. It is fair to say that had my friends and I decided to leave Frankfurt just a day later, our flight could just have as easily have been the one to go down. MH17 was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. May all 298 passengers and crew rest in peace, and may the perpetrators of this heinous crime be brought to justice if it is indeed proven that the aircraft was shot down.

Editorial note: In the time since I first wrote this report, the aviation world has seen the tragic losses of TransAsia Airways flight GE222 and Air Algerie flight AH5017. My thoughts are with the families of the passengers and crew on all these flights.

The first part of the trip involved choosing the airline, which was not easy considering there were 2 avgeeks making the decisions. Using ITA Matrix, we found an extremely cheap Business fare from Singapore to Frankfurt on Air India with a stop in New Delhi for just over S$1800, with all 4 legs on AI’s B787-8s. However, the strong objections of my friends’ parents (who were paying for their trips) meant that Air India was a no-go. It then came down to Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways. Malaysia Airlines was also passed over due to parental sentiments, especially in the wake of MH370. Ultimately, we decided on Thai Airways as they had a day flight into Frankfurt operated by the Airbus A340-600, which was an aircraft type we had yet to fly, and the fare worked out to just below S$1300. The final routing was SIN-BKK-FRA and vice versa.

Our hotel reservations made, Eurail passes issued, we arrived at Changi Airport early in the morning, having checked in online 24 hours prior. The check in counters for Thai Airways were deserted, and our bags were tagged and boarding passes for both flights issued quickly. We proceeded airside through passport control, which as Singapore citizens meant we could use the automated clearance machines. Most shops at the airport were just opening, and with 2 weeks ahead of us in Europe, shopping was the last thing on our minds. We headed for Wang’s café, a coffee shop which serves local breakfast dishes such as kaya toast, Mee Siam and fishball noodles, and sat down for breakfast whilst waiting to board the flight.

We then noticed that the FIDS were showing our flight status as ‘Gate Closing’, which at Changi Airport means to take your time, boarding won’t start for another 30 minutes. We arrived at Gate D32 with time to spare and went through security, which was surprisingly painless compared to the usual racial profiling I face when passing through airport security overseas. Boarding was called shortly after and we boarded the aircraft.

Our 777 to Bangkok


Boarding Chaiyaphum


Date: 01/07/14
Route: SIN-BKK
Flight: TG402
Reg: HS-TJE (Boeing 777-2D7)
Seat: 43A

We were warmly welcomed onboard by the crew with the traditional sawadee by the female cabin crew members manning Door 2L, themselves dressed in the traditional thai uniform as opposed to other members of the crew who were wearing the regular formal uniform. The aircraft that operated the flight was HS-TJE, a 17 year old Boeing 777-200 named Chaiyaphum after a province in northern Thailand. We were pleasantly surprised on boarding that the aircraft was fitted with AVOD IFE, albeit an older Panasonic S3000i IFE system. We had not expected any IFE on the flight to Bangkok, so this was an unexpected bonus. The screens were touch enabled but were not very sensitive, and I resorted to using the controller as it got the job done a lot faster.

We settled in our seats, which were manufactured by Recaro. Unlike many airlines today, Thai has kept its 777 with a 3-3-3 seat configuration, which made the seats seem a lot less cramped compared to an Emirates 777. The seat pitch was adequate for the short hop to Bangkok, but longer legs would potentially be uncomfortable. A massive IFE box was mounted beneath the window seat which basically ate up any stretching room for my feet. I switched my IFE screen to the nose camera whilst the airshow was shown on the screens mounted on the forward bulkheads. The load for the flight was around 60-70%, with this service being the first departure to Bangkok from Changi in the morning. Boarding was swiftly completed and doors were closed shortly afterward.

Contents of the seat pocket


Leg room


Nose camera on the IFE screen


Cabin view prior to pushback


We pushed back from the gate on schedule and taxied out to runway 20C for departure. The safety video played on the screens as the cabin crew secured the cabin for takeoff. Meanwhile, we passed some interesting aircraft during the taxi, including a Cardig Air Boeing 737 and a newly returned SQ B777 from Royal Brunei after the end of its lease which was wearing RB livery with its Singapore registration 9V-SVA pasted on as a decal. We held short of the runway as one of Silkair’s new B737-800s landed.

Xiamen Air 737


SQ’s 9V-SVA after its lease to RBA as V8-BLC


Nose camera view before takeoff


The 737 vacated the runway as we lined up, and the Trent 800s spooled up to takeoff thrust with their traditional high pitch whine, and we were off to Bangkok. We then made a tight climbing left turn which brought us back over the airport on the Mersing 5B departure from Changi tracking north. We climbed through the cloud layers towards our cruise altitude of 36000 feet.

Rolling on runway 20C




Climbing left turn towards the north





A drinks service was quickly conducted, with mixed nuts given out. This was shortly followed by a full hot breakfast, which on this sector consisted of cut fruit, a bread roll with butter and jam, and fried rice with crab sticks and vegetables. This was followed by another drink run which included coffee and tea. The crew were friendly throughout both the drink and meal services, and went about their jobs quickly and efficiently.

Economy Breakfast meal tray


Hot main – Seafood fried rice with vegetables


View of the forward economy cabin


The flight time was less than 2 hours, and after the trays were collected, the captain announced that we would be commencing our descent into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport shortly and he told the cabin crew to prepare the cabin for arrival. The female cabin crew members who were wearing the more traditional uniforms quickly changed into their formal uniforms whilst the other crew members cleared the rubbish in the cabin.

Descending into Bangkok




The aircraft descended quickly through the clouds on the DANNY arrival into Bangkok, landing on runway 19R. It was a short taxi in, passing a Norwegian 787 and then parking at gate B5, right next to Qatar Airways’ FC Barcelona special liveried B777-300ER on one side, and the A340-600 that was to take us to Frankfurt on the other.

Our ride to Frankfurt: A340-600 HS-TNC


Qatar Airways FC Barcelona B777-300ER A7-BAE


The aerobridges were connected quickly and we quickly disembarked into the arrivals area at Suvarnabhumi, where a 3 hour layover awaited before our flight to Frankfurt.

The arrival area at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport


Having arrived from Singapore, we quickly made our way through transfer security, which was surprisingly painless given the time of day. We logged onto the free wifi (which was irritatingly hard to connect to) and bummed around in several seating areas on the upper floor of the departure area where there were shops and cafes, which was clean enough compared to the pit that is the level below where the gates are. We had a quick meal in a café serving thai food which was the least extortionate of the bunch, and bought some bottled water to bring on the flight with us.

By then, we had mostly exhausted our 2 hour free wifi allowance, and decided to head to Gate B7 where our aircraft awaited. We knew from various forums that Thai Airways had been experiencing extremely low load factors on many routes in the aftermath of the unrest that had rocked Thailand earlier this year, and had hoped that our flight was going to have a light load. The sight that greeted us at the gate was certainly a positive one, as the gate area was practically empty 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure.

Boarding was carried out at a leisurely pace, as us passengers took our own sweet time to board the plane.

Our A340 to Frankfurt


Date: 01/07/14
Route: BKK-FRA
Flight: TG922
Reg: HS-TNC (Airbus A340-642)
Seat: 46K

We were again warmly welcomed onboard with the traditional sawadee by the female cabin crew members manning Door 2L dressed in the traditional thai uniform. The aircraft that operated the flight was HS-TNC, a 9 year old A340-600 named Chon Buri. We had specifically chosen to take this flight over the other TG flight to FRA operated by the A380 as I had not flown on an A340 since June 2001 (on a SQ A343 to Beijing), and had never flown on a -600 series before.

It was a long walk to our seats in the rear economy cabin, which was expected considering that prior to the introduction of the Boeing 747-8i, the A340-600 was the longest passenger aircraft in the world. As with most A330s and A340s, the seats were arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration, with our seats having a very generous 34 inch pitch. Take note, the seats on the left side of the cabin had only 32 inch pitch due to the layout. The aircraft was fitted with a Panasonic S3000i AVOD IFE system with touchscreens, which were not very sensitive, and I once again resorted to using the controller as it got the job done a lot faster.

My friends and I kept a close watch on the aisle to see whether there were any more passengers boarding the aircraft. I switched my IFE screen to the nose camera whilst setting the airshow channel on the screen of the seat next to mine. Soon, the purser announced over the PA that doors were closed, and my friends changed their seats so quickly you would’ve missed it if you blinked. We now had the 16 seats in rows 46 and 47 between the 3 of us. I remained in 46K, one friend shifted to 46G across the aisle, and the other to 47G, preparing to enjoy the lie flat comfort only offered in First, Business, and in this case, the middle 4 seats in Economy with their armrests up. The rear cabin had an extremely light load, probably no more than 15 people, whilst the forward economy cabin had a slightly higher load.

The view from seat 46K on the ground in Bangkok


Contents of the seat pocket


Leg room


The view across row 46


Pushback was carried out on schedule due to the early completion of boarding and the aircraft taxied out to runway 19L for departure, passing numerous Thai Airways aircraft at their gates. Thai Airways has to have one of the most diverse aircraft fleets of any major flag carrier out there, operating the Airbus A300, A320 (Thai Smile), A330 (with both RR and PW engines), A340 and A380, along with Boeing 737s, 747s, 777s (every variant except the 777F, which they did operate via lease from Southern Air a few years ago) and soon the 787. The safety video played on the screens as the cabin crew secured the cabin for takeoff. The taxi route was short and there was no queue of aircraft so we turned straight onto the runway and the A340 lumbered into the air.

Pushing back from Gate B7


HS-TGX at Gate B9, preparing for departure to Munich as TG924


Turning onto runway 19L


And takeoff! 11 hours to Frankfurt!


Climbing turn towards the Northwest over the Chao Phraya River


If you’re familiar with the long running joke that the only reason the A340 gets off the ground is because of the curvature of the earth, I’d have to say that there is some truth to that joke. This was the most gentle ascent I’ve ever had in a large commercial aircraft. Even with this flight being on the -600 model, which are powered by RR T500s as opposed to the CFM56-5C4 hairdryers on the -300s, the aircraft still felt very underpowered from a passenger perspective.

Once the seatbelt sign was turned off, the cabin crew quickly went down the aisle closing every window, which made the cabin very dark even though it was broad daylight outside, following which a drinks service was quickly conducted, with salted peanuts given out. This was shortly followed by a lunch service, which on this sector consisted of a ham salad, bread roll with butter, thai chicken curry with rice and vegetables with a chocolate cake for dessert.

I queried the flight attendant serving lunch as to the load on the flight. She very sheepishly replied that there were only 51 passengers in Economy out of 199 seats. To put the load in context, the entire economy class load of 51 could have comfortably fit into the Business class cabin on the same aircraft, which has 60 seats. First and Business class had similar load factors, so there were probably less than 80 passengers on the plane, which had 267 seats.

Darkened economy cabin


Wing view over Myanmar at FL360


Lunch is served!


The meal portion was sufficient and the curry chicken and rice quite tasty for an airplane meal.

I don’t typically sleep well in economy class, even with the luxury of choosing any combination of seats in the cabin. I watched some episodes of Silicon Valley on the IFE, as well as the Need for Speed movie as the flight progressed over India and Pakistan. We were offered a small sandwich as a mid-flight snack about 5 hours into the flight.

Mid-flight sandwich


Flying over Central Asia


My friends and I passed the time by playing multiplayer Battleship and Poker on the IFE, which worked very well, even on the older IFE system. The crew were very proactive, regularly making drink runs through the cabin. There was always at least one cabin crew member in the mid-cabin galley who would always oblige any request for drinks and snacks. The cabin crew members alternated their duties, with some entering the lower deck crew rest to get some sleep. All of them were very friendly and chatty, and made the flight pass quite quickly.

We were served dinner about 2 hours prior to landing in Frankfurt. The dinner consisted of a plate of fruit, a bread roll, prawn Pad Thai (which was excellent) and a cake for dessert.

Dinner!


About 45 minutes out of Frankfurt, the captain announced that descent would commence shortly, and the cabin crew started to prepare the cabin for arrival. There was no air traffic congestion and we proceeded directly into Frankfurt Airport, landing about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

Descending over Germany


On final approach into Frankfurt


It was a long taxi from runway 25L to the gate, but once the aerobridges were connected, all the passengers were able to disembark quickly due to the light load. Passport control was empty and we passed through quickly. By the time we got to the luggage belt, we did not have to wait long for our bags, and aside from a short queue at customs due to the passengers from an Air China flight who did not understand the instructions of the customs staff, it was relatively smooth sailing after disembarkation. We had a train to Stuttgart to catch in 2 hours, but first off, to find some food, drink and a TV screen showing the World Cup match between Argentina and Switzerland.

Chon Buri resting at the gate after the 11 hour flight


If you read the first part of this report, you would know that my first choice for this trip would’ve been Air India, in Business on the 787.
VT-AND at the gate preparing for departure back to New Delhi

After two and half weeks traipsing around Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, including a very well planned (or unplanned) stay in Berlin when Germany won the World Cup, it was finally time to go home. We had arrived in Frankfurt from Berlin the day before, to give ourselves enough time to get to the airport and settle our departure formalities (in Asian speak, this means to get our VAT refunds processed).

After hopping off the S-Bahn from the Hauptbahnhof, we had to navigate a maze of underground corridors to get to the Thai Airways check-in counters at Area C in Terminal 1. There was a short queue when we arrived but it moved quickly and we were at the counter in less than 10 minutes. Our boarding passes for both FRA-BKK and BKK-SIN were issued with no problems. Because we were getting our VAT refunded, we had our bags tagged at the counter but had to bring them over to the customs counter to get the exit stamp. Thankfully, we could just leave them there instead of having to drag them back to the check-in counter.

Terminal 1 seems to be undergoing a refurbishment at the moment, so there were several areas that were boarded up. We decided to head airside and had a torrid time passing through security, with all of us being stopped and searched, with my friend being brought into a room for his bags to be swabbed and tested. The security guy who searched my bag remarked that he had never seen so much chocolate being carried (ok… it wasn’t even that much). From there, it was a short stroll through passport control, where the most uninterested looking immigration officer leafed through my passport before stamping it. He did look a little bit like Peter Griffin from Family Guy.

We settled our tax refunds, and then proceeded to McDonalds for a quick meal, probably because it had the best view of the apron for the lowest price. Thankfully, the airport provided free wifi and we were able to get all our internet surfing done before the long flight to Bangkok. We headed down to the gate area, which was absolutely packed.

HS-TUA ‘Si Rattana’ at Gate B46


Boarding started for First, Business and Star Alliance Gold passengers, following by passengers needing assistance and those travelling with young children. It was then followed by Economy by section. Since we were seated at the aft end of the lower deck economy cabin, we boarded quite early on. Boarding was strictly enforced by the gate agents.

Date: 16/07/14
Route: FRA-BKK
Flight: TG921
Reg: HS-TUA (Airbus A380-841)
Seat: 69A

We were once again welcomed onboard with the traditional sawadee by the female cabin crew members manning Door 2L dressed in the traditional thai uniform. It was quite a long trek down the main deck to Row 69, albeit not as long as the A340-600 we flew up on. The cabin was arranged in the typical A380 lower deck 3-4-3 configuration, with brightly coloured Recaro seats fitted with Panasonic eX2 IFE systems.

After placing my carry-on in the bin and settling down in my seat, the IFE welcome was showing an image of Thai’s upcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was delivered to Thai shortly after I took this flight. This being an A380, I immediately selected the tail camera view on the IFE screen, which provided an overview of the apron where we were parked.

Thai’s new 787 Dreamliner plastered on the IFE welcome screen


Tail camera view on the IFE


The view from seat 69A


A380 Safety Card


Leg room


We pushed back from the gate on schedule, backing past a TUIfly 737 which was boarding at a remote stand. Many passengers boarding via the rear stairs turned their heads to watch as the A380 started its engines right in front of their eyes. We then taxied the length of the airport towards runway 18 for a departure to the south, passing numerous aircraft on the way. The safety video played on the screens as the cabin crew secured the cabin for takeoff.

Pushing back from Gate B46


D-ATUF in the midst of boarding


Adria Airways’ newest aircraft, a CRJ-900LR registered as S5-AAV


Turning onto runway 18


Liftoff – 10 hours to Bangkok


Banking over suburban Frankfurt towards the east


Frankfurt Airport in the distance


Rear economy cabin


The aircraft climbed quickly to our cruise altitude of 37000feet, and the seatbelt sign was turned off following which a drinks service was quickly conducted, with salted peanuts given out. This was shortly followed by a lunch service, which on this sector consisted of a seafood pasta salad, a choice of stir fried garlic and pepper chicken with rice and zucchini or pork meat balls in a red wine sauce with potatoes and brussels sprouts. This was served with a bread roll and a berry cake for dessert.

Lunch is served! The stir fried chicken was a bit dry but still tasty



Watching the sun set over Central Asia


The cabin crew dimmed the lights as the sun set outside, and the bulk of the passengers in the cabin chose to get some shut eye through the night. Well, all except the couple seated behind me, who kept their reading lights on the entire flight. Now, on a B777 this would not be a hindrance since those lights are pretty well positioned directly over the seat, and are not particularly intrusive to the passengers in front or behind. However, as I came to realise, the reading lights on the A380 are positioned a bit ahead of the seat row, and therefore are directly over the row in front when the seat is reclined. I was not going to get any sleep with a halo of light shining directly down on me. Instead I chose to watch Snowpiercer and some episodes of Major Crimes.

The airshow about halfway through the flight


The map above shows the route that TG921 took on 16th July 2014, in which the flight passed directly overhead Donetsk in East Ukraine. Who could’ve known that just 21 hours after that photo was taken, MH17 would meet its tragic end in the same patch of sky? It’s quite scary knowing that it was the luck of the draw, and that any flight could just as easily have been knocked out of the sky by some trigger happy moron.

The cabin crew made regular drink runs through the cabin, offering orange juice, apple juice and water. However, there was no mid-flight snack offered at any time during the flight, which I thought was a bit underwhelming. They were friendly enough, going about their jobs with a smile on their faces. They were also quite quick to respond to call buttons.

Breakfast was served about one and a half hours out of Bangkok, over the Bay of Bengal. That made for some fun as the plane was tossed about in some moderate turbulence over the water. The only choice was a fruit cocktail with yoghurt, with a main consisting of an omelette with hash browns, a sausage and spinach. This was served with a bread roll.

Breakfast!


I don’t usually go for eggs on planes, but in the grand scheme of things this meal was tasty enough.

The sun started to rise and that led to some beautiful views over the wing as we started our descent into Bangkok.

Sunrise over the Bay of Bengal


Threatening skies


Rice anyone?


Final approach for runway 19R at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport


We touched down in Bangkok 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and after a short taxi pulled up to the gate next to another Thai A380.

Parked next to HS-TUB


The flight was pleasant enough, once you take away the fact that the couple behind me, in their infinite wisdom, left their reading lights on the entire duration of the flight without reading a single book. I guess they needed to feel bright. The Recaro seats were comfortable for about the first hour, then they became an absolute pain in the a**. I wouldn't suggest any flight longer than 3-4 hours in those without some kind of extra cushioning.

Because our previous flight arrived early into Bangkok, we had just shy of 2 hours to make our connection back home to Singapore. It being so early in the morning, most shops and food outlets at Suvarnabhumi were closed, so even after rushing through transit security, there wasn’t really much to do except to hang around and wait for our flight. All 3 of us did not catch much sleep on the flight from Frankfurt, and so we were almost running on empty. After creating the usual fake accounts on the AOT free wifi server, we sat around surfing the web until about 45 minutes before departure, after which we headed to the gate.

Being Thai Airways, the chance of an equipment substitution is very high. We were hoping that Thai would swop out our scheduled 772 for a 77W, which was quite common on this sector, but it wasn’t to be. TG’s first 772 HS-TJA (a 1996 model) sat at the gate waiting. The gate holding area filled up quite quickly, but boarding was called soon after we arrived and we sat around whilst Business Class and Royal Orchid Gold members were invited to board, shortly followed by passengers seated in the rear economy cabin. We were in the next boarding group and boarded shortly afterward

Date: 17/07/14
Route: BKK-SIN
Flight: TG403
Reg: HS-TJA (Boeing 777-2D7)
Seat: 48A

Once again, we were welcomed onboard with the traditional sawadee by the female cabin crew members manning Door 2L dressed in the traditional thai uniform. We turned right and headed for our seats in the last row of the forward economy cabin, just ahead of the lavatory.

The interior of HS-TJA was in extremely poor shape, with carpets that were so worn that you could see the cabin floor beneath, and the seat in front of me could not stay in a upright position and was reclined for the entire flight. The cabin sidewall was badly scratched, and the 2 windows beside me had an oily residue on them which made taking photos almost impossible without some creative positioning.

The view from seat 48A


On the ground in Bangkok


B777 Safety Card


Leg room


View through the seats


Signs of wear and tear



Reclined seat in my face


Since this was the first TG flight to Singapore that morning, the load was very good, almost 80%. Boarding was quickly completed and we pushed back on schedule. Whilst taxiing out to the runway, we passed another TG 772 and an Orient Thai 747 Classic roasting on the Bangkok tarmac. We taxied out to Runway 19L without delay and were soon off to Singapore.

Preparing to line up on the runway


Rotate!


Climbing out of Bangkok




It was a quick climb to our cruise altitude of 40,000 feet, during which the crew started their first drink service which was a selection of juices or water with peanuts. Breakfast was served shortly afterward, with a starter of fresh fruit, followed by a choice of fried noodles or an omelette, served with bread roll.

Fried noodles for breakfast – Thai’s catering was superb for the most part


The flight passed very quickly, and soon enough the captain announced the start of descent into Singapore. We flew a straight in approach from the north into Singapore’s runway 20R. If I was to judge the flight, it was excellent until the point of landing. The pilot slammed the aircraft down onto the runway like a piledriver. I first flew on the 777 more than 15 years ago, and I’ve never experienced a landing as hard as this one.

Short final over the site of the former Changi Exhibition Center

Moments before the hardest landing I’ve ever experienced on the 777


Vacating the runway near Terminal 3


It was a quick taxi to the gate at Terminal 1, and we were off the aircraft less than 10 minutes after landing. Passing through immigration was painless and our bags were quickly retrieved from the belt.

On all 4 sectors, Thai Airways provided excellent service with friendly and personable crews, a decent enough hard product considering the price, and the catering was excellent with the exception of the FRA-BKK leg. I would certainly recommend them to any price conscious travellers looking to travel in some semblance of comfort.

Happy and safe flying!

V

Read my previous trip reports here:
Going home - a final upgrade (for now) on Emirates
Chasing the Dream - Jetstar's new 787 in Business from Melbourne to the Gold Coast
EK First Class MEL-SIN-MEL - The upgrade god strikes twice!

Thanks for your TR.

I was on your flight out of fra to BKK in F. A great flight and sounds like you had almost as much room as I did.

The F cabin was almost full and business had a high load too.

I enjoyed the flight and the onward F flight to Hong Kong.

I also noticed the plane boarding by steps in your picture and took a snap myself thinking poor buggars.

Thanks

Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed reading your report.

Look forward to reading about a Scoot operated 787 flight before too long...