I took a flight AK732 from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in October 2011. It was departed at 10:30 AM (local time) from Singapore Changi Airport and arrived at 11:30 AM (local time) in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. The plane was Airbus A320 manufactured 1988.
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I chose the low-cost airline Air Asia for this flight because of their enticing prices. However, although the starting price was advertised at about 30 USD, the roundtrip came to a total of 100 USD, mostly due to the 10 USD which you only find out about just before confirming your purchase! Moreover, it was difficult to remove flight insurance from the bill, when booking a ticket. On the other hand, the fee for picking your seat was quite reasonable at 2 USD each way. The same goes for the pre-order meals, which were very affordable.
My boarding pass: despite the online registration, I still had to go to a special stand to check in and validate my passport and visa.
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Here are several photos taken while waiting for the plane. Here is an A320 operated by JetStar, another large, low-cost subsidiary of Qantas.
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A Boeing 737-900 of Lion Air: the emergency exit behind the wing is a little surprising for this aircraft.
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Here, an A330-300 of China Airlines has just arrived from Taipei
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Singapore is, of course, the home of Singapore Airlines, considered one of the best airlines in the world
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Duty Free shopping…
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The children’s area at Singapore International Airport
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My plane is taxiing up, sporting the livery of Junior Club
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Boarding begins for Kuala Lumpur
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The Malaysian flag indicates that the plane belongs to Air Asia Malaysia
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The upholstery is black leather
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Advertising for that flight insurance that was so difficult to get off my ticket…
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Next to us was another plane with the colors of Air Asia Indonesia
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The safety card
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Self Check-in Air Asia
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The in-flight menu: on this flight, hot meals are served only if you’ve paid ahead when purchasing the ticket, only refreshments are available otherwise.
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The ads continue
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The Duty Free catalog
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And the flight magazine
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While we were taxiing to the runway, another Air Asia jet docked
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Takeoff!
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Singapore
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Singapore, Malayasia, Indonesia…
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A Malaysian city next to the border
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View of the cabin
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Right after the seatbelt lights went off, the prepaid hot meals were distributed. I had chosen a hotdog for the morning flight. The meals were served with a tiny cup of water. All of this cost about 2 USD.
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A hotdog with various condiments
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The hotdog has a chicken sausage
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Bon appetit...
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The flight was very short, 30 minutes at best. The cloud cover was very thick and low.
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Arriving in Malaysia
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Welcome to Kuala Lumpur
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A gas station right next to the taxiways, always handy if you forgot to fill your car before leaving it in long-term parking…
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Air Asia is served by the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, as soon as our arrival was announced, we were informed that taking pictures is forbidden. I didn’t want to get on the bad side of my hosts, so I didn’t take any photos after disembarking. That was too bad, because the distance to the terminal was substantial, about 5 minutes' walk. At most airports, they would have used a shuttle.
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The local currency, a Malaysian 5-Ringgit bill
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This is a 10-Ringgit bill with a picture of a Malaysian airliner!
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Here I’d like to present several photos of the LCCT which I took on the return flight. To go downtown, I decided to take the airport’s commuter train, which connects downtown and the airport. Only the main terminal building is connected, but you can take a bus to the nearest station outside the airport and catch the train there. Here you can see the Kuala Lampur International Airport (KLIA) Express, which runs from the airport all the way downtown (a bit like… well, there is no equivalent to it back home).
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I arrived at the central station in Kuala Lumpur. Interestingly, the ticket vending machines are the same exact kind as found on buses, trams and trains in Europe.
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The Petronas Towers, symbol of the city.
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With a large shopping mall at the base.
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The area next to the towers.
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Soon afterwards I got back to the airport via the KLIA train and the bus.
Summary
All in all, a very enjoyable flight. The flight attendants were fairly young, friendly and courteous. The meals were quite good. The price of about 90 euro for the roundtrip, along with the option to pick your seat, was reasonable considering the ticket was purchased only about ten days before departure.
There was a slight delay in the beginning, and the flight was rescheduled to 30 minutes later than originally planned.
Perhaps a little off topic, but I was very pleased with the friendliness of the Malaysians, who were very friendly and helpful, including their immigration services. I liked Singapore, but by contrast I found the Singaporeans a bit "colder". Being my first trip to Asia, I enjoyed discovering this contrast to the austerity of Singapore, which is very beautiful, clean and well organized (this isn’t meant as a criticism, I really liked Singapore).
