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Recently, Singapore's aviation scene got more and more exciting with the assault of low cost carriers. Traditional, these budget airlines would operate only to regional destinations with their A320s/B737s in a dense layout. However, Jetstar started to lead the way with operations of mid/long haul flights out of Singapore using their A330-200 to Melbourne and Auckland, offering ultra-low fares to these 2 destinations never seen before.
Seizing the opportunity of grabbing these low low fares to Auckland just after the launch of the flights, me and a friend booked a short trip to New Zealand over the National Day holidays. Our fares came up to S$600 per person return, inclusive of 20kg baggage allowance, 2 meals inclusive of drinks each way and amenity kit on the way up. A very good deal when SQ is selling tickets for almost S$1800 each person for a flight of similar timing. Jetstar's Business Class fare was at one time during a promotion even much cheaper than Economy on SQ!! In fact our tickets could have even been cheaper at around S$550 if we can booked later due to various promotions nearer to our flight date. So lets now take a peek into the Jetstar long-haul experience!
04 August 2011
Jetstar Asia (Operated by Jetstar)
3K 401
Singapore (SIN) - Auckland (AKL)
A330-200
VH-EBF
Economy Class
Check-in for all Jetstar flights are at Changi's Terminal One. However, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia flights were handled by different handling agents (Jetstar by CIAS, Jetstar Asia by APS) and thus check-in rows for 3K and JQ flights were also different. As our flight, even though denoted as a 3K flight, was actually operated by JQ aircraft, our check-in was handled by CIAS staff along with the other JQ flights. Our flight was also code-shared with Qantas.
Check-in was efficient. Not much of a wait. According to the agent, flight was 80% full.
A proper boarding pass was printed. There were codes on the boarding pass denoting the "extras" bought.
Lets do some plane spotting! 2 Cathays were spotted. In fact within a span of 3 hrs, I saw 4 different CX aircrafts in Changi!
All the red tails (Air Asia, Qantas, British Airways).
Another Qantas A330 arriving.
More red tails. A Lionair B739ER this time.
My flight to Auckland, VH-EBF. It had just arrived from Auckland and would be operating another AKL turn.
The gatehold room for our flight was packed! It really looked like a full flight. Boarding was announced shortly after I had entered the holding area and Business Class and families with children were invited to board first. Economy boarding followed according to row numbers. Boarding was orderly as the sequence was strictly followed. A crew member was also at the entrance to the aerobridge checking boarding passes and welcoming passengers. A nice touch!
Boarding the A330-200. Was warmly welcomed by the crew. Crew were also actively helping passengers to stow their hand-luggage in overhead compartments. A good start to the long-haul budget flight I must say.
My seat was at 51K. Surprisingly, legroom was very generous for my 1.8m frame! Nothing like the cramped A320s. The seat pitch was advertised as 31" but I could fully stretch out my legs under the seat in front! Recline was great too! Also I guess row 51 has slightly more seat pitch at the window seats due to the curvature of the cabin. Looks like it is gonna be a comfortable ride. I swear the seats are more comfy than SQ's new economy seats, but without the techno stuffs. (Picture taken later inflight)
On the armrest of the seat is the control panel for the radio channels, overhead light and call button.
Stuff in the seat pocket. Safety card, Jetstar magazine and a inflight guide.
There were a total of 9 cabin crew onboard the A332 aircraft. 6 crew in Economy and 3 in Business. Almost all of them were Singaporeans/Malaysians. There was also a Japanese crew. Flight time was announced to be a quick 9hrs 10min. However pushback was delayed as according to the captain, the push-back truck was missing due to some miscommunication with the ground staff. We eventually pushed back about a 15min delay.
Seizing the opportunity of grabbing these low low fares to Auckland just after the launch of the flights, me and a friend booked a short trip to New Zealand over the National Day holidays. Our fares came up to S$600 per person return, inclusive of 20kg baggage allowance, 2 meals inclusive of drinks each way and amenity kit on the way up. A very good deal when SQ is selling tickets for almost S$1800 each person for a flight of similar timing. Jetstar's Business Class fare was at one time during a promotion even much cheaper than Economy on SQ!! In fact our tickets could have even been cheaper at around S$550 if we can booked later due to various promotions nearer to our flight date. So lets now take a peek into the Jetstar long-haul experience!
04 August 2011
Jetstar Asia (Operated by Jetstar)
3K 401
Singapore (SIN) - Auckland (AKL)
A330-200
VH-EBF
Economy Class
Check-in for all Jetstar flights are at Changi's Terminal One. However, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia flights were handled by different handling agents (Jetstar by CIAS, Jetstar Asia by APS) and thus check-in rows for 3K and JQ flights were also different. As our flight, even though denoted as a 3K flight, was actually operated by JQ aircraft, our check-in was handled by CIAS staff along with the other JQ flights. Our flight was also code-shared with Qantas.
Check-in was efficient. Not much of a wait. According to the agent, flight was 80% full.
A proper boarding pass was printed. There were codes on the boarding pass denoting the "extras" bought.
Lets do some plane spotting! 2 Cathays were spotted. In fact within a span of 3 hrs, I saw 4 different CX aircrafts in Changi!
All the red tails (Air Asia, Qantas, British Airways).
Another Qantas A330 arriving.
More red tails. A Lionair B739ER this time.
My flight to Auckland, VH-EBF. It had just arrived from Auckland and would be operating another AKL turn.
The gatehold room for our flight was packed! It really looked like a full flight. Boarding was announced shortly after I had entered the holding area and Business Class and families with children were invited to board first. Economy boarding followed according to row numbers. Boarding was orderly as the sequence was strictly followed. A crew member was also at the entrance to the aerobridge checking boarding passes and welcoming passengers. A nice touch!
Boarding the A330-200. Was warmly welcomed by the crew. Crew were also actively helping passengers to stow their hand-luggage in overhead compartments. A good start to the long-haul budget flight I must say.
My seat was at 51K. Surprisingly, legroom was very generous for my 1.8m frame! Nothing like the cramped A320s. The seat pitch was advertised as 31" but I could fully stretch out my legs under the seat in front! Recline was great too! Also I guess row 51 has slightly more seat pitch at the window seats due to the curvature of the cabin. Looks like it is gonna be a comfortable ride. I swear the seats are more comfy than SQ's new economy seats, but without the techno stuffs. (Picture taken later inflight)
On the armrest of the seat is the control panel for the radio channels, overhead light and call button.
Stuff in the seat pocket. Safety card, Jetstar magazine and a inflight guide.
There were a total of 9 cabin crew onboard the A332 aircraft. 6 crew in Economy and 3 in Business. Almost all of them were Singaporeans/Malaysians. There was also a Japanese crew. Flight time was announced to be a quick 9hrs 10min. However pushback was delayed as according to the captain, the push-back truck was missing due to some miscommunication with the ground staff. We eventually pushed back about a 15min delay.
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