Air Asia X Inaugural to Nagoya on 3/17/14 Premium

[Carfield]

Trip Report: Air Asia X Inaugural to Nagoya on March 17, 2014


Hi all,

Here is just a short trip report on perhaps one of the best-known Asian LLC in the world! I finally find a reason to give it a try and actually find it to be quite good. Air Asia X’s Premium Flatbed product actually surpasses my expectation, but we need to keep in mind that it is still a low cost airline! Some of the additional amenities in this premium product still cost more money, but the flat bed seats are actually nicer than I imagine. In terms of inaugural festivities, I honestly am not expecting much, as it is still a low cost airline, and Nagoya is its third destination in Japan. However I actually think that the Nagoya airport authority will be a bit more enthusiastic, given how little flights they receive, but maybe the ex-Nagoya passengers will get more from the airport itself.

March 17, 2014; Monday
D7 542 KUL-NGO Lv0845 Arr1620 Airbus A330-300X 9M-XXJ

Well as expected, KLIA 2, the new Low Cost Terminal, is still not ready as of March, and according to the CEO, May is the new target. The current LCCT is basically a disgrace, but at least Air Asia tries to make it more tolerable. At least the check-in area is air-conditioned now, and the check-in area has expanded, with a new massive international terminal, instead of two small gates.

As I arrived at the airport, there was a small Nagoya booth in the entrance of the LCCT, but there are no special check-in counters for Nagoya passengers.





Here is the self-check-in area (including self-baggage-tagging) in the Air Asia Area!


Directory of the check-in counters:


Air Asia X uses S27 to S48, and S27 is the premium flatbed check-in lane. S25-26 is the priority check-in counters for Air Asia passengers, who purchase the “Red Carpet Service.”



Despite no one is using the red carpet service, none of the girls offered to check me in, as I was waiting behind four Korean passengers in the premium line.


At least Puteri was friendly enough and my single bag was tagged with a priority tag. Air Asia X provides 25kg of free baggage allowance for all Premium passengers. I think it won’t hurt to give 30kg just to be on par with major airlines.



The economy D7 check in area


Plaza Premium lounge operates the only lounge here at LCCT, and the lounge is divided into a pre-security and post-security section. For some reasons, I decided to visit the pre-security section, since I was a bit early this morning. I would rather be at the gate earlier to see if there was any special celebration. It was a typical lounge with typical decors and a buffet including various Malaysian dishes and limited Western selection. To my surprise, there was no meat offering of any sort, except the minced chicken with the congee. Not even a ham & cheese sandwich!

[Carfield]

Immigration was superefficient, despite being a busy morning with many D7 flights to various Korean, Japanese, Australian, Taiwanese, and Chinese destinations.

Shot of the tarmac


FDIS – mostly Air Asia flights


T14 was our gate this morning, and it was one of those secluded gate requiring extra immigration check. Given the situation with MH 371, I was not surprised at the heightened security.

[Carfield]

FDIS for our flight


Not surprisingly, nothing was happening at the gate, and despite being the inaugural flight, the flight was very full. I am not sure if most passengers are aware of the inaugural nature of this flight. Soon I saw these giant trolleys of gift bags arriving at the gate, and I was happy that we would at least get something.


Air Asia X is notorious for early boarding and focuses on leaving on time and even early. This on time performance is definitely a key for its success and why people prefer Air Asia. Boarding started at 8:08am with Premium passengers to board first. The happy staffs were passing out gift bag to each passenger.

Sign to Nagoya




View of 9M-XXJ





Since I am traveling light, I appreciate the chance of climbing up these stairs and being closed to the plane.



Premium cabin was full today, and I only manage these few shots of the cabin, which look smart and most importantly, clean. Turnaround time was short for Air Asia, so sometimes the seats were not cleaned thoroughly.

[Carfield]

Premium flatbed seat is a bit less fancy than other earlier generation of flat bed seats. However they have the basic features, like an individual snake light, electrical outlets, a small divider, and a small space for personal objects like glasses and mobile phones. There is no personal TV, so the seats feel a bit wider.




I was not able to take a picture of the seats being full flat, and only in this recline position. The seats are pretty comfortable and the full flat positions are pretty good too. I manage to sleep for a few hours. Those pictures are posted on the latter part of the report!

The content of the inaugural gift bag: a box of small Air Asia X handkerchiefs folded into sushi, a Malaysian sushi restaurant coupon, a folder and brochure from the Nagoya tourism board, and a sticker pad.






Here are the contents of the magazine pocket:
Safety card, entertainment guide (tablets not offered on intra-Asian flights), duty free catalog, buy-on-board menu, and Air Asia magazine

[Carfield]

Here is the surprise – I am not sure if this is a typical feature for Premium Flat Bed service, or just something special for the inaugural flights, and the CEO was on board.

Pre-takeoff orange juice (other choice is apple juice)


Pre-takeoff Japanese snack packets (peanuts, seaweed crackers, and rice crackers)


Local newspapers were offered, along with a wet towelette served from a bento box – much better than I have expected!

Premium cabin was full, and one passenger wanted to switch seat with me, but I politely declined. That guy handled it pretty well, as it was clear that I was one of the few paying passengers on today’s flight. Some of the men looked like frequent Air Asia X passengers, and overheard them asking the purser what was the plan in Nagoya after landing. I also heard from the purser that the flight attendants had a short layover. They were actually flying back to KL from Haneda, not from Nagoya. The F/A reported the passenger counts today was 371, as it was almost 100% full. Most passengers were Malaysians, as expected, and the F/As were all picture perfect – tall and slim. Thankfully the one male F/A was pretty handsome too. The CEO was of course on board this morning, and he was in the cockpit during takeoff, and then stayed at 1G for the rest of the flight.

Door was closed early at 8:38pm, and the pilot made his welcome remarks. We pushed back from stand F24 at 8:43am and took off from R/W14R at 8:59am.

View of the new KLIA2 before takeoff


There was no personal entertainment system, and the flight data came from flightradar24.
We passed Seremban and Muadzam Shah, before reaching 39,000 feet, and then reached 40,000 feet as we crossed South China Sea. We climbed further to 41,000feet before passing the Okinawan Islands, specifically Tonaki Islands and Tanegashima Islands, and then traveling along the coast before passing Kii Peninsula, and then turning towards Tsu, Suzuka, Ise Bay, and Chubu Airport. There were a few chops here and there, but things smooth out after we got closer to Japan.

Complimentary bottled waters were first passed out after seat belt sign was turned off. They were readily available throughout the flight, and I was not sure if it was because of the inaugural flight or not. But I am sure you get at least one free bottle on all other flights.


Premium passengers all get one free complimentary meal, and Air Asia X has recently introduced premium meals that look like a typical economy class meal with orange juice cup, bread, and some side dishes depending on your meals. For my free meal, I chose the pancakes set, as it comes with a tub of strawberry yogurt, a packaged roll, and an orange juice cup. The Big Breakfast features an omelet entrée, with strawberry yogurt, roll and orange juice cup too.

The presentation was pretty nice and it tasted fine.

[Carfield]

I also paid for a can of coke light too, and yes you have to pay for other beverages. The only free beverage was the bottled waters, orange juice cups if you order those premium meals, and a free cup of tea or coffee after meal. The F/A used the manifest to verify order, and I was addressed by my last name throughout the flight too.

Lights were turned off in the premium cabin shortly after the meals were clear. There was a duty free service at 11:40am, but the F/As left the premium passengers alone most of the times.

As expected, the two F/As in the premium cabin went to help out in the economy cabin after our meal services are completed. I had the chance to snap these galley pictures.



The toilet features basic amenities and even some floral decoration!


As I said earlier, no full flat bed position picture… but here was the oversized pillow and duvet given to each premium passenger. They were very comfortable and I was tempted to buy the duvet, if I had more spaces in my luggage. The F/As collected them after the pilot announced time to prepare for landing.



Here is the seat in the recline position! I like the red adjustable headrest.




I also like the bulkhead row too, and in the future, I will choose either 1A and 1K, and I have no problems crossing the leg-rest of my neighbor during midflight. There are plenty of spaces in the bulkhead row.


Two hours prior to arrival, there was a second service in economy cabin, and most passengers in the premium cabin also ordered a second meal. They were pretty frequent travelers and knew that they possible needed a second meal towards the end of this six hours flight. I ordered Uncle Chin’s chicken rice and upgraded the meal to include a salad and dessert. Today’s green salad is pretty fresh and it comes with a pack of Thousand Island dressing, as well as a Vanilla crumble cake with blueberries. It was a very delicious meal and I always like the chicken rice served by Air Asia. There was no tea or coffee service, but an orange juice cup was served.

[Carfield]

A slice of cheesecake was also served after the meal service, as it was a special gift by the catering team of Air Asia. It was a nice gesture.



Winglet shot

[Carfield]

Descent finally began at 3:21pm Japan local time, and the F/As also came around with more bottled waters for the premium passengers. For some reasons, we were placed on the holding pattern for ten minutes. Here were some scenery shots as we decent into Nagoya!



We finally landed on R/W18 at 4:14pm, and I immediately spotted this Boeing Dream-lifter in the tarmac.



As expected, there was a water canon salute, and it was always a nice thing for traveling on inaugural flights.





We parked at gate 18 (which was definitely the best gate here at NGO) at 4:20pm, right on scheduled.



Gate 18 was right across from the immigration hall, and once you left the plane, you just walked straight to the immigration counter.

Immigration was a breeze, as we were the only flight arriving at that time of the day.
Baggage was delivered quickly, and priority-tagged bag arrived at the belt first. So I was through all the formalities within fifteen minutes, and was able to check in at the Centrair hotel by 4:45pm. Pretty amazing.

[Carfield]

The flight was honestly what I expected, and the service was professional, and the seats were comfortable. Most importantly, the price was right, and with that kind of pricing scheme, you can’t really ask for fancy meals served in china and brand name toiletries. I will recommend premium passengers to bring eye masks in the future, as the F/As started the service a bit earlier than other airlines. The only thing that I hope D7 will do in the future is to stock paper napkins in the bathroom, as tissues are not designed to dry off your hands. In terms of catering, I think it is fair to give each premium passenger one free meal, and I like that Air Asia X allows me options to purchase additional meals and to upgrade my meal to premium. Not sure if I am a fan of Air Asia X but I personally will not mind flying D7 Premium in the future. The nine abreast economy looks very unwelcoming, but the premium flat beds are good. As soon as the LCCT becomes historic and KLIA2 is opened, I will reconsider using Air Asia X on some of the connecting flights to Colombo, Male, and Taipei.

Here are some additional picture I took from the observation deck, as well as from the fourth floor plaza area, as Air Asia X held a press conference for the media. I did not stay, as it was only for invited guests, and they were quite crowded. I rather spent some times at the observation deck.

[Carfield]

I hope you enjoy this trip report!

Carfield

[Durian]

I hope you enjoy this trip report!

Carfield

thanks for this report!
I booked recently a BA premium eco trip SIN-SYD. After reading your report I checked the Air Asia website... surprise surprise it's around the same price
Of course the seat is great for a LCC (looks much better than Scoot Biz) but the absence of IFE and the unappealing catering are quite a turn off.