Aussie Flyer

My recent trip saw me taking advantage of some good business class airfares out of Colombo, Sri Lanka. To get there I flew Melbourne to Bangkok then on to Colombo with Thai Airways. The Bangkok to Colombo sector operates daily as flight TG307, with the Airbus A330-300. Unless there is a last minute equipment swap this 3 hour sector operates with the angled lie flat business class seat, as shown below (from a previous report):

Yes, I have yet another review of Thai Business Class. I'm not sure why I keep bothering really, as nothing has changed much in the past 7 years with Thai and it's business class operations to Melbourne. We did see the B777-300ER for a while, but for now we are back on the -200 and -200ER, with the very occasional substitute. So here is another quick look at TG466, the 2.15pm service from Melbourne to Bangkok. First, the very tired and aging Air New Zealand lounge in the dungeons of the terminal (basement). This lounge is still ok but it really needs a refurb like it's Sydney counterpart is currently undergoing. Air NZ Lounge

I've reviewed this flight so many times before so here is a quick rundown and mostly pictorial report of my most recent trip on flight TG465, on board a Thai Boeing 777-200ER. This flight leaves Bangkok at 00.05 AM every night, arriving into Melbourne at  1.05pm, scheduled 9 hours. This flight offers a late night supper (basically a complete dinner service) and full breakfast before landing. It was my last flight on my series of flights around Asia late last year. After freshening up with a shower in the lounge and complimentary 30 minute foot massage in the Thai Airways spa it was off to get C5 for the secondary screening Australia bound flights are subjected to. Secondary bag check

FLIGHT TG639 AIRLINE Thai Airways International ROUTE Hong Kong to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi GATE DEPARTURE 18.55 (Scheduled) / 19.10 (Actual) GATE ARRIVAL 20.40 (Scheduled) / 21.04 (Actual) FLIGHT TIME 2 hours 23 minutes airborne AIRCRAFT Airbus A330-300 HS-TEU (5 years old) We are on the home stretch now on this series of reports detailing a recent adventure around Asia. I was heading back home to Melbourne from Hong Kong and unfortunately was unable to secure award seats with Singapore Airlines so I had to settle for Thai Airways instead. Perfectly acceptable really, even though they were only offering angled lie flats for both sectors at the time. This article is about flight TG639, the 6.55pm flight to Bangkok, the second last of the day for Thai Airways on this route and one of five daily flights. The flight was scheduled to be operated by one of Thai's newer A330's with angle...

Having recently arrived from Sydney  I found myself in the wonderful surrounds of the Thai Airways First Class lounge at Bangkok's Survanabhumi airport. One of the ground services available to First Class passengers is the spa facility. On this occasion I decided not to have the full body massage and instead I had a 30 minute foot massage which was very enjoyable. Once that was over I headed back to the lounge for some food and beverage: Cocktail in the lounge

After arriving from Melbourne on QF400 I collected my luggage (Qantas won't interline to non alliance partners on separate tickets anymore), and took the train between terminals. They charge $5.70 for this 2 minute journey, which other airports in the world charge to transfer between terminals I wonder? Qantas does offer an inter-terminal transfer but I couldn't use this as it is airside and I had to go landside to get my luggage. Fortunately the luggage didn't take too long and I was over at the Thai check-in counters by 8am. Here are the details of todays flight: FLIGHT TG476 AIRLINE Thai Airways  International ROUTE Sydney to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi GATE DEPARTURE 10.00 (Scheduled) / 10.02 (Actual) GATE ARRIVAL 15.25 (Scheduled) / 15.44 (Actual) FLIGHT TIME 9 hours 12 minutes airborne AIRCRAFT Boeing 747-400 HS-TGO Check-in for Royal First, Royal Silk and Economy ...

A quick report here on what you can expect in business class domestically in Thailand. This trip was on TG110 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Chiang Mai on the Airbus A330-300. The aircraft operating the flight was HS-TEJ, a 16 year old model configured with the regional business class recliner seats. The flight was due to depart at 1.10pm and arrive into Chiang Mai at 2.20pm. My trip started with the taxi driver taking the long way around the back of the airport, which was fine by me as I like the view: View from the Taxi of an A330 touching down

Nepal is an amazing place and Kathmandu is an incredible city and I had a teriffic few days there earlier in the year. It was my first trip to the city and it was well worth a visit despite the ridiculous state of the roads in the town (dirt, full of pot holes, generally in terrible condition!). I recommend a visit to all. Anyway, my trip was over and it was time to start the journey back home to Australia and taking me out of Nepal was Thai Airways. Thai operate a daily Boeing 777-200 to Kathmandu and the widebody service is definitely my preferred method of travel from Nepal (compared to Malaysia Boeing 737 and Silkair A319/20).   After going through numerous checks just to get into the terminal and check in it was time to hit the Thai Royal Silk Lounge. Thai is one of the few airlines who operate their own lounge in Nepal. It is quite basic but it's a relaxing oasis compared to the madness of the city just outside! It's worth noting that the lounge is before the main ...

Earlier on in the year I took a flight on Thai's 747 in First Class from Bangkok to Sydney. This is not going to be a full review but a quick run down of the Royal First experience. The flight was operated on an aircraft configured with 10 First Class seats which is typical for the Sydney run and half of the Thai 747 fleet is configured this way. The other half are now in a 'suites' configuration but mostly those aircraft fly to Europe and Japan.   

Towards the end of 2012 Thai Airways took delivery of their first Airbus A380. The first couple of aircraft were used initially on short haul flights to Singapore and Hong Kong before starting long haul operations to Frankfurt. Although the whalejet no longer flies to Singapore it does operate one daily return trip to Hong Kong. At about 2.5 hours this is the shortest route on the Thai network that offers a first class cabin (the 747-400 operates the 2nd daily first class service to HKG).  Finding myself in Hong Kong this last January I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give the Thai A380 a go. I was most interested in first class so booked a first class ticket from Hong Kong to Sydney via Bangkok. The first leg being on the 380 with the second being on a standard B747-400.  HS-TUC AT THE GATE

Myanmar  (formerly Burma) is starting to really open up as a tourist destination. It's becoming increasingly popular and airlines are increasing frequencies and sending larger aircraft to cope with the steady rise of travelers and business people headed to the country. At the moment Thai fly 3 widebody aircraft a day between Bangkok and Yangon with a planned increase to a 4th daily service coming up soon. Thai recently announced it's low cost subsidiary Thai Smile will begin servicing Bangkok to Mandalay as well so options for travelers are opening up. I recently ventured to Myanmar for the first time and found myself booked on a Thai Airways A300, the middle of the day departure flight TG301, in business class.  The other two daily flights were scheduled to be A330's with a much better seat but for a flight that is in the air less than 60 minutes the A300 is fine. Gate D1A - A bus gate for todays flight

I have reviewed this flight many times before but here we go again. This is the way I usually leave Australia, on this Thai Airways flight which leaves every day from Melbourne in the mid afternoon. The equipment has been a Boeing 777 of some sort for quite a few years and we have seen the -300, -200ER and the -200 versions being used. Currently Thai is flying the B777-200 refurbished configuration to Melbourne. This aircraft has had an update in economy class to include Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) in every seat. The business class seats which are angled lie flats have not changed. They are much the same as other seats on the B777 Thai fleet (with the exception of the -300ER).  The main noticeable difference in business class compared to the  -300 is the 2x2x2 configuration (compared to 2x3x2). This is a much  roomier cabin than the B777-300,  but the TV screens are slightly smaller.  So, onto my flight which I flew in early  December 2012. The a...

After a short stay in Bangkok it was off to London on Thai once more. I started my trip with a foot massage, complimentary for Thai business class passengers in the Thai Airways Spa at Suvarnabhumi airport. It's a great way to relax between flights, or a great way to relax in preparation for your first long haul flight of the day. You start off in the waiting area with a cold herbal drink and cold wet towel.  Thai Spa waiting area With plenty of time up my sleeve I decided to 'lounge hop' and once my massage was complte I made my way over to the Singapore Airlines lounge in A concourse. There is pleasant garden views and I filled up on a few snacks including some tasty dim sum along with a vodka orange. Singapore Lounge - Bangkok After I was done with the SQ lounge I made my way to Thai's lounge on concourse C, which was closest to the departure gate. I found a window seat with runway and apron views and snacked on some green curry chicken fried rice an...

After last year's Royal Wedding trip, I decided to be in London during the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee. My route to Europe on this trip was relatively simple. Melbourne-Bangkok-London Heathrow, all on Thai Airways in business class. Here is how the first sector went: Arriving at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport It was a miserable day in Melbourne for my departure. Freezing cold, raining with heavy low cloud. I arrived at the airport by Skybus and made my way into the international departure hall. I was nice and early and check-in was pretty quiet. Check-in was processed quickly and I was handed my boarding pass for seat 15K on the Boeing 777-300. This was a flight I had taken many times before so it was all very routine. Check-in Once I made my way through passport control I noticed our inbound flight was stopped short of the gate. The ground crew were standing in the rain with their headset connected to the aircraft. I wondered what had pre...