Aussie Flyer

Jetstar are slowly changing the long haul fleet over from the Airbus A330-200 to the Boeing 787-8 and so far they have 4 aircraft in service. I recently took a ride on VH-VKE which was just 2 weeks old at the time. I rode on it between Melbourne and Sydney, which was a domestic tag for a flight that originated in Phuket. As such it departs from the international terminal but they do sell tickets for domestic passengers too. VH-VKE at the gate

Just an update as to what is coming up on the site.... I recently took a ride on a Boeing 787 for the first time ever, it was just a short flight from Melbourne to Sydney on Jetstar but it was fantastic. Expect a full pictorial report tomorrow night. As for my upcoming travels I have the following to report on over the next couple of weeks: - Cathay Pacific business class long haul A330 configuration - Cathay Pacific business class new regional A330 configuration - Turkish Airlines business class A330-300 - British Airways euro traveler (economy) on the B767-300 - Etihad Regional on the SAAB 2000 - Air Berlin economy on the A320 - Qatar business class on the B787 dreamliner - Qatar economy class on the A320 - Etihad diamond first class on the B777-300ER So as you  can see there is lots to look forward to, all new products that I have never reviewed before. So stay tuned.

It is probably obvious to my readers that I am more of a Qantas/Jetstar flyer domestically in Australia, but in the interests of  fairness here is a look at a short flight I took recently on Virgin Australia between Sydney and Melbourne. The flight is VA878, the 6.30pm departure from Sydney with an arrival time of 8.05pm. The flight I took was being operated by VH-VUN which is still in it's red Pacific Blue colour scheme. I assume it will be repainted fairly soon into the much more stylish and modern Virgin Australia scheme. Here is what VH-VUN looks like at the moment:

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

Following on from my recent look at a short flight on Air Asia, let's now look at another low cost carrier in the region, Nok Air. This carrier is in its 10th year of operations and now operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 737-800's along with several turboprops. It has a very extensive network of flights throughout Thailand and although it is a low cost carrier they do offer several inclusions that a traditional LCC does not. Those are a snack and drink on board, free seat selection and a 15kg baggage allowance. HS-DBO operated this flight Today I am looking at a flight from Hat Yai to Bangkok, flight DD7115, with a scheduled departure time of 19.55 and an arrival at Bangkok's Don Muang at 21.20. The flight cost me 1199 baht (USD40), so it was quite a bargain.

My other half is originally from Hat Yai so every now and then I find myself visiting this southern Thai city, like I did last month for Thai New Year (Songkran). On this trip I decided to fly via  Kuala Lumpur and take Air Asia. I booked online for a great price and showed up at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal with my pre-printed web check-in boarding passes.  I had baggage to check-in so fronted up to one of the counters and handed over my passport and my bag. Fortunately  there was not much of a queue so the process was fast. My passport was checked, bag tagged and my printed boarding pass stamped to confirm my documents had been verified. Next it was upstairs to passport control and through security. Once through security there is a small selection of duty free shops and food outlets in the LCCT. There is also free wi-fi. This was to be my last time using this terminal as KLIA 2 is opening in May which will see a huge upgrade to the facilities. I sat on a spare...