The highlight of my time spotting in Asia…
There was one aircraft in particular that I wanted to see while in Asia. That being the Iran Air Boeing 747SP! I was very happy to see that Iran Air had a flight into KL on our last day there.
I was absolutely stoked to see and photograph such a rare aircraft type! Once back home I heard the news that EP-IAA had been retired! What luck! I read that Iran Air is now returning EP-IAC into service. Good to see that there is still one Boeing 747SP in passenger service.
At around 5pm we decided to catch the train to KLIA2 and check in for the flight back to the Gold Coast. We had both upgraded to premium class through optiontown. Josh managed to get upgraded, but unfortunately I didn’t! But thankfully I had been assigned empty seats instead. So I would have Seats 12EFG all to myself! Josh was assigned Seat 1A, lucky bugger…
We passed through security and customs and just relaxed before the red-eye flight home. I tried to add a few more rego’s to the log before heading home!
Lots of Air Asia activity!
Well at about 8:30pm we decided it was time to head to our gate. It was quite a walk to our gate! I couldn’t see much of our aircraft out the window, but I could see enough to know that we were getting 9M-XXO in the Thank you Captain Park livery! My third special livery for the trip! Shortly boarding was called and that meant the end of our awesome Asia trip!
June 7, 2014
Air Asia X
D7206
KUL-OOL
9M-XXO A333
Seat 12G
STD/ATD: 2125/2137
STA/ATA: 0725+1/0711+1
Flight Time: 7 hours 34 minutes
Not a whole lot to say about the flight. Took off on RWY33. Once we were cruising, the crew came around with food and drinks. I had pre ordered a chicken sandwich, it was ok. Once the service was over I decided it was time to try and get some sleep. I decided to buy a comfort kit to help me sleep. It included a blanket, eye cover and a neck pillow. It cost MYR35 which equates to around $11AUD. I managed a couple of hours sleep but I just couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep any longer. I just lay down and closed my eyes. The lights were flicked on about 2 hours prior to arrival. I went to the toilet just before we flew over Brisbane. The bathroom has a window so I snapped a couple of photos with my phone.
I would’ve had a nice view of the Gold Coast if I was in my original seat (17K). We made the usual adjustments on finals before landing on RWY14. We had a pretty quick taxi to the terminal, before disembarking.
A few shots as I make my way off the plane and into the terminal.
Customs was quick. Thankfully we were the first international arrival of the day. JQ12 from Tokyo was delayed so got in just after us followed by an Air New Zealand A320 from Auckland. My bag took a while to come out. I walked out of the terminal and said goodbye to Josh. My friend Brock was kind enough to offer me a ride to Varsity Lakes train station. Thanks mate! From there I caught two trains to the northside taking about an hour and a half. My parents then picked me up and drove me home! I was exhausted! Haha
Conclusion:
Had a fantastic time! I thoroughly enjoyed my first time in Asia. All eight of my flights were good. The two China Airlines flights and the Cathay flight were my favourites. I found both carriers to be excellent, and of course nothing beats flying on the queen of the skies!
I loved all the places I visited, and wouldn’t hesitate to return. In particular I would like to go to Singapore again, a day simply isn’t enough! Spotting in HKG, KUL and SIN was fantastic. It puts all the airports in Australia to shame. The variety of airlines and aircraft types is fantastic!
Thanks for reading!
Brandon
I have two short trips booked at the moment. Sydney in late August for 3 nights and Cairns in mid-October for 4 nights. Never been to Cairns so I am very much looking forward to that!