Bangkok Suvarnbhumi

I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport and due to the very light traffic arrived there only 25 minutes later. I approached the Business / Royal Silk Class Check in Counters. The agent asked me if my carry on was below 10 kg, which I confirmed. My boarding pass was issued and an invitation for one of the lounges given and soon I was on my way to the dedicated security checkpoint for Business Class customers and the dedicated immigration counters. With only one passenger ahead there was no wait at all and soon I was on my way to the Royal Orchid Lounge, which was an escalator down from the main terminal. There are a number of lounges but the one close to the security checkpoint is by far the biggest and usually the best choice, especially as from my experience not all Thai Airways Royal Orchid or Royal Silk Lounges are open at the same time. I was welcomed at the entrance and granted access by handing over my boarding pass and my Senator Star Gold Card, there was no need to hand over the invitation.

The area close to the main buffet was already quite busy given the early time of the days, but the rear part was more or less empty and since I was not hungry, decided to take a seat there, get me something to drink from one of the smaller buffets there and read in a magazine and use the free WiFi. My flight was departing from gate E4, which was quite a distance to walk but the lounges at this part of the terminal are quite small, so I decided to remain in this lounge and walk towards my gate closer to boarding time.

Finally it was time to walk to gate E4 passing the JAL and Emirates Lounges and I was able to squeeze a quick visit in one of the Thai Airways Lounges next to gate E 2, before I went to the gate. I was able to see the registration of our Airbus A380-800, which was TUD, at this time the youngest Airbus A380 in the fleet of Thai at this time, which was only a year old. It was delivered to Thai on March 21, 2013 and named “Phayuha Khiri”. Thai used Rolls Royce Trent 970 engines for its Airbus A 380-841. Each of the four Rolls Royce Trent 970 turbofan engines has a thrust of 70,000 lbf or 310 kN. So far, only QANTAS is using the even more powerful Trent 972 engines with a thrust of 72,000 lbf or 320 kN.

Boarding had not started as I entered the gate area, which was busy and like always Thai Airways seems to be a bit disorganized, as different agents at the podium at the bottom of the ramp showed different direction where to go (turn left or turn right). After a couple of minutes wait close to the doors to the jetbridge boarding started with a slight delay at 07:30 using two jetbridges. Boarding was announced for passenger in First and Business Class as well as for Star Gold, but the Economy Class Queue was allowed to board first. This caused a bit of confusion in the first seconds until the First and Business Class queue which was invited to board ahead of Economy was allowed to enter the jetbridge through the second door. Thai has also small Economy Class Section in the upper deck, so the jetbdrige to the upper deck at this early time even busier than those to the lower deck.

13 October 2013
BKK – HKG
[Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Hong Kong International]
TG 600 (Thai Airways); Airbus A380-800 (HS-TUD / ‘Phayuha Khiri’)
Gate E 4
08:00 – 11:45 [effective 08:16 – 12:00]
Business Class
Seat 14 D

I used the jetbridge to the upper deck of the Airbus A 380. The jetbridge was attached to the first door so it was a turn to the left for those traveling in First Class while it was a turn to the right for everybody else. The passengers in the Economy Class in the upper deck had to pass the Business Class Cabin.

I was among the first passengers in the Business Class Cabin and took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the Business Class or Royal Silk Cabin as Thai Airways International calls its Business Class. A flight attendant approached me and offered to hang my jacket while I stored my belonging in the overhead compartment. There is not much space to store anything on the floor and the flight attendants ask everybody to put everything in the overhead bin. The window seats have the advantage of a small compartment between seat and widow, but this is not that large and therefore only small items could be stored there. A smaller laptop bag should fit.

Pre Departure Drink

Piper Heidsieck Brut Champage

Pre departure drinks were offered, one could choose among water, orange juice and champagne. I took a glass of the Piper Heidsieck Brut Champagne, which is served by Thai Airways in Business Class. Pillows were placed on the seat; blankets were offered on request but not placed on the seat. A flight attendant also distributed the printed menus while we were still at the gate and enjoying our pre-departure drinks.

We were still at the gate as the captain welcomed us on board and mentioned that we were slightly delayed but he hoped to safe some time while airborne. The flight time was calculated with 2 hours 13 minutes. The safety video was show at the gate and during push back at 08:16. We taxied to the runway and it was possible to follow the plane on the screen as the tail camera was turned on.

It took some time before we finally made it to the runway and at 08:42 it was our turn for take off. The captain finally powered the four Rolls Royce Trent 970 turbofan engines and it was again amazing how silent the Airbus A380 was as we accelerated. Compared especially to the older widebodies it is really a huge difference. Once in the air, the order of the main course was taken. The flight attendant confirmed that the requested special meal was loaded and available. A selection of different juices followed and a hot towel service.

Ten minutes later and after the used hot towels were collected one flight attendant laid the tables with linen. The first course came with the tray, which included salt and pepper shakers as well as cutlery and napkin. Rolls were also offered. The selection of fresh fruit was rather small but fresh and quite good.

Tine to look into the menu and the wine list , though I had used the pre-order option for passenger traveling in Business Class
(Click on the icon for menu, opens new window)

First Course

Fresh Fruits

Main Course

Thai Green Chicken Curry Kiew Wan with steamed rice

I had selected Thai Green Chicken Curry Kiew Wan with steamed rice from the special meal selection. Like Singapore Airlines Thai Airways International offers special meals for passenger traveling in first or business class. Different dishes are available, also from Munich and Frankfurt and other destinations. The selection is wider for flights out of Bangkok though. It was delivered after I had finished the first course. The portion was okay, however the quality was not the best. Usually I choose the special meals because they offer a better quality, but on this trip the advance requested special meals were with the exception of the flight between Singapore and Bangkok a disappointment. The chicken had a lot of bones and was more or less tasteless, at least nothing special. The rice was not even really warm while at least the vegetables were okay. It is a hit and miss regarding food on Thai and I have experience the food in Economy even better than the one in Business Class.

The service was a bit disorganized. Two flight attendant offered coffee at the same time in the cabin while no one was offering tea. It took them a couple of minutes to discover, that they were both offering coffee. The basket with rolls was only offered in one aisle but not the other. Only as some passenger requested another roll or croissant, they offered it for the passenger on the seats with the lower letters (A / D) as well. One flight attendant was quite often walking through the galley but did not do anything but directed request to another crew member. Finally the trays were cleared and I used the remaining time to try the seat and the entertainment system of Thai’s new flagship.

During the meal I skipped through the inflight entertainment system and noticed that is seems to have a malfunction because it constantly skipped back to the start screen after five or so minutes and started over. This was a short flight but otherwise I would have asked the flight attendant to re-start my system. The power outlets and the USB ports – at least the charging function – worked. But the selection is okay and one should not be bored on a longer flight. On offer is a variety of CD, Films from Asia (incl. Chinese, Korean and Indian production) as well as music.

Thai Airways’ A380 features 507 seats in three classes, with 12 in Royal First class and 60 in Royal Silk Class and 517 seats in Economy Class, which is the highest number of seats amongst other Asian A380 operators and currently only Lufthansa and Air France have their 380 equipped with more seats (LH 526 seats, AF 516 seats). There will be 24 cabin attendants onboard each Thai A380 flight, tending seven galleys and food service stations – more than any other airline, according to a press release by the carrier given out at the time as they received the first of their six ordered A 380s.

First class will offer super-sized toilets and a dressing area. The enlarged galley is equipped to prepare meals timed to each passenger’s individual preference. The 12 seats in Royal First are fully flat beds offering a seat pitch of 83 inch and seat width of 26.5 inch and have a 23 inch touch screen screen. Configuration is 4 rows in 1 – 2 – 1.

The 60 seats in Royal Silk Class offer a seat pitch of 74 inch and a seat width of 20 inch, which is quite narrow. The seats have an 15 inch touch screen flat screen and configures also 1 – 2 – 1 but staggered, i.e. there are seats at the aisle with space between the seats (in the middle part of the cabin) or the seats are next to each other with space to the aisle.

The seats in Economy Class offer a seat pitch of 32 inch and a seat width of 18 inch. A 10.6 inch flat screen is available at the headrest of the seat in front. Configuration is 2 – 4 – 2 in the upper deck or 3 – 4 – 3 in the lower deck.

The entertainment system is the same for all classes and offers a large number of different movies from various genres and countries, a large number of CD and music channels as well as documentary, shows, sit coms and also games.

Let me share my personal impression of the seat, though a 2 hours day flight is different from a longhaul night flight.
The seat was quite comfortable, though narrow. The seating is 1 – 2 – 1 in Business Class with the seats slightly angled and staggered. The seats in the even rows are closer to the aisle while those on uneven rows are further away from the aisle and in the middle section next to each other and suite better for two people traveling together. Regarding even / uneven rows one should keep in mind that Thai has no row 13, so the above mentioned applies for all rows higher than 14! The seat goes fully flat by the touch of a button and is adjustable in many positions. It has a two zone lumbar support with massage function. The down is that the tray table could not be adjusted in height.
There is also not much space to store things during the flight. One could of course use the space between the seats and the aisle or between two seats if sitting in the middle part of the plane.

I would fly Thai Airways on the A380 in Business Class, but would try to get a seat at the window (i.e one with space between seats and aisle).

The flight time passed quickly and the captain had already earlier in the flight updated us about our progress and the remaining flight time. His English translation was close to what one expects from a pilot of one of the US Airlines, he especially mentions we “should sit back, relax and enjoy the flight to Hong Kong”. It was also good to understand.

We began our final approach and the flight became a bit bumpy. The crew had already prepared the cabin for our arrival into Hong Kong and I watched the touch down on the video screen. We arrived at 11:55 and had a short taxi to the gate, where we arrived at 12:00 First Class passengers were allowed to disembark first before we were allowed to leave. Passengers traveling in First got a service by one of the electric cars to the immigration, while all others had to walk and take the train. With no luggage to collect and without long lines I passed immigration quickly and was on my way to the airport express to Hong Kong Island.

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