Mission Thai 747 Failed: Bangkok to Phuket on a Boeing 777-300
Background
Following several days in Bangkok, it was time to continue onwards to the popular island destination of Phuket. As one of Thailand’s busiest air routes, I had plenty of options for getting between the two with flights from Bangkok’s main and secondary airport, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang. At that time in June 2016, Bangkok Airways, City Airways, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai Airways, Thai Lion Air, and perhaps Orient Thai Airlines operated on the route between Bangkok and Phuket.
Initially having had my sights set on ending up on one of Orient Thai Airlines’ Boeing 737 Classics or Boeing 767s, as it turned out, booking via the carrier or indeed simply finding its schedules was nye on impossible. I thus ended up turning to Thailand’s national carrier, Thai Airways. At that time, the carrier scheduled Airbus A330-300, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777 widebodies on the route and being an enthusiast, I set my sights on the Jumbo Jet! A quick search revealed that the first southbound service of the day, departing at 0740, was scheduled to be operated by the Boeing 747-400 and so without hesitation, I booked a ticket for this flight. Doing so via the carrier’s website was quick and easy, and so I was left with no complaints at this initial stage of the trip.
The Journey
Given my early departure time, I had thought it best to book a night at an airport hotel. Going for a cheap yet comfortable hotel just to the north of the airport with a complimentary shuttle bus, I would not have to worry about trekking there in the early hours of the morning. Despite the fact that Thai Airways offers online check-in, for some reason, this would not work for me and so I was left with no other option than to check-in at the airport.
Following an early wake-up, I caught the 0510 shuttle bus over to the terminal and arrived to find this surprisingly quiet, in spite of all the early morning services to destinations both near and far. Wishing to select my own seat, I decided to check-in using one of the many machines and upon entering all my details, I loaded up the seat map which revealed that the Boeing 747 had been substituted by a Boeing 777-300. Granted, whilst this is one of the rarer variants of Boeing 777s around, I was still somewhat disappointed about missing out on this ‘easy’ Jumbo Jet ride. Nevertheless, not dwelling on this for too long, I printed off my boarding pass before making my way over to one of the vacant desks where a very friendly agent tagged my bag and sent this off into the depths of the airport.
With no reason to remain in the landside portion of the terminal, I soon made my way to security which I also found to be pleasantly empty and following a quick and easy check, I entered the airside domestic portion of the terminal. Wandering around, I was pleased to find the domestic pier to be clean and pleasant, with a few eateries and shops on offer to those heading off to destinations across Thailand. Unfortunately, like the international part of the airport, the design of this, whilst modern, was not particularly aviation photographer friendly, with few places offering completely unobstructed views of the aircraft outside. As time passed, the terminal began to fill up, with many passengers appearing to be wearing looking travellers that had arrived on Thai Airways’ overnight arrivals.
Eventually, I settled down at the gate at 0640 by which time the area around this was already busy, and at 0710 boarding for the flight was called. That day, the aircraft was waiting at an international stand and thus boarding was to be via bus. Following a short wait, my boarding pass and passport were checked before I headed down to the ground floor and squeezed onto the waiting bus. . A short time later, the bus doors were closed and we commenced a short journey over to one of the airport’s international stands.
After a short hop across the apron, the bus pulled up to a Boeing 777-3D7 sporting Thai Airways’ famous and majestic white, gold and purple livery. This particular aircraft took the form of HS-TKE, named after the Sukhirin district of southern Thailand. This aircraft made its first flight from Boeing’s Everett plant in October 2000 and had spent the entirety of its career at Thai Airways. Operating in a two-class configuration with 330 Economy and 34 Royal Silk Class seats, this aircraft served destinations across East Asia, with the extent of its network taking it to Japan and Korea.
Once the bus came to a halt, the doors opened and an army of ground staff ushered passengers up the jetbridge stairs. Following a short wait, I stepped onto the aircraft via the 2L doors and was a little disappointed to receive a very rushed and almost non-existent welcome. As I turned right, I entered the smaller dated looking business class cabin before reaching the forward Economy cabin where seats could be seen arranged in the more spacious 3-3-3 configuration. These were covered in vibrant pink, purple and yellow fabric covers and were topped with a headrest that was partially covered by a disposable fabric antimacassar. Whilst a little dated in their appearance, these seats seemed to be chunky and comfortable in their appearance, and once seated I was very happy with the softness of these and the amount of space that they provided. Furthermore, given the flight’s short duration, I was pleasantly surprised to find that pillows had been placed on each seat. Looking around, I found the seat to be clean and in good condition, with only a few minor signs of wear and tear. Whilst not needed on such a short domestic flight, each seat also featured an inflight entertainment screen, however, this was dated and not of particularly amazing quality. Furthermore, with the aircraft heralding from an era where passengers did not need to charge their devices mid-flight, neither power sockets nor USB ports could be seen onboard.
Once seated, several other buses arrived and the cabin began to fill up. That morning, the flight was fairly busy and I would estimate the load in Economy to have been around 70%, although I was pleased to find that the two neighbouring seats remained vacant. As soon as the last bus load of passengers boarded the aircraft, the captain performed an apologetic announcement in Thai and English, explaining that as three passengers were missing, there would be a slight delay to our departure as their bags would have to be located and offloaded. They then moved on to give a brief overview of the route to Phuket, and the weather on the ground, ending this by thanking passengers and wishing all onboard an enjoyable flight.
Fortunately, removing the bags of the missing passengers did not take too long and the aircraft was pushed back away from the gate eleven minutes behind schedule. As we headed rearwards, the safety video took over the inflight entertainment screens, with this being played in Thai and English, with the latter being accompanied by German subtitles. Soon, plenty of humming and whirring could be heard as the Boeing’s two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines powered up into life and before I knew it the aircraft commenced its taxi to the end of the runway. As we slowly taxied along, the crew passed through the cabin ensuring that all was secure for departure and we soon came to a halt before creeping along at a snail’s pace in order to allow for five Thai Airways aircraft to take off before us.
Eventually, the aircraft made its way onto the runway and performed a powerful take-off, soon rocketing upwards into the cloudy and humid skies around Bangkok before turning southwards towards Phuket. As we cut through the clouds, plenty of bumping could be felt however once through these a smooth ride was in store and the seatbelt signs were extinguished before the purser performed the usual announcement regarding keeping these fastened.
Despite only being a short domestic flight, I was delighted to find that we would be treated to a decent complimentary offering. This came in the form of a green curry wrap along with a drink of my choice. As you would perhaps expect given the limited time to undertake the service, this seemed to be rushed and there was nothing special about the crews’ interaction with passengers. However, I was very pleased to find this to be delicious and therefore I was left with little to complain about.
No more than ten minutes after the service had commenced, the crew passed through the cabin collecting rubbish and soon the aircraft began to sink back towards earth. With plenty of clouds lingering around, almost as soon as our descent commenced, the seatbelt signs were reilluminated and the crew made multiple passes through the cabin to ensure that all was in place for our arrival.
Once through the clouds, the blue waters of the Indian Ocean appeared beneath the aircraft before we crossed the coastline and sank over Phuket’s luscious green forests. Soon whizzing over the perimeter fence, at 0908, the Boeing made a gentle touchdown Runway 27 before braking with vigour. As we slowed, a small collection of airliners could be seen on the ground which included a Bangkok Airways Airbus A320, an Aeroflot Airbus A330-300 and a SilkAir Boeing 737-800. Pulling up to the gate no more than three minutes after touching down, the engines spooled down and as if desperate to commence their holiday, many onboard jumped up and flooded the aisles. Fortunately for those in a rush to leave, disembarkation commenced quickly. Following a short wait, I thanked the crew and made my way up into terminal before soon arriving at the baggage carousel. Once there, it wasn’t long before my bag appeared and I was ready to head on the next portion of my adventure.
Summary
Ignoring the disappointment of missing out on a Boeing 747 ride, my flight with Thai Airways was reasonably okay. The aircraft was comfortable, clean and in good condition, and the onboard catering was appreciated. Despite not being served by the friendliest of crew, they did work hard to ensure that all rounds of service were completed during the short flight.
