As most of the TG European flights depart in the late evening (mine was at 23h40) I arrived at the very busy Don Muang airport at around nine o'clock.
Inside the terminal it was even busier than outside (the current building is too small), after passing all the formalities I made my way to the gate. The transit area is also becoming too crowded and one of the main reasons is that they're adding more shops in the hall so you have less space to walk.
At 23h15 boarding was announced and as usual it was the rush to the gate (Can't people understand that they already have their seat assigned
) even a :censored: person pushed me on the side to gain one place in the queue. 19/02/05
Flight: TG920
To: Frankfurt
Aircraft: B747-400
Registration: HS-TGZ "Phimara"
http://ww2.planepictures.net/30/56/1108322127.jpgI boarded the very clean aircraft and was welcomed by friendly and smiling crews, and went to my seat 48D. TG offers very good legroom compared to the other big airlines (I flew with KLM last year to BKK on their B747 Combi and it was very cramped, I would definitely never fly KLM again). The load factor in Eco was almost 100% with mainly foreign tourists going home and Vietnamese people. While the safety demonstration was playing on the main screen, the pushback was made on time. Then the aircraft taxied to the runway, and at midnight it took-off.
Soon after take-off, peanuts and drinks were served before the dinner. The captain announced that the flight time would be 11h15min and we would have some turbulence along our way to FRA. Then a little menu was given, the choice for the dinner was ginger chicken or noodle. I didn't eat anything because I was too tired and I already ate before my flight. Then I felt asleep for two hours when an announcement was made that they need a doctor. The person who had a problem was five rows behind me, and I think it was quite serious (maybe a heart attack) because the flights attendants were very nervous, they stretched him on the seats of the middle section and they were assisting him during 30min. Then everything got eventually back to normal.
No films were shown during the flight, but it wasn’t a problem for me as I slept during almost all the flight (it was even better because I was just one row before the main screen) and I think other passengers didn’t care about it, as it was a night flight and most of them were sleeping.
The cabins attendants passed every hour with water and fresh juice.
Two hours before landing passengers were woken up and received hot towels. This was followed by the breakfast, which was served with a choice of fish or omelette with sausage. I took the omelette, which had also a yoghurt and a fruit salad, the food was quite nice. Then the cabin attendants passed with breads, coffee and tea. One hour before landing the cabin crew collected the trays and the headphone and gave the traditional orchid flower.
At 5am (local time) we began our decent to FRA and 15min later we landed in a snowy Frankfurt. The landing was just as the flight: “Smooth as silk”.
My conclusion.
Thai in term of comfort, service and on-time performance is one of the best airlines in the world. The only negative point can be the entertainment system but personally it isn’t a big problem.
So TG deserves well a 9/10.
Arrived in FRA I had to wait 4 hours for my flight to BRU. FRA is much better than CDG and LHR in term of transfer and it is less crowded. The waiting time was definitely too long (there was an earlier flight but I hadn’t been booked on it), moreover my flight to BRU had a delay of 30min.
20/02/05
Flight: LH4572
To: Brussels
Aircraft: A321
Registration: D-AISC “Speyer”
http://ww2.planepictures.net/16/91/1073600803.jpgAfter a long wait boarding was finally announced. The load factor on this flight was about 80% and at 10h00 we took-off from FRA.
There was nothing remarkable about this flight, the catering was rather poor: a tiny piece of cake served with a drink. The flight lasted 35min and at 10h40 we landed in a grey BRU.
I hope you enjoy reading this report and next time I will try to make some pics.
(with TG it's almost the double), but unfortunately they hadn't got the date I want.
