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Where did I fly on this flight?https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/9MXXQ/history/20230608/0110Z/YSSY/NZAA
Air Asia X Airbus A330-300
Booking the Flight & Cost of the Flight
This flight was booked through the Air Asia website on my laptop, paying full fare. This flight is a fifth-freedom service. An economy class flight from Sydney to Auckland can go for as low as $190 for a base fare. Bundles are available; a value pack can be an extra $56.56, inclusive of baggage, a meal and seat selection. Premium Flex fares can be an extra $156 from the base fare and includes more perks, and a Premium Flatbed fare is similar but is a slightly cheaper add-on from the base fare. Air Asia X business class fares are $339. The Air Asia website is very easy to use, and I quickly had my e-ticket in my emails in no time.
Operating Aircraft The operating aircraft for this flight was a 17-year-old Airbus A330-300, registered 9M-XXQ. This was the 716th Airbus A330 built and was originally delivered to Hong Kong's now-defunct Dragonair (registered B-HWI) in January 2006. It moved to Air Asia X in Malaysia in January 2014 as 9M-XXQ, and served with Indonesia Air Asia X (as PK-XRA) in July of that year, before returning to Malaysia as 9M-XXQ in November 2020, and flies there today. The plane is powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 772B-60 engines. The aircraft was very clean and appeared to have been well looked after.
Cabin The cabin on this Airbus A330-300 was very clean and well maintained. It was very vibrant with its frequent use of red, keeping with the airline's identity. It felt quite roomy inside this cabin as well.
Seating For this flight, I paid AU$10.40 for seat 47K, right down towards the rear of the aircraft. There are a total of 377 seats on the Air Asia X Airbus A330-300. 12 of these seats are in the business class cabin at the front of the aircraft which take up the first two rows, and are in a 2-2-2 configuration. These seats almost go fully flat and are made of fabric with a leather headrest. These seats come with a seat pitch of 60 inches and a width of 20 inches. The remaining 365 seats are in a dense 3-3-3 layout (the remaining eight rows go to a 2-3-2 layout as the plane curves towards the back, I was sitting in this area). These seats are leather and vary in colour throughout the cabin and have a seat pitch of 32 inches and a width of 16.5 inches. In economy class, rows 7-14 are designated in a 'Quiet Zone', and do not allow children under the age of 10 in this area. There is a lot of criticism about this aircraft and how Air Asia X have it configured, apparently it is not comfortable, but the seat that I had on this flight was very comfortable with a good amount of legroom and was wide enough. That may be attributed to the fact that I only had one seat next to me in a row with a 2-3-2 layout due to the curvature of the aircraft at the rear of the plane. Regardless, I had plenty of room available.
Being a low-cost carrier, seat selection is available for a fee, and different seats cost a different amount of money. In economy class, seats in row 7 in the Quiet Zone are termed 'hot seats' (seats with extra legroom), costing $39.20. Other seats in rows in the Quiet Zone cost $32.00. Seats 15H, 15J, 15K, 16D, 16F, 16G, 17A, 17B and 17C are hot seats in the middle cabin of standard economy, costing $35.20 to book. Other seats in rows 16 to 33 on the outer sides (seats ABC, HJK) cost $16 and seats in the middle (seats DFG) cost $12. In the rear cabin; where I was, the hot seats are seats 34D, 34F, 34G and seats 35A, 35B, 35C, 35H, 35J and 35K. In this cabin they cot $33.60. Standard outer seats in rows 36 to row 51 cost $10.40, and the middle seats in rows 35 to 51 cost $9.60.
Inflight Customer Service Air Asia X flight attendants provided the service on this flight. This team were fantastic from start to finish, and I enjoyed greeting and thanking the crew in Malay, I even learnt some new words as well. I was chatting to one during the flight and they were happy to take photos with me after the flight. They were very friendly, happy and hospitable.
Inflight Entertainment There was a safety card, air-sickness bag on hand, an inflight menu and a duty-free magazine in the seat pocket, but no inflight magazine. Air Asia X does not provide any seatback or overhead TVs. In-flight Wi-Fi can be purchased. I was surprised to see no inflight magazine, the vast majority of airlines usually have one nowadays, even on some low-cost carriers like Jetstar (at least they did pre-COVID), but I have no clue if they have one on international flights now. The safety card was quite eye catching; as it should be. Duty-free is available on Air Asia X flights, and I purchased an Air Asia X cap. For the flight I listened to music and chatted to the crew.
Photos
The operating aircraft sitting at terminal 1 gate 60 at Sydney Airport, shortly after completing the first leg of flight D7288 from Kuala Lumpur
Views whilst boarding
Business class seats
Economy class seats
Good legroom
Seat 47K
Taxiing for takeoff
Takeoff from runway 34R
The humble beginning of a fifth-freedom flight, photo by Grahame Hutchison
Cabin inflight
Pre-ordered inflight meal - Uncle Chin's chicken and rice
Inflight at 41,000 feet
Descending into Auckland Airport
Landing on runway 05R
Taxiing to the gate
Stopped on gate 5
Photos with all of the awesome flight attendants, terima kasih banyak-banyak!
View whilst disembarking
Kuala Lumpur via Sydney are in 9M-XXQ's sights as flight D7289 Final Verdict
I must admit that before flying on Air Asia X, I had heard quite a lot of negative things about the airline, mostly by people who have never even flown on them. I was a little nervous to fly, but those negative viewpoints were wiped away the second I stepped onboard and received a warm Malay welcome. I could not fault the airline one bit with this flight and how it went, it was one of my best flights that I have ever taken. I had a great experience. I was even chatting with a flight attendant about this, and he agreed with this and appreciated my positive feedback. The meal was delicious, the cabin crew were incredible and the seat was comfortable. I cannot wait to board another Air Asia X flight again and I cannot recommend them enough, they were fantastic and more than exceeded expectations; one happy customer I was indeed.
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