Airline Review: Silkair Flight from Singapore to Surabaya

Surabaya . 2012 . Nov 18 - 21

This post is a continuation of our previous post on Shopping @ Tunjungan Plaza Surabaya.

Several airlines fly direct from Singapore to Surabaya – Lion Air, Valuair (Jetstar Asia), China Airlines, and Mandala Airlines.  Flight time is slightly less than two and a half hours from Singapore. Our group chose to fly with Silkair as its flights have the most suitable timings for us.

Booking and Check-in

We had booked our tickets through a travel agency as we thought it might be easier for group bookings. However, we were not able to go online to choose our seats.  Therefore, we went at least 3 hrs before the flight time to check in, hoping that we could at least have some choice of seats.

At the check-in counter in Singapore, we asked for a window seat at the front rows, but were told by the counter staff that the flight was full and they could not accommodate our request.   However, we learnt later from other members of our group who had checked in much later that they were allocated front row seats even though they had not requested for it.  The only conclusion I could come to was that the check-in staff did not even bother to check their seating system to consider my request.

We did not want to repeat this unhappy episode on the return flight, so I specifically made a request to our travel agency to reserve an aisle seat at one of the front rows for the flight from Surabaya back to Singapore.   The travel agent promised to do what he can, but when we got our boarding pass, we found that we were allocated seats at the back of the plane at the window.  To add insult to injury, once again, other members of our group who did not put in any request got the aisle seats at the front rows!

Lesson learnt... better to book air tickets online ourselves rather than going through travel agencies...even when travelling in a group...

Cabin Amenities

The seat was spacious and clean, and for a lady of 1.65m in height, there is more than sufficient leg space.   In fact, Silkair has one of the best leg space out of all the airlines that we have travelled with.

You won’t find a blanket and a pillow waiting for you at your seat, but if you need those, you can request the service staff to bring it to you at no extra charge. Notice the packs of blankets in the top cabin compartments in the following photo.

There is no personalized in-flight entertainment system, but there are communal centrally controlled retractable TV screens and complimentary earphones which you can request for loan from the stewardess.

The Food

Being a full service airline, meals are provided on board.  There is no menu, but the air stewardess will come round to offer passengers a choice between 2 options. The food portion tends to be a bit small even for a lady, but this is still alright as the flight time is short.

Alas...we were so hungry that we forgot to take a photo of the unwrapped beef set...but we can assure that the food was quite alright.. ;p

In Flight Magazine and Shopping - Silkwinds and Skyshop

If you did not bring your IPAD or personal entertainment devices on board for the short flight, you may want to flip through the on board in flight travel magazine or shopping guide from Silkair..

Going Sarawak for your next destination? There are lots of beautiful high resolution photos in the in flight magazine.

You can also choose to browse the in-flight shopping guide..there might be something that might interest you!

Time flies fast for the short flight...soon we are approaching Surabaya as we took some aerial photos from the top...

Our aircraft parked at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya.  Aerobridges are provided for boarding and disembarkation both at Changi Airport and Surabaya Airport.

Overall, the flight was comfortable, and the landing and take-off smooth.

Final Verdict:  Silkair has a nice fleet of aircrafts with spacious seats and pretty good service on board.  However, do try to book online if you can, considering our unpleasant experience going through a travel agency.

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