Leg 2 of the trip back from India is here! I’ve decided on a full circumnavigation since yesterday, albeit still via an unconventional routing. Today’s flight is a unique one, as it takes us from tropical Thailand to snowy Sweden. Along with Air China and All Nippon Airways, Thai Airways provides non-stop service to Asia, with Norse Atlantic soon to join later this month. Currently, service is provided by its long-haul workhorse, the A350-900.
Server: Solo
Airline: Thai Airways
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 (Star Alliance)
Origin: Suvarnabhumi Airport, Racha Thewa, Thailand (BKK)
Destination: Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sigtuna Municipality, Sweden (ARN)
Flight Number: TG960
Route: VTBS-ESSA
Seat: 15A (Royal Silk)
Time En Route: 11 Hours 29 Minutes
After a day in Thailand, it’s time to leave the warm climes of Southeast Asia and head north to Sweden. Tonight, we’re flying aboard Thai Airways’s A350 painted in the Star Alliance livery, registered HS-THQ and named Chiang Mai, formerly B-304Z with Hainan Airlines and ZS-SDC with South African Airways. It’s currently unclear how long she’ll be staying with TG, too, as according to Planespotters.net she’s due to be leased to Edelweiss.
Pushing back from Gate C2. Our aircraft is configured 30J/309M for a total of 339 seats, with JAMCO Journey seats in business. The seats are comfortable but show wear, likely as a result of Thai having to be exceedingly frugal following years-long bankruptcy proceedings that it is only just now starting to recover from. As a result, even though this is a cutting-edge aircraft, the hard product feels a bit dated. Hopefully that’ll change in the future, especially as the airline mulls a return to the United States after a decade.
Taxiing to Runway 01 for departure. Despite the wear and tear on the seats, the recline is excellent, and the cabin crew seems friendly and attentive, even before takeoff. If there’s one thing that’s survived the lean years of bankruptcy no worse for wear, it’s the service.
Taking off out of Thailand. We’ve got a great view of the Bangkok ATC tower and the main terminal from our window seat as we climb skyward to our intial cruising altitude.
Comfy ride over the Bay of Bengal at 34,000 feet. The food up here in Royal Silk is excellent this evening, even though dinner is technically being served in the early morning! Tonight’s grub is Hong Kong-style braised beef served with pickled chili in vinegar dip and Thai duo jasmine rice.
At FL3600 over the middle of Punjab provincein Pakistan, where the plains meet the desert. After several hours of staying awake, it’s now time to see how good these seats are for sleeping in.
We’re waking up with the dawn as we descend between the islands of Öland and Gotland. The seats were just fine for sleeping in, even considering how they’re due for a refurbishment.
Landing at Arlanda with the first tinge of the sunrise on the horizon
“Stockholm Tower, clear of the runway.”
After just under 11 and a half hours since wheels up, we’re in Sweden!
In an unusual turn of events, we’ve parked at Terminal 2 due to a lack of gate space at Terminal 5, which is where Thai normally parks. This gives us a bit of a hike for our next flight, down to Brussels.