AirAsia do not fly from KLIAs main terminal. Instead they fly from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) which is adjacent to the cargo facilities. Presently, AirAsia and Cebu Pacific are the only airlines to utilise the LCCT although I believe other airlines will be moving in soon. As this terminal is a new addition to the airport, transportation links are at present a bit sketchy. There is no rail link at present although proposals have been made to extend the KLIA Exspres which serves the main terminal. Furthermore, there are 3 companies offering coach services from KL Sentral to the LCCT costing RM8-9 (approx. 1.40). A note of warning the coaches do not take the highway to the airport as this would lead to having to pay toll fees so they get to and from the LCCT using a variety of back roads which adds to the journey time. As there were 4 of us travelling (dad, 2 of my aunties and myself), we took a taxi to the LCCT and arrived at 7:10pm for the 9:15pm flight.
As you approach the LCCT, you appreciate that it is nothing more than an industrial sized, air-conditioned garden shed with only the most basic of facilities. The one departure board informed us that our flight had been retimed to 9:35pm and the rest of the check-in area consisted of the LCCT Emporium, an Asian eatery, not enough seats and the obligatory McDonalds. Check-in for AirAsia flights open 2 hours before departure so we had our checked luggage screened and then had to wait in line for the check-in desk to open. It did so at 7:45pm and we were done by 8:00pm. In case anyone is interested, the AirAsia baggage rules are one checked baggage of 15kg and one carry-on of 7kg.
The departure area of the terminal is separated into international and domestic departures so we proceeded to the domestic area where we passed through the security screen. This area is again pretty devoid of anything except the 12 departure gates, toilet, ATM, prayer room and another LCCT Emporium, but it is functional. In an attempt to mitigate the boredom, there are plenty of signs advertising the fact that the LCCT provides free Wi-Fi, although I cant comment on the service.
Boarding time on the boarding pass was 8:45pm but nothing was announced so at 9:30pm, one passenger decided to start queuing at gate P3. Since were all sheep, this set everyone off and we all started to queue up. Boarding began at 9:40pm and we walked onto the tarmac and up the stairs onto the plane. Both front and rear exits were used to facilitate boarding onto the A320. We nabbed seats in the middle of the plane which are leather-covered and perfectly fine for the short journey.
The safety demonstration was carried out by the cabin crew in Malay only, although there were a lot of tourists on board so how many understood what was going on was questionable (for the record, I dont speak Malay). We pushed back at 9:55pm and took off at 10:10pm, which incidentally was our original arrival time in Penang. The cost cutting was evident as there was no sick bag in the seat pocket and the lighting strips along the floor of the plane was instead a glow-in-the-dark strip. The seat pocket also contained the menu which included a pot of instant noodles at RM6 (approx 90p), a can of Coke at RM5 (approx 75p) and an AirAsia T-shirt for RM39 (approx. 5.75). The snack trolley came round pretty pronto as it needed to as we landed at 10:45pm and again deplaned from both the front and back exits. Baggage took a little time to arrive on the carousel but we were out of the terminal and greeted by my Uncle by 11:15pm.
Jonathan
