Scoot TR250 is the only Saturday flight flying from Singapore to Palembang, departing at a comfortable schedule of 11.30am from Singapore for the 70-minute flight. As an added bonus, Scoot assigns an Airbus A319 for this Saturday short hop, so that means extra legroom for everyone.
My boarding pass for the TR250 flight to Palembang, printed from the FAST Check-in kiosk.
The plane was parked at Gate F30, which is a perfect spot for a photo of the side view of the Airbus A319. 9V-TRA would be taking me to Palembang today, so I would have officially flown Scoot’s entire fleet of A319s with my previous A319 flights to Palembang and from Hong Kong on 9V-TRB.
Heading to the gate.
Gate F30 is the first gate on the pier, so it took just about 30 seconds to walk from the start of the pier.
Gate F30 only suits narrow-body planes such as the A320 family or 737 family.
The gate hold room is smaller too, but probably sufficient for a narrow-body flight.
As this wasn’t a full flight, I decided to board last so that I could find a better seat.
Heading down the aerobridge.
The legroom on board Scoot’s Airbus A319, which is a bit more generous that the standard A320 legroom.
The view of the aircraft from Seat 9A.
There was about a 20-minute delay for pushback with the pilot announcing that clearance hasn’t been given by the airport.
The new Singapore Airlines Boeing 787-10 parked beside Scoot’s 787-8.
It was quite a slow taxi as well to the runway.
Finally on the runway after half an hour from the estimated departure time.
Bye Terminal 5.
Flying out of mainland Singapore.
The busy shipping lanes of Singapore, just like the traffic in the air and at the airport.
One of the very few planes with the Tiger-striped engine livery.
It was a relatively uneventful and smooth flight.
The aircraft data plate of 9V-TRA.
The interior of the very clean washroom, similar to Singapore Airlines standards.
This time, even the soap available on board is the same bottle found on Singapore Airlines flights. Maybe buying them in bulk is cheaper for both airlines?
Descending into Palembang.
Landing into Palembang from the west, so no views of the city or Palembang LRT line from here.
Looks like the taxiway has been completed since my last visit.
Despite the delay in departure from Changi Airport, the flight landed in Palembang on time thanks to Scoot’s extended scheduled flight times.
Heading to the terminal building.
The terminal is decked out in Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games colours.
Heading to Gate 3.
Ample aerobridges are available at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport for narrow-body aircraft.
Heading to the terminal building via the aerobridge.
The view of the tarmac from the terminal is now blurred with the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games decals.
Parked beside a Garuda Indonesia Explore ATR 72-600.
From Gate 3, it’s just a short walk to the international arrival area.
Goodbye 9V-TRA.
The walk to arrival immigration is led by Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games decals on the wall and floor.
As I was one of the first to disembark from the plane and two counters were available for foreigners in addition to the two for Indonesians, immigration was pretty quick, with the whole process of queuing for immigration, getting my passport stamped AND customs screening (no baggage reclaim since I don’t have any check-in bags) done in less than 5 minutes.
Happy to see the updated signs around the public area of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport. No prizes for guessing what I’m in Palembang for.
Overall, not that I had any other choice for flights from Singapore to Palembang on a Saturday, but Scoot managed to deliver a comfortable flight anyway. And with the frequent promotions for the Palembang leg, trainspotting in Divre III Palembang might be a possible future.
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