Coming in from my AirAsia AK6422 flight from Johor Bahru, I headed to the bus stop to catch the next Rapid Penang 401E bus to Georgetown. Unfortunately, the Airport Transit service is no longer available, so it’s just one fast option by bus now to the city.
The bus stop at Penang International Airport for all destinations.
The bus stop is just outside the Arrival Hall.
Some off-service buses parked at the bus stop.
After about 5 minutes of waiting, with a private car tout offering me RM20 for a shared 4-person ride to Georgetown (are you crazy?), I called the Rapid Penang ICIS hotline at +604 255 8000, and the lady on the phone said the bus was in the way in another 5 minutes. That’s fine by me.
Less than that 5 minutes later, the Rapid Penang 401E bus for KOMTAR and Jetty pulled into the bus stop. Perfect.
The interior of the Rapid Penang 401E bus.
The view of the bus from my seat.
The bus comes equipped with a real-time route information providing information on the current and next stops, as well as the estimated travel time.
My ticket for the Rapid Penang 401E bus ride from Penang International Airport to Jetty, at only RM2.70 (~s$0.89). Take that, private car tout.
Heading out of the airport.
The “Welcome to Penang” sign at the airport roundabout.
Heading on to KOMTAR and Jetty.
Unfortunately, 401E is not exactly a direct running route to Georgetown, despite being the fastest way anyway. The bus stops at Sunshine Square and loops around Bayan Baru.
The bus then heads over to Queensbay Mall.
More passengers boarded the bus here.
From here, the bus then takes a more direct route to KOMTAR.
The heavy Penang jams everywhere didn’t help much for the journey time, as you can see from the transitioning from a day time journey to a night time one.
Finally able to view KOMTAR from afar.
5 minutes to KOMTAR? Perfect.
Oh, I think not.
Approaching KOMTAR.
I had originally planned to go to Jetty and then bounce back, but the long journey time of 1 hour thanks to the jams made it kind of late already. As such, I alighted here to go get Deen Maju Nasi Kandar as I was afraid with the extended trip to Jetty, they might close already when it comes to my turn in the queue.
Here, I walked for about 15 minutes to Deen Maju Nasi Kandar to go get dinner.
Overall, it was a rather reasonable ride with the Rapid Penang 401E bus from Penang International Airport considering the low RM2.70 bus fare versus taxis or illegal private cars, but it’s a give and take as the bus needs to negotiate the Penang jams on its fixed route. Nevertheless, the bus is still my top choice for getting to and from the airport.