Scoot: Ipoh to Singapore flight experience

Ipoh has an airport located a few kilometres away from thee city centre. Although Ipoh is one of the largest conurbations in Malaysia with a population of over 650,000, its airport is rather meh when compared with the airports of other state capitals in Malaysia.

Part 1: Getting to Ipoh Airport by public bus

myBAS Ipoh is a public bus system serving Ipoh and its surrounding towns. The public bus network is operated by Perak Transit, an Ipoh-based transport company that also operates a number of intercity bus routes, express bus services, Ipoh's intercity coach terminal, and a few petrol stations in Perak.

All myBAS Ipoh services originate from their hub at Stesen Bas Medan Kidd, a bus terminal located within walking distance of the railway station.

Bus T37 (Medan Kidd - Airport - Botani) departs every hour at :40 between 5.40am and 5.40pm, followed by its last bus at 7.00pm.

Do note that T37 (grey bus) is NOT the same as Bus 37 (blue bus).

T37 departs from Platform 5.

myBAS Ipoh uses a fleet of midibuses with one passenger door only.

Fare to airport is RM1.50.

Journey time to airport is approximately 20 - 40 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.

Note: you can also take T37 from the railway station. Be at the pick-up point (outside the central arch) at :40.

Part II: Sultan Azlah Shah Airport / Lapangan Terbang Sultan Azlan Shah

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport is located on the southern outskirts of Ipoh, just a few kilometres away from the city centre. The airport is one of the smallest and least busiest airports in West Malaysia.

Here's a comparison to show how small this airport is:

- Ipoh has a population of 650,000. The airport handled slightly more than 300,000 passengers in 2018.
- Kota Bharu has a population of around 320,000. Its airport handled 1.69 million passengers in 2018.

Main entrance

Inside the terminal building

The Arrival Hall is located at the right wing of the terminal ...

... while the Departure Hall is located at the left wing, with separate entrances for domestic and international flights.

Check-in area is located at the centre of the terminal.

Checking-in for my TR 487 flight to Singapore. Check-in and ground handling services are provided by Pos Aviation.

TR 487 to Singapore is the last flight of the day.

According to the AVSEC, there are on average 6 flights per day from Ipoh, served by three airlines:

AirAsia - 1 flight to JB daily; 1 flight to Singapore daily.
Malindo Air - 2 flights to JB on Thursdays to Sundays; 1 flight to JB on other days.
Scott - 1 flight to Singapore on Thursdays; 3 flights on Fridays and Sundays; 2 flights on other days.

So yup, there are only two destinations from Ipoh - Singapore and Johor Bahru.

Ipoh is just too close to other major population centres (i.e. KL, Penang), and the market is too small for other routes to be economically viable.

Part 3: Scoot TR 487 flight experience.

1.5 hours before departure, we were allowed into the Departure Hall for immigration clearance and security screening.

Although the airport has two departure gates, they are treated as a single gate for practical purposes. Passengers can wait for boarding at either of these gates.

Inbound flight from Singapore (TR 486) arrived at 4.54pm, 11 minutes early.

U-turning at the end of the runway.

Disembarkation in progress.

After a relatively quick turn-around, boarding calls were made.

9V-TAQ was assigned to work this flight. 9V-TAQ was delivered in Nov 2010 to Tiger Airways, which later became part of Scoot in 2017.

View of one of the Airbus A320-232's IAE V2527-5 turbofan engines.

Interior of 9V-TAQ. As with all other budget airlines in the region, seating on board 9V-TAQ consists of 180 economy class seats.

Mandatory safety card reading.

I like how the passenger characters are designed with big eyes.

As the aircraft was parked in parallel with the terminal building, no pushback is necessary. 9V-TAQ can simply switch on its engines and start taxiing out.

Turning into Runway 04 to backtaxi (u-turn). Due to the terrain north of the airport, all aircraft must take-off from Runway 22 and land at Runway 04 only.

Seen here was Ipoh's VOR/DME ground station.

Identifier: VIH
Frequency: 117.3

Fun fact: VOR (VHF Omni-Directional Range) is a radio navigation system for aircraft. Taking this station (VIH) for example, the pilot of an aircraft can set his radio to 117.3. Once the aircraft flies within range of VIH, an instrument (dial) on board the aircraft will indicate the direction of this VOR station, allowing the pilot to know his approximate position in relation to this station. As this station is also equipped with a Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), the instrument on board the aircraft will also indicate the aircraft's distance from the VOR station.

Making a u-turn at Runway 22's displaced threshold.

Taking off from the displaced threshold.

9V-TAQ took off with just a little bit of runway to spare.

Fun fact: Ipoh's runway is 2,000 metres long, shorter than the take-off distance required by an A320-200 at maximum take-off weight (MTOW). As a result, A320s flying from Ipoh cannot be loaded up to its maximum weight. This can be achieved by giving the aircraft just enough fuel (plus reserves) to fly to Ipoh and back at Singapore.

Flying above Tapah Road att 13,875 ft. Speed: 348 knots (644.5 km/h)

TR 487 reached its maximum cruising altitude of 31,000 ft (9.45km) above mean sea level above Alor Gajah, Melaka. Speed: 490 knots (907.5 km/h).

Near Tanjung Piai, Johor, Malaysia. Altitude: 20,375 ft, speed: 388 knots.

Flying into thick clouds above Batam.

Flying past the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex at Pengerang, Johor.

Flying past Pulau Tekong. At this point, 9V-TAQ was being guided towards Runway 20R by the Instrument Landing System (ILS).

Descending over CAFHI (Changi Airport Fuel Hydrant Installation) Jetty. Fuel for Changi Airport is unloaded at this jetty and stored at an undisclosed fuel farm.

Touched down at Runway 20R. At the time of landing, Runway 20R was used for arrivals while Runway 20C was used for departures.

Exited Runway 20R at high-speed turnout Whiskey 6 (W6), and on to taxiway Whiskey Papa (WP).

Crossing the Airport Boulevard on taxiway Sierra Charlie 1 (SC1).

Singapore Airlines Boeing 787-8 (foreground) and Airbus A350-900 (background) parked at remote stands 205 and 206 on the Southeast Remote Apron near Terminal 2.