Thai Air Asia flight FD 140 from Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport arrived at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport on time, around 10:00 p.m. I was expecting to get the middle seat on the flight as I did not pay for the seat selection. I was pleasantly surprised to get an aisle seat as a couple beside me took the window and the middle seat—lucky me! The flight also had enough legroom, which I did not expect from the budget carrier, as Google showed during booking that it had below-average legroom.
Also, I thought the food onboard would be costly, which was not the case. The price was similar to Bangkok. I wanted to order a Hyderabadi Biryani, the only vegetarian item on the menu, which they did not have. So, I spent all my Thai coins to buy some apple juice and went to sleep. The cabin crews were also very professional. It was a good experience on my first Air Asia flight, about which I’ve heard many bad things.
The immigration officer was curious about why I was flying from Bangkok instead of Dhaka. He asked if I work in Bangkok. I explained to him that the direct flight from Dhaka is very expensive. It is cheaper via Bangkok, and I can also visit another country, so I took this route. Being satisfied, he stamped my passport.
The airport’s arrival lounge seemed small. A funny thing I noticed immediately was that all the trolleys had a porter in uniform attached to them, who would drag the trollies for the passengers with their luggage, I understand, for a tip. The kind of stuff our Bangladeshi people will love. Already seen one Bangladeshi couple using them.
There were some money exchanges, airport taxis, and mobile phone operator booths there. All the money exchanges offered the same rate, so I exchanged a small amount of USD, as airport rates are always bad. Then, I purchased a Dialog SIM Card with 20 GB of Data and unlimited local calls.