Thai Lion Air - Pretty Good

[The Fat Controller]

Booked online from UK whilst chatting to wife on SKYPE, elected to pay by her going to 7-11 instead of using my credit card, not sure what the charge would have been, sorry !

Email itinerary sent to me immediately, she went out to 7-11 with the reference number and paid, fee was 30 Baht, by the time she got back, about 10 minutes, all confirmed to me by email.

Round trip from Don Mueang to Ubon for the two of us was 2,480 Baht and that included 15 kg of baggage each.

The allowed us to share the allowance, my case was 21 kg and hers 7 kg,

Nice new Boeing 737-900, but they cram in 215 seats so legroom was tight but at least the seat itself was comfortable.

Flights were on time, snacks and drinks available for purchase, but as it's only an hour to Ubon we did not partake.

Will be our airline of choice on this route as they give you a baggage allowance and the fares are very good.

[t8769]

I'm constantly amazed at the low cost, comfort, professionalism and courtesy of local low cost airlines in Thailand.

Edited September 1, 2015 by t8769

[mindovermatter]

Another great feedback! Heard a lot of nice things about Thai Lion Air. Looks like this is worth checking out and will definitely be using it for my trip this December!

Edited September 1, 2015 by mindovermatter

[coulson]

Another great feedback! Heard a lot of nice things about Thai Lion Air. Looks like this is worth checking out and will definitely be using it for my trip this December!

I flew BKK-HKT, cheapest fare on the day, nothing remarkable but what do you want from a 1.5 hour flight other than being on time.

[thrilled]

Some Thailand airlines you can get good deals.Many times all and all cheaper than driving.

[wanderluster]

you say not much leg room but say say what size you are?? i flew thai smile and was a good discount airline but at 6 foot 1 i could not fit into the seat it was so tight, so obviously i will never fly with them again, but ok if you are 5 foot 4... so when you say not much leg room, how tall are you??

[yaudah]

The procedure, booking and payment, is with all the low cost Carriers by now practically the same, be it NOK AIR, AIR ASIA etc. The Lion Air Fares do include check In luggage while with others this has to be purchased. Seat pitch 29 on Lion and 17 inch wide on Lion are on the tighter end compared to NOK AIR 3o/17.2, Air Asia 29/18 etc.

While I have little Idea about Lion Air Thailands reliability and safety standards, I refuse to travel on any Lion Aircraft which includes their Wings Air, Malindo and Batik operations, since having an insider knowledge of the maintenance and operation in Indonesia. Lion is after all the champion of the Indonesian Flying Circus.

[blazes]

I can confirm that Thai Lion Air is one of the better cheap airlines (no add-ons or that general skullduggery one associates with Air Asia).

I am 5'9" with average legs, and found the leg room tight. But on a one-hour flight, why worry?

I would like to know whether their planes are maintained in LoS or in Indonesia (or where)?

[bra]

Lion Air? Indonesian Lion Air has a record of 9 serious accidents with thankfully only 25 fatalities in Indonesia since 2002. One on the latest was the crash at Denpasar on Bali, where the pilot flew a late model and perfectly functional aeroplane into the water adjacent to the end of the runway descending below the minimum altitude without the pilots sighting the runway. The aeroplane was written off but luckily all got out OK.

Now Thai Lion Air is a separate company, however its safe operation depends on proper oversight and supervision by the Thai DCA - the safety regulator for Thai civil aviation. A recent inspection by ICAO reported on aspects of inadequate supervision and regulation by DCA. Its hoped that DCA is improving and will "pass" the next ICAO inspection.

In the meantime those of you who use Low Cost Carriers like Lion Air are recommended to consider the risks as well as the low costs. As for me I would not fly to the end of the Soi with some of them.

Safe flying was never meant to be this cheap.

[UTH001]

Have flown them a few times already, will fly them again twice this month, no complaints, easy and fast check-in etc, 15kg luggage allowance (can be upgraded to more at extra cost), no meals on the UTH-BKK run but that's fine with me. Sometimes a very long walk at Don Mueang but I guess that's not the fault of the airline...

[Kannikapor88]

I'm constantly amazed at the low cost, comfort, professionalism and courtesy of local low cost airlines in Thailand.

Have you ever tried to fly local in Vietnam ... ? Try check Vietjetair

[Old Croc]

JACDEC AIRLINE SAFETY RANKING 2015

Based on 2014 values

RANK AIRLINE CODECS COUNTRY INDEX ORDER

1 Cathay Pacific Airways CX, CPA Hong Kong China,Hong-Kong 0,006

2 Emirates EK, UAE UAE UAE 0,007

3 EVA Air BR, EVA Taiwan Taiwan 0,008

4 Air Canada AC, ACA Canada Canada 0,010

5 KLM KL, KLM Netherlands Netherlands 0,011

6 Air New Zealand NZ, ANZ New Zealand New Zealand 0,011

7 QANTAS QF, QFA Australia Australia 0,013

8 Hainan Airlines HU, CHH China China 0,014

9 JetBlue Airlines B6, JBU USA USA 0,014

10 Etihad Airways EY, ETD UAE UAE 0,014

11 All Nippon Airways NH, ANA Japan Japan 0,015

12 Lufthansa LH, DLH Germany Germany 0,016

13 TAP Portugal TP, TAP Portugal Portugal 0,017

14 British Airways BA, BAW UK United Kingdom 0,019

15 Virgin Australia VA, VOZ Australia Australia 0,019

16 Virgin Atlantic Airways VS, VIR UK United Kingdom 0,023

17 Transaero Airlines UN, TSO Russia Russia 0,024

18 Shenzhen Airlines ZH, CSZ China China 0,024

19 WestJet Airlines WS, WJA Canada Canada 0,024

20 Air Berlin AB, BER Germany Germany 0,026

21 Qatar Airways QR, QTR Qatar Qatar 0,027

22 EasyJet U2, EZY UK United Kingdom 0,027

23 Sichuan Airlines 3U, CSC China China 0,029

24 Southwest Airlines WN, SWA USA USA 0,033

25 Jetstar Airways JQ, JST Australia Australia 0,033

26 Delta Air Lines DL, DAL USA USA 0,037

27 Thomson Airways BY, TOM UK United Kingdom 0,041

28 Norwegian Air Shuttle DY, NAX Norway Norway 0,043

29 Singapore Airlines SQ, SIA Singapore Singapore 0,053

30 United Airlines UA, UAL USA USA 0,057

31 Swiss LX, SWR Switzerland Switzerland 0,059

32 Ryanair FR, RYR Ireland Ireland 0,071

33 China Eastern Airlines MU, CES China China 0,075

34 Jet Airways 9W, JAI India India 0,075

35 Aeroflot – Russian Airlines SU, AFL Russia Russia 0,106

36 LAN Airlines LA, LAN Chile Chile 0,112

37 Alitalia AZ, AZA Italy Italy 0,112

38 Air France AF, AFR France France 0,137

39 American Airlines AA, AAL USA USA 0,143

40 Air China CA, CCA China China 0,151

41 Iberia IB, IBE Spain Spain 0,171

42 Alaska Airlines AS, ASA USA USA 0,171

43 US Airways US, AWE USA USA 0,172

44 Japan Airlines JL, JAL Japan Japan 0,204

45 China Southern Airlines CZ, CSN China China 0,212

46 Asiana Airlines OZ, AAR South Korea South Korea 0,231

47 Thai Airways International TG, THA Thailand Thailand 0,250

48 SAS Scandinavian Airlines SK, SAS Scandinavia Scandinavia 0,278

49 Turkish Airlines TK, THY Turkey Turkey 0,343

50 Korean Air KE, KAL South Korea South Korea 0,376

51 Copa Airlines CM, CMP Panama Panama 0,502

52 Saudia SV, SVA Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 0,566

53 GOL Transportes Aéreos G3, GLO Brazil Brazil 0,614

54 Xiamen Airlines MF, CXA China China 0,620

55 TAM Airlines JJ, TAM Brazil Brazil 0,743

56 Garuda GA, GIA Indonesia Indonesia 0,757

57 Malaysia Airlines MH, MAS Malaysia Malaysia 0,766

58 Air India AI, AIC India India 0,970

59 China Airlines CI, CAL Taiwan Taiwan 1,089

60 Lion Air JT, LNI Indonesia Indonesia 1,265

[Asheron]

I did a Ubon-BKK-Ubon trip a few months ago and i have nothing to complain about. I'm around 180 cm and had "plenty" of room to sit. For the prize i got the round trip (about 800 baht in total) i can say that it was the most cost effective air trip i have done in my life.

[SantiSuk]

I reported in an Ubon thread last week thus:

Tried out Thai Lion Air from Ubon to Don Muang last Saturday and return today.

ThB 1,140 all-up return fare booked one week before flying. Ridiculously cheap - fill yer boots while the promotional fares continue as this new carrier fights its way onto the route. Thais seem to have found it but not falang - it was full (well 90% out and 80% back) with a lot of Thais making their first flight (trouble finding seats/photos/clapping on landing) - and why not, the bus is a bit more expensive. It's the first time in about 8 years I have seen no other falang on flights to/from Ubon.

The long tubes (same 737-900ERs as Nok?) are a bit claustrophobic as the seat backs are too high and the legroom is appalling at 8" (same as Air Asia*). Being a 6 footer I could not use them for a long flight. Everything went fine - slightly late both ways. I did wonder, with very heavy landings on both legs, in only slightly choppy weather, about the quality of their pilots. When the international aviation bodies are criticising Thailand for unpublicised failures whether the quality up front is good enough in this rapidly expanding market!

Ubon airport was partly open internally today so that arrivals are no longer out the @rse end into a car park and tents! Theu need to tidy up the [parking arrangements when they finish the terminal renovation - looks like a gypsy camp.

*Edit - Air Asia is better, as the seat backs are less high. I was given a long leg room exit row seat on return - Nok also give me maybe once every four flights. I always forget to ask for it!

[thailandforumaddict]

Great ! An airline just like any other airline <3 Fabulous !

[ALFREDO]

Have flown them a few times already, will fly them again twice this month, no complaints, easy and fast check-in etc, 15kg luggage allowance (can be upgraded to more at extra cost), no meals on the UTH-BKK run but that's fine with me. Sometimes a very long walk at Don Mueang but I guess that's not the fault of the airline...

"Sometimes a very long walk at Don Mueang"

That is what I dislike too. Special as Don Muang is slowly with their upgrading - people movers ect.

[ALFREDO]

JACDEC AIRLINE SAFETY RANKING 2015

Based on 2014 values

60 Lion Air JT, LNI Indonesia Indonesia 1,265

Give Thai Lion Air some credit, until now, no "bad" incidents and they have all new equipment.

Seems like they try to have a better appearance then their mother company.

Enough other Airlines you have to look at 2015 with some unfinished story telling - fact finding.

[UTH001]

Flew Thai Lion Air again this morning. Pleasant and fast check in (apart from a young luggage handler who felt he should tell me what I can do and what not, regarding my hand luggage). Good flight (uneventful...) but the best? When I got to the luggage carousel at Don Mueang, the luggage just started to arrive, fantastic service! Already booked another four flights with them...

Edited September 17, 2015 by UTH001

[UTH001]

The procedure, booking and payment, is with all the low cost Carriers by now practically the same, be it NOK AIR, AIR ASIA etc. The Lion Air Fares do include check In luggage while with others this has to be purchased. Seat pitch 29 on Lion and 17 inch wide on Lion are on the tighter end compared to NOK AIR 3o/17.2, Air Asia 29/18 etc.

While I have little Idea about Lion Air Thailands reliability and safety standards, I refuse to travel on any Lion Aircraft which includes their Wings Air, Malindo and Batik operations, since having an insider knowledge of the maintenance and operation in Indonesia. Lion is after all the champion of the Indonesian Flying Circus.

You'll be happy to hear that Thai Lion Air has passed IOSA, IATA's Operational Safety Audit, NOK AIR (to my knowledge) have not yet passed that...

[Macclad]

We had a great day out in Bangkok last week,courtesy of Thai Lion Air.

7.25am....Udon to Bangkok.....price 345 baht.

8.15pm...Bangkok to Udon.....price 395 baht.

So,return flights for 740 baht in total......thats the equivalent of about 14 GBP.

A similar distance in the UK.....Glasgow to Heathrow.......would cost 100 quid upwards return ??

Brand new 737's.....OK,the leg room is a bit tight but its only 1 hours flight.

The service was excellent.They have been flying in Thailand for a couple of years now without any problem.

People who keep bringing up the Indonesia connection should cut them a bit of slack.

[tso310]

My daughter and her fiancee flew DMK-Chiang Mai return recently. Praised all aspects of both flights.

Edited October 6, 2015 by tso310