Smooth As Silk: Thai Airways A350 Economy Class Review

In June 2022, we went to Thailand for a holiday. We flew with Thai Airways from Mumbai to Bangkok and back. For the outbound flight, we flew on their Airbus A350-900 aircraft in Economy Class and this is its review.

In this trip:

• Thai Airways A350 Economy Class Review – Mumbai (BOM) to Bangkok (BKK) (this review)
• Bangkok Airways ATR72 Economy Class Review – Bangkok (BKK) to Koh Samui (USM)
• The Culture Samui Review
• Bangkok Airways ATR72 Economy Class Review – Koh Samui (USM) to Phuket (HKT)
• Hilton Garden Inn Phuket Bang Tao Review
• Le Méridien Khao Lak Resort & Spa Review
• Thai Smile Airways (Thai Airways) A320 Economy Class Review – Phuket (BKK) to Bangkok (BKK)
• Thai Airways B777 Economy Class Review – Bangkok (BKK) to Mumbai (BOM)

If you want to see a video of this review, check this out:

Thai Airways A350 Flight Booking

Thai Airways currently has 23 Airbus A350-900s in its fleet. We booked these roundtrip tickets (Mumbai-Bangkok-Mumbai) through a local travel agent for INR24,000 ($281 approximately).

Airport Experience

Our flight, TG318, was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 2335 hours. We reached airport around 2030 hours so that we would have enough time to clear security and immigration, considering that the queues can be very long at this time of the day at Mumbai Airport. The check-in counters had long queues but the process was easy and smooth.

Contrary to the expectations, the queues at security and immigration were not so lengthy. Thereafter, we strolled around for a bit, had some quick bites and were off to Gate 77 to board our flight to Bangkok.

Thai Airways A350 Economy Class Cabin

Thai Airways’ A350 comes in four different configurations, with all of them having two classes – Economy and Business. Our flight was operated by an A350-900 aircraft registered HS-THC featuring 32 Business Class seats and 289 Economy Class seats. The Business and Economy seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 and 3-3-3 configuration respectively.

The Economy seats are in purple and mustard colours which look really good and go with the airline’s branding well. The seats are well padded and were comfortable for this 4-hour flight. The seat pitch is 32 inches, at par with what you would find on other legacy carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates. The seat features a 10.6-inch inflight entertainment screen, a bi-folding tray-table, universal AC and USB-A power sockets, adjustable headrests and coat hook.

The cabin surely gives off a Thai vibe. The inflight entertainment system has a range of movies, TV shows and music amongst others. All the categories have Thai and Western options. The best thing in my opinion are the onboard cameras. There are two of them – a tail camera and a front camera.

One thing which I appreciated was that there was a footrest present in every seat. While this is a minor thing, it can definitely help on longer flights.

Present at the seat upon boarding was a small pillow, blanket and headphones.

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The Flight

Boarding began on time around 1 hour prior to the scheduled departure time. I was a bit late to board and hence almost everyone had already settled in their seats when I got on the aircraft. We pushed back, taxied to Runway 27 and took-off right on time at 2335 hours.

Once the seatbelt sign was switched off, the cabin crew sprang to action to commence the meal service. We were served dinner on this flight. I had pre-booked a Asian Vegetarian Meal (AVML). Special meals such as this are usually brought out by crew in the beginning and this flight was no exception.

The hot meal included cottage cheese and spinach curry with rice and roti (Indian flat bread). Alongside, a bun was served with some butter; a chickpea salad and a caramel cake. Plastic cutlery was provided along with bottle of water. I also opted for a glass of Orange Juice. All in all, it was a great meal for a 4-hour flight.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. After crossing the Bay of Bengal and Myanmar airspace, the approach started and the cabin was readied for arrival by the crew. We landed in Bangkok before the scheduled arrival time of 0535 hours (+1).

The Service

Cabin crew on this flight were really sweet and spot-on. Thailand is famous for its hospitality and the Thai crew on this flight really kept those high standards. The crew were always smiling and worked hard throughout. There’s nothing more to add here as the service was top notch.

IH Thoughts and Score

Thai Airways has been a legacy carrier and any airline which has a strong reputation in the market has a strong desire to keep up to that reputation. I had heard many great things of Thai Airways so I was really excited to finally fly with them but I didn’t have any high expectations from them. As far as the hard product goes, there are no complaints as the seat is very comfortable with superb legroom. The soft product was also good, from the delicious meal to the IFE content and everything in between.

The highlight for me was flying on the Airbus A350 for the first time. What a beautiful aircraft! I must add that the boarding and landing music that Thai Airways plays is some of the best I have come across. The flight overall was great and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with them again!

IH Score:

• Airport Experience: 20/20
• Seat and Amenities: 19/20
• Inflight Food: 19/20
• Aircraft and Cleanliness: 20/20
• Service: 20/20

The Good:

• Excellent Aircraft
• Comfortable Seat
• Pleasant Airport Experience
• Warm Service
• Delicious Meal
• Amazing Onboard Music

The Bad:

• Small and Scratchy Pillow

Overall: 98/100

Featured image by Ishan Haria

All the other images by Ishan Haria

Have you flown with Thai Airways? If yes, how was your experience? Let me know in the comments section below.

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