Tigerair Australia: Boeing 737-800 Review

The 23rd of January 2020 saw me fly Tigerair Australia for the first time. Unlike my flight up to Brisbane, there were two different things about my flight back home to Melbourne: 1) The aircraft was a Boeing 737 NG (VH-VUD) , the aircraft Tigerair are incrementally transitioning to from Airbus A320s of which I flew up on. My A320 on the way up was VH-VKJ . Currently , Tigerair has 5 Boeing 737 NGs in its fleet, with about 9 Airbus A320s left. Virgin Australia owns Tigerair Australia and thus, it has given some of its 737-800s to Tigerair Australia.

Embarking the rear stairs of my aircraft. Tigerair Australia Boeing 737-800 VH-VUD

2) Instead of an early morning flight I departed during the evening . Because I boarded towards the final stages of boarding, from Terminal D Satellite Gates, Gate 31, it meant less wait time on the aircraft before cabin crew doors were armed (closed) and we pulled away for an on time departure. We took off north south towards Morton Bay before banking right to turn inland on our way to Melbourne .

The interiors of the aircraft are also different , even though they are both narrow body aircraft and have the same 3-3 configuration , the A320 on the way up had cloth whilst the B737 NG has two tone leather seats with black mostly and yellow headrests .

I forgot to take a photo of my seat but here's a generic photo showing the interior. My seat was 20E in the middle seat.

Because Tigerair is a low cost carrier, there are no complimentary meals, rather, there are items available for purchase . As the flight was only 2 hours, not medium or long haul , this is ok with me. Cabin Crew were fine. I couldn’t fault the service. There is also no form of inflight entertainment or inflight wifi, but again, not really necessary on a short haul domestic trip . I just occupied myself listening to music on my. phone.

The menu showing what can be purchased on the flight

Also, other cost saving measures include utilising flights of stairs instead of aero bridges. Personally, I love embarking up and down the stairs as most aircraft today are boarded via aerobridges . Embarking and disembarking the stairs for me is always fun, especially getting to walk on the tarmac . Arrival was at Tigerair’s designated Gate 15, at Terminal 4 which it shares with rival low cost carrier Jetstar and regional airline REX Airlines. All in all a good flight despite a lot of negative experiences from others flying Tigerair Australia.