Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
The reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural flight from Singapore to Dhaka, the City of Mosques, on 25 March 2016 at 9.15 pm with Regent Airways, and returned to Singapore on 29 March 2016.
Airline and Routes : Regent Airways operates a fleet of B737-700 and B737-800 aircraft on international flights from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Suvarnabhumi, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Muscat and Doha and from Dhaka to Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. It is a full-service airline that competes with US-Bangla Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
News : None.
Livery : The airline logo is a golden yellow bird suggesting quality service like that of Singapore Airlines. Red suggests that Regent Airways wants to offer low fares like AirAsia but frankly it has forgotten its objective. Recent air fares of Regent Airways have been on the high. **
Aircraft : The B737-700 seat legroom is not spacious. **
Baggage Requirements :A carry-on baggage measuring 115 cm in total to be stowed in the overhead compartment and a small item to be stowed under the seat are accepted. Total carry-on baggage weighs maximum 8 kg while passengers are allowed to check-in 2 baggage up to 40 kg in total.***
Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. ***
Inflight Magazine : Regent Wings is the only official inflight magazine of Regent Airways. However, Regent Airways stopped issuing hardcopies of Regent Wings since late 2016. Hardcopies of Regent Wings are not available onboard its flights this year according to Regent Airways Head Office.**
Inflight Service / Entertainment / Onboard Meals and Refreshments : There is only one standard Economy Class complimentary meal, Indian vegetarian. Preparation standard of the hot meal in Changi Airport is very high. However, preparation standard of the hot meal is on the low in Dhaka Airport. Eat it at one's own risk. I suffered from diarrhoea after eating the vegetarian meal on the flight back to Singapore. Bring your own snacks onboard. The arm-rest in front of me on the outgoing B737-700 flight to Dhaka was spoilt.**
Postcard / Stationery : There is the Arrival Form to fill in. The form with the airline logo follows that of a Myanmar Immigration Arrival Form. Please remember departure forms can only be collected at the check-in counters of airlines in Bangladesh's international airports. Bangladesh Immigration does not issue departure forms to tourists directly. Write on the barf bag.**
Surcharges : Fuel surcharge exists. **
Bookings : One can book a Regent Airways ticket at www.flyregent.com but flight amendment and cancellation cannot be performed on-line. Expect to pay 100 USD at Regent Airways' offices in Bangladesh for flight amendment or cancellation. Pay 100 SGD for a flight amendment or cancellation at Regent Airways' Singapore GSA, Shahid Travels and Tours.**
Check-In and Departures : Check-in at international airports three hours before departures. Check-in counter closes one hour before departure. Flights may or may not depart on time. My outgoing flight to Singapore was delayed for 6 hours although the weather is fine.**
Ground service in response to passengers' requests and enquiries : Since end of 2016, Regent Airways has availed its Timetables at all its sales offices in Bangladesh and overseas sales offices. Email to Shahid Travels and Tours but they request for call-back. Insist on email reply and they will email back to you. Earlier hardcopies of Regent Wings are available at Regent Airways' Head Office in Dhaka. Inflight staff should inform passengers in advance that Bangladesh departure forms can be obtained at their check-in counters so that passengers avoid the airport service staff who want tips up to 500 Taka for helping to get the departure forms. ***
Overall Impression : After 5 years of flight operations, Regent Airways still needs to improve its safety performance, on-time departure frequency, allow online amendments of flight dates and resume publishing of Regent Wings and distribute hardcopies of Regent Airways to overseas sales office so that more international customers can know more about the airline. There is room for service improvement. Overall, the airline is a two-star airline.
** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
The reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural flight from Singapore to Dhaka, the City of Mosques, on 25 March 2016 at 9.15 pm with Regent Airways, and returned to Singapore on 29 March 2016.
Airline and Routes : Regent Airways operates a fleet of B737-700 and B737-800 aircraft on international flights from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Suvarnabhumi, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Muscat and Doha and from Dhaka to Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. It is a full-service airline that competes with US-Bangla Airlines and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
News : None.
Livery : The airline logo is a golden yellow bird suggesting quality service like that of Singapore Airlines. Red suggests that Regent Airways wants to offer low fares like AirAsia but frankly it has forgotten its objective. Recent air fares of Regent Airways have been on the high. **
Aircraft : The B737-700 seat legroom is not spacious. **
Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. ***
Postcard / Stationery : There is the Arrival Form to fill in. The form with the airline logo follows that of a Myanmar Immigration Arrival Form. Please remember departure forms can only be collected at the check-in counters of airlines in Bangladesh's international airports. Bangladesh Immigration does not issue departure forms to tourists directly. Write on the barf bag.**
Sky Shop : None.**
Bookings : One can book a Regent Airways ticket at www.flyregent.com but flight amendment and cancellation cannot be performed on-line. Expect to pay 100 USD at Regent Airways' offices in Bangladesh for flight amendment or cancellation. Pay 100 SGD for a flight amendment or cancellation at Regent Airways' Singapore GSA, Shahid Travels and Tours.**
Overall Impression : After 5 years of flight operations, Regent Airways still needs to improve its safety performance, on-time departure frequency, allow online amendments of flight dates and resume publishing of Regent Wings and distribute hardcopies of Regent Airways to overseas sales office so that more international customers can know more about the airline. There is room for service improvement. Overall, the airline is a two-star airline.
** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)
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