AirAsia X A330 Economy Quiet Zone Review (Auckland-Sydney)

Since November 2022, AirAsia X offers cheap flights across the Tasman between Auckland and Sydney. The fifth-freedom flight is an extension of the low-cost carrier’s Kuala Lumpur-Sydney service.

I recently needed to book a last-minute ticket from Auckland to Sydney, and AirAsia X was significantly cheaper than the other four airlines operating on this route. In fact, even after paying extra for a Value Pack and to choose a seat in the Quiet Zone, I still paid less than half the cost of a Qantas ticket on the same day.

So, was it worth the savings to fly AirAsia X from Auckland to Sydney? Find out as I review the airline’s Economy Class experience on its Airbus A330-300.

Flight Details

Flight number	D7289
Route	Auckland
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-300
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	9A
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

Booking less than a week out, my ticket cost only NZD139 (~AU$129) one-way. That price only includes a seat, so I paid an extra NZD28 for a Value Pack with 20kg checked baggage, a hot meal and seat selection. I also paid an additional NZD33 to select a seat in the “Quiet Zone”, which is at the front of the plane. (More on this shortly.)

Even after paying for those add-ons, and the NZD8 credit card “processing fee”, the total cost came to NZD199 (~AU$185).

Having a look at the AirAsia website, you can get similar pricing on other (but not all) dates. The airline also has some good deals on Premium Flatbed seating.

Airport Experience

I was a bit worried that I’d end up in a long, snaking queue waiting to check in at Auckland Airport. My concerns were unwarranted. It wasn’t a full flight and I ended up waiting around 10 minutes in the Economy check-in queue.

There were priority lines for passengers with Premium Flatbed or Premium Flex tickets, as well as people who checked in online. I had tried to check-in online, but got an error message telling me I had to go to an airport counter. Once at the counter, it was a quick process and I was handed my boarding pass.

As it’s a budget airline, AirAsia X doesn’t offer airport lounge access. However, I was able to use the Strata Lounge after immigration & security thanks to my Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass lounge access comes as a free benefit with several Australian credit cards.

The Strata Lounge exceeded my expectations. It was a quiet space with lots of comfortable seating, wifi, five combined toilet & shower suites, and an extensive selection of buffet food and drinks. This included beer, wines and spirits.

I headed over to the gate at the advertised boarding time, and boarding was already well underway. When entering the plane, the flight attendant asked if I was travelling to Sydney or Kuala Lumpur. As I was leaving the flight in Australia, they gave me an Australian incoming passenger card to complete.

The Hard Product

From my perspective, one of the major downsides of flying Economy on AirAsia X is the narrow seats. While most airlines use 8-abreast seating on the Airbus A330, AirAsia X has opted to squeeze in an extra seat per row. This means Economy Class is configured in a tight 3-3-3 layout, with narrow seats and narrow aisles.

The leather seats do have adjustable headrests, and they recline a fair way back. But I found the seat back a tad hard.

Perhaps to compensate for the narrow seats, the legroom is actually quite reasonable.

Mercifully, on this flight I had a whole row to myself. So, the narrow seat width became a moot point and there was enough space between seats that my knees weren’t crushed.

I’d paid extra for a Quiet Zone seat on this flight, and I’m glad I did – for two reasons. Firstly, it was indeed fairly quiet as no children under 12 are allowed to sit there and passengers are asked to refrain from loud conversations. It would have been even more quiet, though, if music wasn’t played over the aircraft’s loudspeakers for the first half of the flight!

The main reason it was worth paying for is that most other people don’t pay for it, and the Quiet Zone seats are among the last to be allocated to passengers who haven’t selected a seat. On this occasion, the Quiet Zone mini-cabin was almost empty – making this a much more comfortable flight.

After takeoff, the crew even drew curtains at the front and back of the Quiet Zone cabin, keeping other passengers out and adding to the feel of it being a private, separate cabin. For around $30 more, I think this was well worth paying for.

The rest of the Economy cabin was a lot more full, and to be honest, it didn’t look like many of the passengers sitting up the back were having a great time. I wouldn’t want to be on this plane on a full overnight flight.

The inside and outside of the plane were plastered with advertising for Sony headphones. But there was no in-flight entertainment or wifi of any sort available. Bring your own headphones and entertainment!

The Soft Product

The cabin crew brought me my pre-booked meal shortly after take-off. I needed to present my boarding pass to get this, so that the crew could cross it off.

AirAsia’s in-flight meals have a bit of a cult following, to the point that the airline has opened its own restaurants in Southeast Asia.

I chose the nasi lemak with chicken rendang and really enjoyed it. It was full of flavour and came with a complimentary bottle of water. For $8, this was a very good hot meal – and certainly much better than what I received on Qantas on my flight over to Auckland a few days earlier.

After the pre-ordered meals were distributed, the cabin crew came around with a snack & drink trolley offering more items for sale. Later in the flight, the crew also offered duty-free items for sale.

The flight attendants were all friendly and worked hard.

We landed at 19:11 and the purser announced that we’d arrived in Sydney 20 minutes early. By the time we taxied in and parked at the gate, we were only actually three minutes ahead of schedule. Still, that’s a good on-time performance.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.