Review of Singapore Airlines flight Singapore → Melbourne in Economy

Background:
This report covers the second leg of my journey to Melbourne from Singapore on board Singapore Airlines' newest economy class product offering. The trip report covering the first leg from Mumbai to Singapore on SQ A380 can be accessed here:http://flight-report.com/en/report-12590.html
Since I was transiting with my grandfather who had availed wheelchair assistance, the Special Services Lounge at Changi Terminal 3 booked a room at the Ambassador Transit Hotel in Terminal 2. A buggy was provided for transfer from one terminal to another. Our flight SQ 227 to Melbourne would be departing from Terminal 3. Boarding passes were already issued to us in Mumbai. We used the boarding pass to avail transit vouchers worth S$ 40 each offered by SQ and Changi Airport for use within the airport.
Changi offers a huge range of facilities for a transiting traveller- from two 24 hour cinema screens to a free city tour of Singapore!

Mini garden below the Transit Hotel in Terminal 2


New Economy class experience
Again, we were the first ones to board the new Boeing 777-300ER with three very welcoming cabin crew members helping my grandfather up onto the aircraft. A leading stewardess donning the elegant looking green kebaya personally guided us to our seats. The aircraft (Regn: 9V-SNA),less than a year old, was delivered to SQ only just in 2015. The Smell of the fresh cabin, colours that were certainly pleasing on the eye, the larger IFE touchscreens got me more excited for the 7 hour flight to Melbourne.

Glimpses of the New Business Class (Apologies that these few images have not been rotated. Any one who is aware on how to rotate the pictures after uploading them here for adding in the report, please advise on the same)


Our Front section of Economy class


The new seats were ultra comfortable as compared to the one on A380 I flew on from BOM. The seats were better cushioned and the sides were bolstered for better back support. The legroom was surprisingly much better than in the A380 even though sites online state the pitch to be same at 32' for both. A cozy pillow and a blanket were already placed on the seats with the earphones. The most exciting feature for me was the personal HD enabled 11.1 inch touch screen monitor along with a touch screen handset for navigating through the system. One could also adjust the settings in such a way that one could enjoy entertainment on the large monitor and monitor flight path. The USB ports were right below the screen.

My seat


Cozy pillow with a blanket


Christmas decorations onboard


Sufficient leg room in my opinion


The crew was extremely energetic and were giving high fives to the kids! As usual, piping hot oshibori towels were distributed. This was followed by the distribution of menu cards with the stewardess serving my aisle saying- This is our offering on this flight.
Here's what the menu had on offer


A leading stewardess came about confirming our special meal selection- Indian Vegetarian. The captain welcomed us while informing that the actual flight time to MEL would be 6 and a half hours.

After a not so long taxi, we were on our way! Soon, amenity kits were distributed. The amenity kids consisted of a pair of socks, toothbrush and a toothpaste.


This was followed by a drinks service with two packs of peanuts. I opted for their trademark Singapore Sling.


The crew then went about giving out toys to the kids who were overjoyed. Distribution of special meals was next up!
Here's my meal- Indian Vegetarian!

The meal consisted of a corn and onion salad (which I did not taste), a potato and tomato based vegetable curry along with Dal (perfectly cooked lentils in a yellow curry paste) and some rice. The accompaniments were a tasty pickle,a warm bun and the fried papadums. The Indian sweet dish served was the famous Gulab Jamuns (Dumplings traditionally made of thickened or reduced milk, soaked in rose flavoured sugar syrup). Everything served on the tray right from the vegetable curry to the dal, the Gulab Jamuns to even the papadums were absolutely scrumptious and delectable. Was really impressed with the Indian meals on this flight as well as the BOM-SIN one. The word delicious too might be an understatement. The drinks were served along with the general meal service. I opted for the Orange Juice. If that weren't enough, they distributed an ice cream which was more like a sandwich with a chocolate coating and vanilla filling. That was titillating too!

The ice-cream sandwich


While the meal trays were being collected, they offered any more drinks or tea or coffee. The cabin lights were dimmed for passengers to sleep and it was also announced that since we were flying to into day break, the window shades should be drawn down.

>Commendable service by the Crew:
I can speak for the flight stewardesses servicing my cabin - promptly responding to every request of the passengers and while doing so they would not lose the smile on their face! It was evident they loved doing their job. It was just as though they considered aircraft to be their home and the passengers to be guests visiting over. A few instances of service from the heart by the Flight Stewardess Yap Liang Mei -
- A passenger seated in front of me had slept while the meal service was on. Once he woke up, the stewardess came up to him and inquired politely if he needed anything to eat. She got him an entire meal and since the cabin lights were dimmed, she asked him if he needed the light to eat and promptly switched on the reading light for him.
> When my grandfather was waiting for the lavatory in the forward section to fall vacant, she instantaneously guided him to the lavatories in the rear cabin which were vacant.
- Since my grandfather needed wheelchair assistance, we were informed to deplane once the other passengers had disembarked. Since that took some time, she came up to us assuring us that the wait wouldn't be any longer and she also inquired of our flight experience. Later, she personally guided us to the door of the aircraft where the wheelchair awaited my granddad.
These are small touches but go a long way in making someone's travel a pleasant one. Though the crews of most airlines may have been trained to do the above, I haven't seen this kind of service on most flights I take. This distinguishes SQ from others.
I was so impressed by the service of that stewardess that I did tweet to Singapore Airlines praising her efforts. I consider it very important to acknowledge efforts of someone who goes an extra mile for a passenger and exemplary service is all about anticipating what a passenger needs.

The experience continued to be just as smooth:
The new KrisWorld experience was enhanced much more thanks to the touchscreen monitor. Also, able to simultaneously follow the flight path on the headset while watching the movies/shows on the main monitor was a welcome change indeed. KrisWorld, as always, had a varied range of movies from the recent ones to the old ones (not only English but even regional from all over the world), TV shows, music where one could create their own playlist, concerts, travel documentaries, games. In terms of connectivity, Wi-fi was available but had a high cost to pay for it. Also, it offered a seat to seat communication service. Further, one could connect the USB devices to view movies or watch images. Navigating through the new Krisworld was a lot easier than before. The IFE options were enough to keep me hooked to the screen throughout the long flight. After watching a movie, a passenger can rate the movie which enables others to choose the ones to watch.

The huge touchscreen screen(larger than premium economy screens of many airlines) with a touch screen headset displaying the flight map


The recent movies playing on KrisWorld


Various options on KrisWorld


Connectivity options


Live news


The lavatories were immaculately clean and well stocked with a mouth wash, face wash, perfume and combs.


Flying into dawn always implies some breathtaking views out of the window.


Mood-lighting was switched on in the cabin


Approximately 90 minutes prior to arrival, hot oshibori towels were distributed with the stewardess informing that the breakfast would be served in the next 10 minutes.
As always, the special meals were distributed first. Vegetarian selection comprised of Kellogs' Sultana Bran cereals with milk along with a bun, some fruits and packaged fruit juice.


The regular selection did not have the cereals but comprised of a muffin. Even though the portion for breakfast was small, two meals for a flight of this duration were filling enough.

Soon after, the first officer informed us of the weather conditions at Melbourne and announced they would be commencing descent soon.
Upon landing, our aircraft had to wait for a jet bridge to be allocated to us. As I mentioned above, after all the passengers disembarked, our stewardess guided us to the door of the aircraft where the wheelchair was ready for my grandfather.

The immigration queues at the Melbourne airport were very long- mainly due to a few counters and a large volume of flights coming in at the same time. I can safely conclude that the new Terminal 2 at Mumbai puts most airports including the MEL airport to shame! As far as SQ goes, they never seem to disappoint and I do hope this continues.