Hello there, this is going to be my first ever flight report! I hope you will enjoy.
In March 2010 Singapore Airlines announced that they will fly from Singapore to Manchester via Munich five times a week, later that year the frequency was increased to daily services. SQ also offers the Munich-Manchester / Manchester-Munich sector for sale, so this gave me and my father, who is also a huge aviation fan, the opportunity to fly with Singapore's B777-300ER over a weekend to Manchester and do some sightseeing.
After flying several times with an Emirates B777-300ER, this type of aircraft has become my favorite even though the A380 is also very special in its own way.
I had some huge expectations on Singapore Airlines service because of all that great flight reports on this site. Also the 3-3-3 configuration on SQ 777 was something I wanted to compare with Emirates 3-4-3 777 configuration in Economy class. More about that later.
So here we go!
SQ328 from Singapore is one of the first flights to arrive in Munich each morning with an scheduled arrival at 05:35 am. We arrived at around 5:00 am at Terminal 2 and had plenty of time to check in and look around. The Terminal was almost empty and only two breakfast shops were open, so we decided to take a break and then walked to our gate while watching the Saturday morning activities outside.
After 9V-SWQ arrived from Singapore passengers (with destination Munich) and the whole crew disembarked, while passengers with destination Manchester had to stay on the aircraft. During that 1h stopover the Triple seven got cleaned and the crew prepared everything for their MUC-MAN-MUC sector on this day.
First pictures of today's B777-300ER.
Boarding began about 25 min late, but with only a few passengers (more than I expected, lets say about 20-30 people) it was done very quickly.
Airframe Details:
Registration: 9V-SWQ / B777-300ER
First Flight: April 2008
Deliverd: 30. Apr 2008
Note: This was the aircraft who had an accident in Munich about 3,5 years ago. You can read the details for that via avherald.com http://avherald.com/h'article=445873f3
Boarding Pass (online check in)
Push back and engines fired up. Love that sound of the GE90 when everything vibrates during the start up.
Taxiing to Runway 08L.
Air China A330-200 from Beijing during his stopover in Munich before continuing as flight CA961 to Athens. (only on Wednesday and Saturday)
Departure was 15min late and we turned left before heading north.
Nice aerial view of Munich Airport.
Shortly after seat belt signs were switched off, the crew prepared everything for breakfast.
Breakfast for MUC-MAN sector was as follows
-Starter: Fruit yoghurt
-Light bites: Flaky sweet breakfast pastry or Sandwich with egg and roast chicken
-Hot beverages: coffee or tea
I choose the Sandwich which was pretty good, definitely better than the LH version on their short haul flights.
I asked for some water additionally and got it within seconds. Very fast and friendly crew!
Here's the full menu card on SQ328.
Heading into Manchester Airport.
And finally landed on time.
Total flight time was 1h 50min
Condor B767 D-ABUM for maintenance at Manchester.
At the gate next to a B787.
Immigration at MAN Airport was very quickly - nothing special.
I don't know how many people in First Class were, but Business Class was loaded around 50% and Economy Class, tough to estimate but I would say little bit more than 50% lets say around 60%. Overall more than I expected on this short route.
Hi !
Welcome on board !
Thanks for sharing this report.
Good flight on SQ.
The catering is quite good.
This is probably more comfortable to fly on this 777 than A320 or 737 (for this kind of flight).
See you,
Thank you for sharing this exotic fifth-freedom flight with us and welcome to the site!
B777-300ER, this type of aircraft has become my favorite
- Me too, the B77W is my favorite, I love how they look from the front.
Air China A330-200 from Beijing during his stopover in Munich before continuing as flight CA961 to Athens.
- Didn't know they did this fifth-freedom, only knew about the PEK-VIE-BCN flight.
Business Class was loaded around 50% and Economy Class, tough to estimate but I would say little bit more than 50% lets say around 60%. Overall more than I expected on this short route.
- Most J-passengers originating from SIN, I suppose? CX does a HKG-MAN direct flight, so there is demand for flights into northern England.
Catering is not really SQ-standards (you'd get much better on an Asian regional route of the same length), but airlines often cheat knowing what their competitors (LH/BA) would offer and downgrade their catering services a bit (but still the same great crews).
Air China has some very unusual fifth freedom flights!
Thanks for the feedback, great to hear that you enjoyed the report.
Most J-passengers originating from SIN, I suppose?
I was one of the last passengers during boarding and as far as I know everyone who got onboard at Munich had a Y ticket. For me no big surprise because J or F is very expensive for that sector.
A very good first flight report! The only thing missing is some shots of the cabin. It's nice to get a real breakfast on an intra-European flight. But then I would be surprised to see anything less from such a great airline as Singapore. MUC-MAN is one of those great 5th freedom flights within Europe operated by a widebody, like LAN's MAD-CDG that are always more interesting to take than the regular carriers operating narrowbodies. You are so right, the 3-3-3 configuration on a 777 is soooo much better than 3-4-3, which is almost inhumane. It's great that you and your father share a passion for aviation. I imagine you both took some time to do some planspotting in MAN? Thanks again for sharing this first report with and and I hope to see many more!
Welcome to Flight-Report!
KevinDC - Community Manager
Thanks for your feedback.
Indeed I have to admit. Cabin shots are missing. I'm a little bit angry about myself, because the SQ cabin is very friendly and welcoming however I made some on the return flight even if they are not the best.
I imagine you both took some time to do some planspotting in MEN?
We wanted but the weather wasn't the best, very cloudy and rainy - typical british weather - so we went to Manchester by tram and did some sightseeing which was also good.