Review of Singapore Airlines flight Hong Kong → Singapore in Economy

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Took the airport bus back to the airport and checked in at the empty SQ counter 1.5hrs prior to departure. Surprised at the lack of queues as the flight was totally full.






FIDS at the busy HKIA.




Our A359 was already at the gate and had an almost 2hrs layover.




The smaller mindfield terminal serving narrowbodies.




The rather new A359 which will be flying me back to Singapore.






Boarding started early.







25 December 2017
Singapore Airlines
SQ 861
Hong Kong (HKG) - Singapore (SIN)
A350-900
9V-SMJ
Economy Class
Flight Time: 3H33M


Down the aerobridge into the aircraft.






Newspapers and earphones for economy pax were available on a trolley at the door.




Passing the Business cabin.




Into Premium Economy.




And the economy cabin. Forward economy seats are in blue while the aft cabin economy seats are in a duller light brown. Pillows and blankets are placed on each seat.








Across the aisle before the cabin filled up.




Boarding in progress.




Out the window.




Legroom was decent and there were footrests on this longhaul aircraft, unlike the previous sector's B772 used on regional routes, where footrests were removed.




The latest IFE interface.




IFE guide for the newest 2 generations of Krisworld (A330/A380/A359/B77W/retrofitted B772 and B773). The previous sector on 9V-SQN should have this version too but was wrongly equipped with the guide for the older IFE system.




Hot towels distributed, doors closed and the new safety video was played, unlike the previous sector on the B772 where the old safety video was shown.






The flight was fully packed, at least in Economy. Started the taxi to the runway.










Next for departure.




Departure from Rwy07R, with splendid view of Hong Kong Island after takeoff.
















Above the cloudy skies, which stayed like this almost throughout the entire flight.






Time for some ntertainment. Chose to watch a chinese movie.






Mixed nuts and beverages from tray were offered soon after takeoff. I chose an orange juice.




Before meal service started, a notification was displayed on the IFE monitor.




A sea of clouds below with some light turbulences.




Switched to a Singaporean comedy movie as the previous selection was a tad boring.




A look at the menu on this flight, as well as SQ856 on the SIN-HKG sector.We were offered a special Christmas menu on the flight today for the International selection.








Meal tray. I chose the Christmas international selection.






Shrimp with cucumber salad to start, which was tasty. A Christmas logcake was offered for dessert in lieu of the usual Haagen Daz ice-cream.




Roasted Christmas turkey with chestnut stuffing. This special Christmas selection was not bad and portion was quite substantial.




The oriental tray has a Smoke fish salad starter and Deep-fried Pork with rice as the main. Both starter and main were delicious with large portions! Surprisingly, the catering from HKG was way better than from SIN.






Festive logcake to end, though I would have preferred the Haagen Das ice-cream, which were distributed to passengers with special meal orders.




Crew offering top-ups of beverages.




Moderate turbulence encountered as we were flying near typhoon weather.




Visit to the lavatory. For some reason, the mid-cabin center lavatory cabinet was in an ugly plasticy retro-blue colour.




View of the forward economy cabin.




Sunset.






Approaching Singapore.




It was raining rather heavily during the final approach.




Landing on Rwy02L.




Parked at the gate in very wet weather.




Disembarked.




While walking towards immigration, I noted that Terminal 3's Gate B5 is designated as a Sanrio gate for EVA Air's Hello Kitty/Sanrio flights!




Due to stormy weather and lightning risks, unloading of baggage was delayed for almost an hour. Some refreshments were delivered by the Changi Airport staff at the baggage belts while we wait for the bags.