Review of Singapore Airlines flight from Auckland to Singapore in Economy

Introduction

This is review one, of 6 in a trip to europe I have just come back from. Enjoy!
 

Auckland airport - Check in and airport experience

Auckland airport is New Zealand's main airport, it serves many international destinations and holds some records for some of the longest flights, including the 17 hour flight to Doha on Qatar. It was very clean and the check in process was extremely quick. I was first in line for check in as we were here early for the flight. Once check in was complete, I had my boarding pass and was ready to head to the gate. Once passing security there are a line of reasonably good duty free stores, not the best, but good enough. Once passing through you arrived into the main section of the International Depatures area at AKL. There are many places to eat and coffee stores, and even an upstairs level with plenty of restaurants where you can sit down for a proper meal if you are early enough before your flight. I went with the chinese store on the lower level and sat down against the window with some dumplings. This part of the airport had some great views.

As you can see, the check in is completely empty!

A Qatar airways 777 from the window in the international terminal

A Singapore Cargo 747-400!

boarding and the seat

The 777-300ER that will take me to Singapore today, Rego: 9V-SWT, 10 years old.

Boarding began about 40 minutes late, at 1:50pm, for an unknown reason, no annoucement was made. Singapore airlines does boarding in groups, First = Group 1, Business = Group 2, PPS Club and Krisflyer Gold = Group 3 etc. I was in group 5, which is the front part of the economy cabin. I was seated in 43A, which is in small 7 row economy cabin, this is a quiet cabin and is served first. I payed $80 to reserve my seat in the foward cabin. Once onboard, I got settled into 43A. The seat has ok legroom, less than I have previously experienced, but good enough. The seat was comfortable, and had an adjustable head rest. There was a foldable tray table that was sturdy and also a built in cup holder so you dont have to have your tray table down to have a drink, a great feature that should be in all aircraft! Singapore airlines also have foot rests in economy which make the experience so much more comfortable. There was plenty of space under the seat and in the overhead bins for storage of carry ony. I also noticed that the foward economy cabin is in a blue colour scheme, while the main economy cabin is in a less appealing beige colour scheme. At each seat was a nice pillow and a blanket, in the seat pocket was the inflight magazine, IFE magazine, inflight shopping magazine, sick bag and a saftey card.

The Front Economy cabin.

The adjustable head rest in the economy cabin.

The back of the seat, 11 inch IFE screen, IFE controller and cup holder, all great features.

The view from 43A.

Meal Service #1

After takeoff the crew handed out amenity kits which consited of socks and a toothbrush and toothpaste. Shortly afterwards, they handed out menus, this is one feature of Singapore airlines I like, even in economy, you get menus! Meal service started about 45 minutes after takeoff, I was in the first section of economy which means you get fast service! Service started with Peas and Crackers and your choice of beverage. The 2 dinner options consisted of Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice or Sauteed Penne Pasta with Seafood. I choose the Butter chicken, which was very nice. We then got Ice Cream handed out for dessert which was nice.

Peas and Crackers with a sparkling water to start service on todays flight

This is the butter chicken, with metal cutlery!

IFE

The IFE on this flight was great. The 11" touch screen was very responsive and had a great selection of movies and TV shows. There were more than 50 complete seasons of TV shows including game of thrones. The interactive map was great, however it was quite slow to respond to moving the camera, however it displayed great info about the flight.

After meal service, I tried out the in-flight wifi. I paid $7.99NZD for 100MB which I thought was ok. When I loaded up Instagram, it was amazingly fast! It loaded Instagram fast and I could upload stories and full size photos. I then watched a few movies and then closed the window shade and pulled up my blanket and went off to sleep for about 2 hours. When I woke up I continued to watch movies and TV on the 'KrisWorld' IFE.

Meal service #2

A few hours before landing in Singapore, 'Supper' was served. There were 2 options Braised Beef in Garlic and Thyme Sauce <i style="">or Stir Fry Egg Noodles with Chicken Char Siu. I choose the Beef, which was also very nice. It was served with Chocolate Mousse withe Raspberry Coulis for Desert.

Landing in singapore

Shortly after meal dishes were cleared, we were starting our decent into Singapore. Landing at night and arriving right on time.

Night landing into Singapore