Review of Qantas flight Sydney → Singapore in Economy

Again, I hopped onto the free transfer bus to transfer to the International Terminal. Enjoyed a tour of the hangars and tarmac again!

Even a B737 looks big at ground level.


B744 in Wallabies livery.


A380!


China Southern B772 preparing for takeoff.


Qantas B744.


Now the surprised. Upon arrival at Sydney did I discover my flight back to Singapore was delayed for almost 5hrs! The original 1730hrs departure was rescheduled to 2205hrs, reason given that the aircraft is in maintenance and QF did not have any spare A380s till one arrived back from SIN (QF32) at 2030hrs. However I was surprised I was not informed of the delay in CBR even though my boarding pass had already been printed with the new boarding time (which I did not notice) and my 6hrs transit had now became 11hrs! That is way too long even for an aviation enthusiast at Sydney Airport with an open air viewing gallery! To make things worse, I had only discovered of the delay when I could not find QF31 on the FIDS at the check-in hall and had to approach a QF ground staff for assistance. Only then was I informed and given a A$30 meal voucher.

So nothing much to do in the terminal except for spotting planes at the viewing gallery…

Qantas B744 and A380.


QF A330 landing with the city skyline in the background.


SQ A380 departing to SIN as SQ222.


SQ vs Aussie Airlines!


Lots of departures now! BA B772 departing to SIN too. TG A346 off to BKK.


Jetstar A320 in Quiksilver livery.


Another SIN departure. QF6 to SIN/FRA. We were not offered to be transferred onto this or the earlier BA flight.


The final sector of this trip, flying on QF's A380. As I had flown on SQ's A380 a number of times, I would be doing some comparisons on the 2 airline's whalejets. Our delayed flight was now one of the last few flights to depart the airport before the curfew starts.

After immigration at SYD airport. It has gone through a thorough renovation.



08 December 2011
Qantas
QF 31
Sydney (SYD) - Singapore (SIN)
A380-800
VH-OQB
Economy Class

Upon reaching the gate, an announcement was made that we would be expecting another 30min delay due to some technical issues and it would be resolved soon. Groans…. Luckily boarding started soon and we were allowed to board. Finally!! I could see that all passengers were restless and weary by now. Felt sorry for those going up to London. The flight was operated by OQB, Qantas's oldest A380 still flying (OQA is still stuck in SIN after the major engine incident).

Again greeted by name upon boarding and directed to the correct aisle. I was seated in the aft section of the plane. The aft section on QF's A380 has less seats than SQ's due to the installation of the self-service bar at the rear and 4 toilets (SQ has no bar and only 2 toilets at the aft section). Overhead bins are all the A330/340-styled ones rather than the B777-styled bins (which SQ uses on its first few A380s) which are much more difficult to close. Individual air-vents are also available above every seat unlike SQ.

Boarding in progress. The flight was not too full and I had an empty seat beside again.


Towards the rear.


At the gate.


On each seat was placed a blanket, a huge pillow and headset. Lets take a look at the seat itself. Interestingly, the seat belt is an unconventional car-seatbelt type where you push the button to release the buckle.


Seat pitch is not that fantastic (better than QF 744s though) but honestly speaking, the seats are slightly more comfortable than on SQ's A380 as I could stretch out my legs under the seat in front, something which I could not do on SQ's seats even though SQ has an inch pitch more. The seats are also equipped with foot nets in place of foot rests, quite a novel invention I must say and it does not restricts leg-room. However it was missing on my seat. Adjustable head-rests are very sturdy and do work unlike SQ's ones which falls flat whenever you rest your head on it. The PTV screen also has touch-screen capabilities.


Entertainment handset are hidden under the armrest, which I much prefer than on the seatback. USB ports are also at the front of the armrest.However there is no personal mirror and lack of small compartments to store personal things.


The stuff in the seat-pocket.


Menus were given out while we were on ground. No amenity kit was distributed though, probably as this flight was not original an overnight flight.


Offerings for the flight.


The inflight entertainment started while we were still on ground. Again, we were encouraged to use it all the way till landing at Changi. Personally I find Qantas's entertainment much more user-friendly than SQ's. Movies available may be slightly less but the TV series offered are much more!


As there were no particular movie that I would like to watch, I stuck the Glee Season 2 foe the flight. Qantas has 14 episodes from the season on offer!


The captain came on and apologised for the major delay, explaining that the A380 operating our flight was scheduled for routine maintenance and there was a shortage of A380s as delivery of the latest aircraft was delayed. The past few days have also seen QF31 being substituted by B744s on certain days. Flight time to SIN would be 7hr 30min. We were pushed back at about 2230hrs and safety video/demo was performed.


Qantas A380 safety video.



QF has the cool tail-camera view function where you can see the exterior of the plane through your PTVs!


Beginning our taxi to Rwy16R. Lights were dimmed at the side but it was still very bright in the cabin.


Finally took off from SYD at about 2240hrs, a 5hrs delay!



Flight map shortly after takeoff.


Another view of the seats.


After seat belt signs were off, service started, with the procedural distribution of drinking water bottles, followed by arrival immigration forms. A few crew were also at the rear stocking up the self-service bar.


I made a visit to the lavatory as well as the bar. The lavatory only has the basic amenities, but the tap is automatically-activated.


Now here is the cool part, the self-service bar! QF has 2 of these in economy class on the A380s, a big one at the rear and a smaller bar at the mid-section of the cabin. The bar was stocked with sweet and savory cookies, soft drinks, ice and cups and a drinking water dispenser. How I wish SQ would have something like this too!


Compartments of cookies. Longer flights would have more substantial snacks I guess.


Selection of chilled soft drinks!


Chocolate chip cookie and savory biscotti from the bar.


Back to my seat and relax with Glee!


Meal service soon started. This set of crew was again friendly and professional.


Dinner. The meal was much better than the outbound. I had an Appletiser to go along. An interesting drink onboard!


Sun blushed Tomato and Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Dressing. A very simple and healthy salad.


I chose the Chinese-styled pork with rice. It was not bad but the vegetables were tasteless.


My seatmate's roast chicken.


Cheese and crackers.


Great tiramisu dessert! I could have more of this!


Overall, the meal was a vast improvement over the one that was catered out of SIN. After meals were served, crew came around offering coffee or tea.


During tray collection, again Cadbury hot chocolate or peppermint tea was served.


I simply love Qantas's hot chocolate service!


After everything was cleared away, the cabin was dimmed to allow pax to rest. Mood-lighting in action.


About half an hour after lights were dimmed, a crew appeared and offered ice-cream to those who were still awake. Of course I gladly had mine to enjoy with Glee!


It was only a small bar, but pretty enjoyable.


I also managed to nap to 2 hours. The seat was comfortable enough to sleep in. During the flight, there were also instances of turbulence but the pilot never switched on the seat belt signs, which on SQ, would have warranted the signs to be on and crew making loud announcements to wake up the whole plane.

About 1.5hrs prior to landing, a snack was served. It was a hot pizza with a chocolate bar.


This was the only let-down of the whole flight. The pizza sandwich tasted nasty! I had two bites and left it.


Walked around to stretch my legs a bit. The magazine compartment at the rear.


Stairways to heaven, aka premium economy and business class.


Door.


Cabin view.


Before long, we were starting our descent into Changi. We were allowed to use the IFE till touchdown. 3 minutes to landing and on final approach to Rwy02C.



Landing 5hrs late at 0320am!



Parked at gate C23.


Disembarking. My mess-up seat for the flight.


The green seats in the mid-section.


And the red seats at the forward cabin.


Last look at OQB. Parked beside a sister A320.