Review of Qantas flight from Sydney to Singapore in Economy

After reaching T1, I proceeded through immigration for my flight. Outbound immigration in Sydney was much smoother, with rarely a queue. On the other hand, I heard that MEL outbound immigration queues were as bad as the inbound. Through immigration and security and into the duty-free shops area. The upgraded terminal really is so much better now.

After getting some duty-free liquor which is not available in Changi, I did a bit of aircraft spotting again. Here is a QF B738 landing with Sydney skyline in the background.

VH-OQL, Qantas's newest A380, will be flying me back to Singapore today!

BA B744, also departing to Singapore.

QF5 operated by a B744, also going to Singapore and onwards to Frankfurt. This flight is scheduled 30min prior to my flight.

28 November 2012
Qantas
QF 1
Sydney (SYD) - Singapore (SIN)
A380-800
VH-OQL
Economy Class
The gate that I was departing from is definitely too small to handle a full A380 load. Passengers queuing to board actually spilled over to the previous gate. Boarding was slightly delayed today, apparently due to the late arrival of this aircraft from the inbound destination. Finally boarding commenced at 1715hrs, only 10min prior to our STD. Boarding was only segregated by class, but not by row numbers, resulting in a bit of queue in the aerobridge. However surprisingly, it was still rather swift and orderly. A cabin crew was in the aerobridge guiding passengers to the correct entrance.
Up close with VH-OQL.

Welcomed at the door but was not addressed by name this time round (the exception). No worries though. My seat today was at 77K, the last row of the green cabin. Again, The IFE was available for use immediately after boarding.

At the gate, with JQ A332 to Honolulu beside.

This aircraft was fitted with inflight Wi-fi service! However, I just read that QF had since suspended the inflight Wi-fi service from end November due to low demand from passengers. Looks like I was on one of the last flights that offered it.

The entire flight again was extremely full! Must be near 100% load factor! Again, I was squashed beside 2 other pax on the middle and aisle. Departure was further delayed due to a no-show, who finally appeared just when the bags were about to be offloaded. Eventually we pushed back at about slightly 6pm, more than half hour behind schedule. However the captain assured that with the short flight time of only 7h40min, we would make up most of the lost time.
Best entertainment, skycam! Pushing back.

Safety video was shown, proudly presented by the Australian Cricket Team.

A QF B763 freighter.

We only had a very short taxi to Rwy16R.

Holding at Rwy16R. We are next to go.

And we are off!!

Climbing above the dense cloud layer.

Really short flight time today.

Making right turns to head towards SIN.

Climbing to cruising altitude.

Cabin announcement and apologies for the delay.

At cruise.

Shortly after seatbelt signs were turned off, crew started service. Today, menu cards were distributed.

Menu with journey planner.

What shall I have for dinner?

And the extensive drinks menu.

Bottled water was then given out to all passengers.

Australian outback.

View of the cabin. No empty seats at all!

Starting on my movie. Managed to catch 2 movies on the flight.

Very soon, dinner is served. My row was served directly from the galley behind. The portions were definitely more substantial than on the SIN-MEL sector. I had a sparkling wine to go along.

Items unveiled. The salad was simple and refreshing. I chose the lamb with pasta for main.

The lamb was really tender and juicy, and accompanying pumpkin mash (not stated in menu) and veges sweet, coupled with the egg pasta. Overall a very satisfying main course and rather large portion too! Thumbs up for this.

Cheese and crackers, as well as the dessert of cookies and cream mousse. The dessert may be off-the-shelf type, but was very tasty! I could have more of it!

Scenery outside while having dinner.

Everything was gone within 15 minutes!

Crew serving coffee or tea.

Had a cup of tea to end the meal before meal tray were collected.

By this time, the sun was setting.

Orange skies…

Did a bit of exploration of the A380 after meal, since it would most probably be my last QF A380 ride anyway. View of the rear cabin.

Magazine rack just beside the rear stairs. There were actually a variety of magazines in the racks!

The self-service bar again, well-stocked with drinks. Fresh apples were also available.

And the cookies compartment, which you would have to open to select your cookies.

2 types of cookies on offer, sweet or savory.

About an hour after dinner, crew conducted the Relax and Unwind service, which first consisted of hot chocolate with marshmallow or peppermint tea. Of course I went with the hot chocolate!

This was followed by a mango ice-cream bar!! My sweet tooth was really satisfied on this flight!

After this, I again settled into my movies for the rest of the flight. What a comfortable way to fly! Watch the IFE all the way till about an hour prior to arrival, when a refreshment was served. The refreshment consisted of a pizza, which actually tasted great! A chocolate dessert also accompanied the pizza. Interestingly, passengers who ordered special meals got served an entire casserole of food, similar to portions served for dinner. Looked like passengers ordering special meals got a better deal.

Nearing Singapore…

Descend started about 30min out of SIN, but the captain only announced for the crew to prepare for arrival 20min out. Not too early, not too late. Guess QF's pre-landing preparations are much simpler, without the need to collect headsets and stuff. Seatbelt signs only came on 10min prior to landing.
Landing into Changi Rwy02L.

Arrived 15min late. Not too bad considering the almost 1hr late departure. Had a short taxi to Terminal 1 and parked beside the QF B744 which had also just arrived from Sydney.

A final shot of my green seat before disembarking.

Goodbye, QF A380. We will miss you in SIN. Sob…