Review of Qantas flight from Sydney to Singapore in Economy

Introduction.

Hello. After spending a couple of days in Cairns in Australia, it was time to go to Singapore with Qantas's Airbus A380 on it's iconic QF1 route. Enjoy reading…

At the Airport.

I arrived at Sydney Airport 4 hours early after my Jetstar flight from Cairns, giving me plenty of time to spend time and explore the airport. To get from the T2 domestic terminal to the T1 international terminal, I took the terminal shuttle bus. The ride was quite interesting, as it takes you right alongside the runway.

Anyway, Qantas provides a spacious check-in area equipped with numerous kiosks for self-service check-in, as well as traditional check-in desks for those who prefer assistance. I opted to use one of the kiosks, and the entire process was straightforward and efficient, allowing me to complete my check-in quickly without any issues.

The famous SYD sign!

There wasn’t much to do on the landside of the terminal, so I decided to head directly to security and immigration. Although there were some minor queues, they were fairly manageable and didn't cause any significant delays.

Once past security and into the airside, you are greeted by a large duty-free area, followed by a variety of shops, gates, and lounges.

I decided to visit a lounge. Although the airport has many lounges, I chose the American Express Lounge. The only downside was that it was located on the opposite side of my gate.

Some nice views of the tarmac.

I eventually reached the lounge, which is unfortunately located on the 1st floor, so there are no tarmac or runway views. Since I'm not particularly focused on lounge details, I'll keep this part brief.

The lounge is a spacious and modern area with ample seating options for various group sizes. However, it was quite busy at this time of day.

They were serving lunch at that time, but I wasn't particularly hungry, so I decided to pass. However, I did take a look at the available options

In addition to a salad bar, they were offering hot meals such as stir-fried Hokkien noodles, braised beef cheeks, pizza, and a variety of other dishes. There was also a wide selection of drinks, including alcohol, coffee, and soft drinks.

About 20 minutes before boarding, I left the lounge and made my way to the gate, which was located at the far end of the terminal.The gate here is likely designed specifically for A380s, so the area is quite spacious with plenty of seating.

There were nice views of the runway and the city out of the large windows, which is great for planespotting.

The tail of our A380 sticking out. Good views of the city too!

Boarding was scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM but actually started around 2:30 PM. The process was rather disorganized. Initially, boarding was supposed to start from first class, business class, premium economy passengers, and status members, followed by economy class. However, many people had already started lining up even before boarding had officially begun. The gate area was just a mess with people.

Economy class boarding began with passengers seated at the rear of the plane. Since my seat was at the very back, I was among the first to be called to board.

Once inside the cabin, the friendly crew welcomed me onboard and I made my way to my seat.

Cabin and Seat.

Economy class is arranged in the standard 3-4-3 configuration, occupying most of the main deck of this aircraft. The seats have a width of 17.5 inches and a pitch of 31 inches. Each seat is equipped with a headrest, adjustable armrests, a personal IFE screen, a tray table, and a seat pocket, along with USB ports and power outlets. A pillow and blanket was placed on each seat and headphones were found in the seat pocket.

One underrated feature of these seats, as well as other economy seats on Qantas aircraft, is the netted footrest. While it’s not the most comfortable, it’s a feature I rarely see anyone use, despite its utility.

The Flight.

Considering the A380 is so large, boarding took a bit of time to wrap up. 

The safety video and demonstration was run and we began taxiing to the runway. We eventually took off.

Once in the air, I decided to check the IFE screen.

The content selection was quite good, featuring hundreds of new releases, TV shows, and much more. 

Although the Qantas A380 was refurbished not long ago, they only updated the seat cushions, leaving the seatbacks unchanged. As a result, the screen's responsiveness was among the worst I've experienced, and even using the remote control was a struggle.
Although the IFE screen was good and offered plenty of content, Qantas does not currently provide Wi-Fi on international flights. However, they plan to introduce it in late 2024, which is something I’m excited about.

The inflight service began about 30 minutes after takeoff. A nice perk of sitting in the back is that you're among the first to be served.

We were first served a bottle of water.

Shortly after, a pre-meal drink service was offered, accompanied by a packaged snack. Qantas provides a nice selection of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. I opted for a lemonade, my absolute favorite drink. The snack mix is also very tasty.

The first meal service started shortly after. There were 3 options on this flight.

 - Lemon herb pearl cous cous with roasted carrots, baby beans and toasted almonds
 - Kung Pao chicken with fried rice, choy sum and cashews
 - Beef and bacon burgundy with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots
Accompanied by Rosemary, garlic, sea salt and olive oil focaccia and drink of choice.

I chose the beef and bacon burgundy with a cup of orange juice.

The presentation was decent, not the worst I've seen. While the meal wasn’t the most delicious I’ve ever had, the focaccia stood out as particularly good. It was definitely the highlight of the meal.

For dessert, we were served ice cream. These Aussie ice creams are so good, hits everytime, it takes me to childhood!

Soon after, the lights were dimmed, and many passengers seated by the windows began closing their shades, creating a darker cabin and making it easier to rest.

While stretching my legs and heading to the bathroom, I came across the self-service bar. It was stocked with a variety of drinks and snacks, though I didn’t take anything.

I took a nap for most of the flight and woke up just in time for the second meal service.

This time, the meal was lighter, and there were two options to choose from.
 - Mediterranean loaded veggie pizza
 - Butter chicken puff

I chose the butter chicken puff and I got a lemonade with that. This was good, fairly average.

Around half and hour later, we started our descent into Singapore.

We touched down in Singapore about 10 minutes behind schedule. Disembarking took some time as passengers with connecting flights were allowed to exit first. Since I was seated near the very back, I was among the last to leave the aircraft.

The gate was around a 8 minute walk to security. There were not many queues, which was good.

That is going to conclude this FR. Thanks for reading!