After a great couple of weeks enjoying the European summer in London, Brighton, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome, and Barcelona, it was time to take one flight closer to being home in Melbourne. I would be travelling with Singapore Airlines from LHR to Singapore where I would have a four night stopover before flying onto Melbourne, again with SQ. When choosing my flights with SQ, I chose wisely. I wanted of course to experience their A380 but I also wanted to experience their new B777-300ER cabin. Luckily for me, this new aircraft was flying on the LHR-SIN routes so I was able to arrange it that I'd experience both (with the A380 from SIN-MEL).
Here you'll find my FR for SQ319 LHR-SIN. This flight would definitely put my previous flight on AC848 to shame.
I arrived at LHR Terminal 3 with plenty of time to spare. I was getting to that point in my holiday where I was beginning to notice how much I'd spent, so I'd taken the tube - gosh, what a long, hot, experience! Not to worry though, I was super excited to be travelling with SQ, my first time ever, and on their new B777! SQ at the time was still located in T3, but it may have made the move to the brand new T2 by now.
All the same, check-in was fast and seamless. Being there a good three hours before meant the SQ bag-drop area wasn't that busy at all. Again, check in staff were confused by my baggage allowance of two pieces of 23kg each. Surely, I'm not the only person they've encountered who has a SQ ticket originating in North America. Anyway… through security, which was fast and efficient.
Once past security I took in the duty free, did a little plane spotting and had a glass of bubbles before boarding.
A Singapore Airlines A380 waiting to fly SQ321 later that night.
It took a while for the departure screens to show my departure gate, so I enjoyed the bar up until the last minute. When the gate was announced I strolled over. Unfortunately the nature of the gate meant I couldn't get a snap of the aircraft. You had to show your BP and passport before being let into this holding pen before boarding commenced at 20:05. It followed the usual order. I was sat right near the front of the lounge so as soon as my Economy row was called I was straight down the air bridge.
Some reading material.
The Business Class cabin.
The front blue-toned Economy cabin.
The rear gold-toned Economy cabin: my cabin for this flight. And the famous Singapore Girl.
My seat for this flight: 46A. On each seat could be found a lush pillow and blanket. The aircraft, as I said is brand new. Everything was very clean and spacious. Bucking the trend, SQ has retained a 3-3-3 seating layout for economy on their new B777s.
Right away you notice the upgraded PTVs. They've been upgraded to an 11.1 inch monitor. To operate the IFE system you can either use the main screen by using touch control and easily scrolling through choices or you can use the buttons found on the remote stored below the monitor. (Of note, this controller has it's own monitor which can be switched to map mode while you watch something on the main monitor.) The system had a great array of films, TV shows and other entertainment.
Seat back contents:
Service commenced on the ground at 20:35 with a hot towel and the menu being distributed. So nice to have the relief on the towel! I enjoy having a copy of the menu, even if it's just on the IFE system - airline food is one of my favourite things! As you can see, dinner will be served and then breakfast being served before touchdown in SIN. Snacks will be available throughout the flight.
It was getting close to departure time and I thought the doors must be due to close sometime soon, but the seats beside me and in the middle row beside me were still empty. It was then that a whole family, two kids to boot, rushed onto the plane. They were to be my neighbours, interesting neighbours they were too. At one point they gave their toddler a cup of coca cola to drink. They refused to eat the SQ food and instead only took the bread roll and ice cream. Suffice to say, they somewhat took away from my experience. I'll say no more.
The captain made an announcement of our flight time of 12 hours and 45 minutes. He didn't say it directly, but indicated our flight time would be a little longer due to the route we'd be taking. Read between the lines: not flying over the Ukraine. He also previewed that we could experience turbulence in the last five hours of the flight due to bad weather.
We pulled back at 20:45 for take off and the safety video was shown.
After a smooth take off and when the seatbelt sign was switched off I checked out the bathrooms at the rear of the aircraft. As you can see: clean, tidy, new, bright and rather spacious. I especially like the lights around the mirror.
Headsets and amenity kits were distributed which contained socks and a toothbrush and toothpaste. Notably missing was eyeshades, however I brought my own! The socks were of a nice material and I slipped into them right away, very comfy.
The meal service began with an aperitif and peanuts. I opted for (my first) Singapore Sling. Delicious!
As I noted before, you could program your handset to display the flight map and flight information while using the main screen to watch something. Very handy.
Taking my cue from others' advice about SQ catering I opted for the Asian dish for my dinner. In this case, I went for the tandoori cod which was delicious. The whole meal was great in fact. You could really tell the quality of produce from the cod fillet to the cheese and crackers, from the shrimp pasta salad to the hot bread roll. I didn't particularly enjoy the ice cream, but that is a matter of personal taste. It was also nice to be using REAL cutlery in flight.
My FA offered me white wine with the meal. As I wanted riesling and she only had chardonnay she wrote down my order and came back with it several minutes later. In the mean time, she gave me a little chardonnay - a very nice touch. After the meal, tea and coffee was brought around along with the wine bottles. Again, I asked for riesling, but sadly this time she forgot to bring it back to me. No problem though, I'd had enough booze.
After dinner I settled in and watched a film. The crew had us all draw the shades as we'd be flying into day light. They continuously made juice and water rounds.
At one point I woke up to find my screen turned off including the small controller. I thought perhaps it automatically powered off after a while. It wasn't until a little later I noticed that if an FA saw a passenger asleep they'd turn off their monitor for them to ensure an uninterrupted sleep. It was attention to detail like this that really shows the class of SQ in economy.
Two hours out from landing and breakfast service began. Once again I opted for the Asian choice. In this case, noodles with pork. I was served with a muffin, fresh fruit, a roll and conserve, and yogurt. This time I really didn't find the main meal that tasty. I found the noodles to be quite plain and a little gelatinous. Tea, coffee and of course juices were served.
Coming in to land at Changi Airport.
Landing at Changi was fuss free. However, we did have to wait in immigration for around 25 minutes which my Singaporean friend assures me is highly unusual. After clearing immigration I went to the baggage hall to find our carousel was out of action. Staff were instead manually pulling around bags.
See more
Verdict
Singapore Airlines
9.1/10
Cabin9.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering9.5
London - LHR
7.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.5
Singapore - SIN
8.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
This was a great first experience of Singapore Airlines. I really enjoyed my flight, so much so that it didn't feel like I was making an almost 13 hour flight. Right from the get-go service really can't be faulted. Yes, it's a little mechanic, but I don't really care as long as everything is enjoyable. The seating and amenities were very comfortable and it was so nice to be on a new plane. The IFE was seamless and easy to use - very intuitive. Catering was fantastic and I definitely wasn't hungry. The dinner meal of tandoori cod was delicious. Beverages were free flowing and we were kept hydrated throughout the flight.
It is easy to see why this airline is often named best in the world. Bravo on the new B777 product and for not installing a 3-4-3 economy configuration!
0 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Thank you very much for this flight report. It is unbelievable to me how vastly superior to the competition SQ is. Their Y product is simply amazing. They should re-title their classes like they did for Suites class = a class beyond first!
Glad you enjoyed Europe, you did a heck of alot of traveling in 8 days! I am hoping for a tourist bonus of Singapore as I am headed there in just under 10 weeks.
Thank you very much for this FR. Singapore Airlines is much superior to other airlines and especially US and Europe airlines. Y class is one of the best in the world with CX and TG. Hope you enjoyed Europe. What a long trip you did ! Like AirCanada881, I'm also looking for a tourist bonus of Singapore. Really looking also forward to seeing your last report to Melbourne as I will be flying this route in the next years probably. Thanks again, cheers
Thank you for this detailed continuation of your trip.
SQ Y is probably the best of its class out there. TK is also good, but the service aspect is not consistent. Your meals look well presented and generous in quantity. Not too many carriers provide ice cream for dessert in Y these days.
It's great that you scheduled these breaks before going to your final destination. It makes a long trip much more enjoyable.
Thanks! The food really was fantastic, generous and good quality. Having made the Australia-Europe and vice versa trip many times without a stopover I know see the benefits.
Thank you for sharing. SQ does great in Y...retrospectively, I even find their Y class better than their J class (in terms of expectances of the product, of course, not directly compared ^^)
Yes, that's a very good point! You definitely get your money's worth in SQ Economy. I can see why they've been hesitant to install a premium economy - there really is no need - unless to provide more spacious seating.
Thanks for sharing this next installment in the series! So many reports on here confirm that the Passenger experience is superior on SQ. And yes, you are so right, it's nice to see a carrier resist the sad sad trend of going 3-4-3 in Y on 777s! The choice of drinks is really impressive for Y...let's face it, on a 13h long flight...alcohol is important, LOL. Oh who am I kidding...it's always important :-P
Thanks so much! Yes, drinks are very important to me. I usually like to send myself to sleep watching a film with a few glasses of wine on a long haul flight. ;)
The oshibori in SQ Y is even better than the one in BA First. Unbelievable. Amazing is the second word to describe the high level of service aboard Singapore Airlines. What a nice green candy. Thank you for this report.
Flight-Report is a free website hosting more than 500 000 pictures and 17 000 reviews, without ads, this website can't exist. We understand that ads can be annoying, this is why we only display a maximum of 2 non-invasive ads per page.
To continue using Flight-Report, we invite you to add Flight-Report to your blocker's "white list".
#3 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
701 reviews
12 Comments
Glad you enjoyed Europe, you did a heck of alot of traveling in 8 days! I am hoping for a tourist bonus of Singapore as I am headed there in just under 10 weeks.
Cheers
Singapore Airlines is much superior to other airlines and especially US and Europe airlines.
Y class is one of the best in the world with CX and TG.
Hope you enjoyed Europe.
What a long trip you did !
Like AirCanada881, I'm also looking for a tourist bonus of Singapore.
Really looking also forward to seeing your last report to Melbourne as I will be flying this route in the next years probably.
Thanks again, cheers
SQ Y is probably the best of its class out there. TK is also good, but the service aspect is not consistent. Your meals look well presented and generous in quantity. Not too many carriers provide ice cream for dessert in Y these days.
It's great that you scheduled these breaks before going to your final destination. It makes a long trip much more enjoyable.
Great FR, thanks again :)
Amazing is the second word to describe the high level of service aboard Singapore Airlines.
What a nice green candy.
Thank you for this report.
Login to post a comment.