At Johannesburg, all JNB bound passengers disembarked, with Cape Town bound passengers like us having to stay onboard while the plane was serviced and the set was crew was changed. Agents also came onboard to verify our CPT bound boarding passes and ticked off a list of manifest.
Dnata catering for SQ here in JNB.
Our plane being serviced.
The left-over CPT bound pax stretching their legs during the stopover. It was a very empty flight up to CPT.
The new set of crew who joined us at JNB for their shuttle run to CPT was a stark contrast from the previous crew! They exhibited enthusiasm and warmth, sending very positive vibes to us passengers. Even just after taking over of duties during servicing of the plane, some of the stewardesses started proactively offering passengers water after a couple of passengers asked for some, and even interacted a bit with the pax on their trip so far. Yes, that is the SQ service that I have known of, and I knew that even if the catering was again bad, at least the service would make up for it.
Soon our neighbouring A340 was gone, and I spotted an ArikAir parked further beside.
While on ground, the IFE system remained switched on (even though there was a couple of times of reset) so I can continue with my movie during the wait. With no passengers to board, doors were closed immediately after catering was loaded, plane was cleaned and passengers were verified. However, there was still a slight delay due to ATC clearance.
Safety video being played.
Pushback from the gate.
Started our taxi to the runway for the 1h50m flight to Cape Town. Passed BA's A380!
BA and SA.
More SA aircraft.
Fellow CX is here in JNB too! CX uses her brand new 773ER for the JNB route while SQ uses its oldest aircrafts.
Short video of the taxi.
The regional jet seemed tiny!
Finally after a bit of queue, we were on the runway, Rwy03L.
Takeoff from Rwy03L bound for Cape Town.
After takeoff announcements.
More than 1hr40m to go.
Over suburbs of Jo'burg.
And soon, it was just dry land below when we reached cruising altitude.
Shortly after seatbelt signs were turned off, the meal service commenced. Meals were served right from the front of the economy cabin, thus it took a while for the carts to reach my row.
After such dismal food offerings on the previous long-haul, there was hardly any chance of it being better on this short hop to Cape Town. Well, below are what would be served for Refreshments. And by refreshments, it meant cold refreshments….
I chose the roast beef focaccia. Presentation was slightly better than on the previous sector, with some salad garnishing on the side.
However, taste wise, cold and forgettable. Just a small piece of tasteless protein sandwiched between 2 slices of thick, dry carbohydrates, with a few pieces of flavourless pickles.
The other choice of egg and chicken sandwich (I tried a bit), though presentation was not too appealing, tasted much better than it looked. However, portion was just too small. A number of passengers were requesting for additional egg sandwiches, either they hated the beef focaccia or they were really starving after the horrible catering from the previous sector.
As I said earlier, the crew on this sector performed much better and were all smiles and warmth. Even with poor catering, the good service would at least make the flight experience more positive.
After the refreshment service ended, I went back to my movies while also watching the South African landscape go pass. It was really clear and cloudless almost the entire flight to Cape Town!
Started my 4th movie for the flight, 22 Jump Street. Note the irritating jumpy screen.
Almost there, finally…
View of the rather empty forward cabin. The aft cabin had even less passengers!
I shifted back to the window seat and while I was making myself comfortable for the rest of the flight, I saw this behind the headrest on the seat where I was previously seated and head resting on. This is more horrifying than Halloween……
Well, after I recovered from the shock, I decided to calm myself with the beautiful scenery outside.
More beautiful landscape as we started our descent soon after. Headsets collected and cabin prepared for landing. I shall continue with my movie on the return flight.
Video of descent.
Surprisingly, due to wind conditions, we did not approach from the north, which is the more common approach, but instead flew south of the airport and made a U-turn back to land. Got a view of the majestic Table Mountain as we turned south.
Flew pass the airport and out to False Bay with its sparkling blue waters before making a turn back.
I also took a video of the beautiful approach into Cape Town.
Landing into Rwy01 of Cape Town International Airport.
Taxied pass a unique airline, Safair.
Full video of landing and taxi to the gate.
Parked at the gate.
Disembarking was swift as the load was very light on this sector. Crew were pleasantly bading goodbye.
Comfortable seats (except the eeky stuff behind the headrest).
The workhorse that flew us all the way to Cape Town.
With no other international flight arriving at this hour and our light load, there was totally no wait at immigration for visitors while residents had a longer queue.
Cape Town Airport, the most awarded airport in Africa.
We only had a short wait for our bags and customs was fuss-free.
Welcome to the Mother City!
We took a public bus to our accommodation and I was really impressed by the MyCiti public buses. Clean, safe, convenient and affordable ride for us to the doorsteps of our apartment hotel at Thibault Square. We also used the bus frequently for the 10min hop to the Waterfront from our hotel.
We stayed at Icon Luxury Apartments, where we booked a 2-room apartment, equipped with a living room, 2 bedrooms and kitchenette.
Passed by Adderley Flower Market during a stroll near the hotel before check-in.
South Africa's national flower, proteas, for sale.
Lets visit the sights of Cape Town! For 2 of the days, we took the hop-on-hop-off tourist buses to visit the must-visits sights.
Kirstenbosch Gardens
Passing some vineyards of Constantia.
Along the way to Hout Bay
Beautiful Hout Bay
Amazing views of the coastline!
Camps Bay
See more
Verdict
Singapore Airlines
7.3/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering4.5
Johannesburg - JNB
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Cape Town - CPT
8.5/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.0
Conclusion
This sector, though again with not so good catering, had a more pleasant ambience with much more proactive and warm service compared to the previous sector. However, overall SQ's famed consistency is sorely lacking on flights to South Africa with catering that is way worse that all other long-haul routes from Singapore. Is it due to no competition leading to complacency? Or lack of premium passengers thus sacrificing the economy offerings? Only SQ's management can answer that (and I hope they do provide a reasonable explanation as I had sent a feedback regarding the very poor catering).
0 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
What a chance to get to see Table Mountain from your plane, the most beautiful place in the world (personal opinion of course) Thank you for this FR ;)
Thanks for the FR. That catering was mutch better than what I got on SA for a CPT-JNB flight. FR coming out soon. Also, I saw you noticed safair, FR coming out soon for FA too. Its a up-and-coming South African LCC. It has really good value for money (Also, if it really matters, the tea is 50 cents less expensive than on FR).
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6 Comments
Nice to remain on the same plane to continue to CPT.
Thank you for this FR ;)
thanks for this report.
5 only for JNB ? Amazing!
I bet all seats look as disgusting when you check them thoroughly...ew.
Awesome pictures of your trip!
Thanks for sharing,
Saludos!
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