Airline: Singapore Airlines (SQ)
Route: SIN-LHR (London Heathrow)
Aircraft: Airbus A388 (A380-800)
Before joining this flight, I had another sector with SQ from my home town to Singapore Changi Airport. Transit time was approximately 6 hours.
So many flights... and only about 3 or 4 hours out of the day!
On the flight up I traded watching tv for legroom, as the exit row at door R3 was unoccupied due to broken IFE. I asked one of the crew if I could sit there, and they were at first concerned I should know the tv's didn't work. When I assured them I was fine with it, they let me sit there, so I had the two seats to myself.
Strangely enough, I ended up receiving a special meal, even though I am neither Hindu or vegetarian, it ended up being tasty enough.
As a bonus, I got my meal before anyone else. If you tend to be hungry on flights, I recommend ordering a SM so you get to eat early. You will sit with your tray a bit longer too, though.
During my transit, I mostly looked around at the shops in the Terminal 3 transit mall. It certainly is a very traveller-friendly airport.
They had recharging stations for all possible gadgets (except USB for digital cameras, boo) a butterfly garden, free massage chairs and lots of other cool stuff.
Flowers in the butterfly house
Some really pretty butterflies, they were everywhere & there were lots of fake flowers with nectar pots in the middle to feed them.
The only thing lacking for an airplane nerd like me was a proper observation deck. The windows were big but didn't afford a view of the entire landing runway. I still got some good pics though.
SQ Boeing 777
QF A380
After lots of waiting around, we were finally ushered into the new boarding lounge which included gates for the A380.
While there, I tried to get a pic of my SavvyNavigator bag tag. Sadly the cool ones got corrupted on my camera card so this is the best of the remaining shots.
(Yes that is the A380 engines you can see in the background)Our crew assembling to board the plane. I counted about 23 all up, that's a big crew!
After being welcomed on board & settling in, hot towels were passed out before take off which was a nice change. After departure we were given the amenity kits. Oddly, they had no eye shades, which I thought was really strange. Just some airplane socks & a small toothbrush. Of course I souvenired them for later, maybe I'll use them for a give-away later on.
As this is quite a big post, I'll write the rest of this one in the next day or two.
Posts
So was it worth the ride on the big-momma? I'm planning a trip back to KL in December and thinking about going via Singapore....!
ReplyDeleteDid you get any pictures of the cabin??
It's so spacious... stay tuned for cabin photos...
ReplyDeleteNever understood giving hot towels to people who just minutes before came from a waiting area with bathrooms, including hot towels.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the meal, yup. That would make sense.
How great to read about a trip report by an FA...And I loved the part where you were disappointed not being able to see the planes, due to not having a proper observation deck. That was you thinking like a real spotter! I heard the A380 is super quiet! What about turbulence did you feel it coped with it better?
ReplyDeleteFin, not sure what lounge you use, but all the plbs in economy definitely do not get hotel towels in the departures area! :P
ReplyDeleteAC, during takeoff you could still hear conversations a few rows back, so yeah, pretty quiet! We had quite a bit of rought turbulence, didn't feel that much different, then again I was mostly sitting down so it was hard to tell if there was much change.
I wonder if airports realise the market that exists for a well positioned view of the runway? The Japanese seem to know about it, some of their ones have almost stadium type seating ^^;
ReplyDelete