b777er

I recently went for a holiday in Australia with my mum and sis, visiting some relatives in Wollongong and Melbourne. The following is the trip report of the flights I took.

Date : 29/11/2003
Sector : Singapore - Sydney
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 219
Aircraft : B747-400 (9V-SPB)
STD: 0940
STA: 2010
Scheduled Flight Time : 7H30M
Actual Flight time : 7H
Departure Gate : E28
Arrival Gate : ??

Reached Changi airport terminal 2 at 0730 to check in for our flight. As it is the holiday season in Singapore, the whole terminal was packed with people checking in for SQ flights. In fact it is the first time I see so many people in the terminal. Check-in and immigration took a while due to the long queues. Then proceeded to the gate E28, which is at the end of terminal 2 thus resulting in a long trek, after some duty-free shopping. The boarding process has already commenced when we reached the gate. However there were still quite a number of passengers undergoing security checks at the gate 10 min before the departure timing. Boarded the aircraft and was greeted warmly by the stewardesses. Proceeded to seats 48 D,E,F which is in the center section of the cabin. No window seats!! Hot towels were then handed out. Doors were closed at about 1000, after a slight delay. However our flight time was announced as 7h, which is more then sufficient to make up some of our lost time. Safety video was shown, which is the same old one. We taxied to runway 02R for takeoff. The taxi was rather fast, maybe to make up for the delay? Takeoff took quite a while as the aircraft was very heavy (I did not see a single empty economy class seat). Our initial cruising altitude will be 34000ft climbing to 39000ft before reaching Sydney. Headsets and menus were distributed after takeoff. SQ has done away with the clip-on-ear headsets and replace them with the traditional over-the-head type. The new headsets are bigger , more comfortable and offers better sound quality. The aircraft is WISEMAN3000 equipped and offers AVOD. This is also my first experience with it and it is really awesome. 30 movies, 75 TV programs, 100 CD albums, 40 games +++. The choice is endless!! I watched 3 movies for the entire flight. About 45 minutes after takeoff, the crew came around with two rounds of drinks, offering water or juices. Then continental breakfast was served along with more juices, coffee and tea. Drinks were then offered a second time. Due to the full load, the service took quite a while but the crew were quick in collecting finished trays. I must say that this set of crew is one of the best I have experienced on SQ. Even with so many passengers, some of them still tried to interact with the passengers. There was one particular stewardess who was very humorous and made many of the passengers laugh. Don’t know what she said though as I was too far away to hear but I could see that most of the passengers served by her were very happy with her service. The stewardess serving my aisle was also quite good .A child sitting in front of me was quite ill and she often checked on him, asking the parents if the child needs anything. Drinks were offered every half hour thoughout the flight. Our flight path was direct to Bali, towards Derby, Alice Springs and finally straight to Sydney. Lunch was served about 2h out of Sydney. Before lunch, hot towels were offered again and there was also a full bar service with a packet of mixed nuts. The bar service was conducted with the drinks cart and not by trays as previously mentioned by some. I got a whole can of coke.In fact almost all the passengers got the whole can if they ordered soft drinks. It seem that SQ is quite generous with drinks. Lunch was delicious and the Magnum ice-cream dessert was superb. 3 rounds of drinks were offered after the lunch service!!
I will post the whole menu below. Descent started about half an hour out of Sydney and we landed on runway 34L on time. The landing was quite hard but no thrust reversers were heard. During the disembarkation process, a leading stewardess even asked me whether I was going to Sydney for a holiday. Overall, I was very pleased with the flight due to the superb crew and entertainment. However, for the meals, the continental breakfast needs improving as it is still the same for dunno how many years, even though the lunch was excellent.

Menu:
SQ 219
From Singapore to Sydney

Continental Breakfast
Fruit
Fruit Appetiser
2 slices of pineapple, 2 slices of papaya and 2 grapes.
From the bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls
A roll and a cold muffin. Boring. Time for a change!!
Butter-Fruit preserve
Apricot jam.
Hot beverages
Coffee – Tea

Lunch
Appetizer
Pasta n vegetable salad with beef pastrami
Ok
Main courses
Thai style green curry of chicken with seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
Had this. Looks like a lump of green goo but tastes very delicious.
Or
Panfried fish in tomato basil sauce with roasted vegetables and potatoes
My sis had this. She said that it was good.
Dessert
Ice cream
Magnum chocolate coated vanilla ice cream bar. Splendid!!
From the bakery
Roll n butter
Hot beverages
Coffee- Tea

For those of you who are interested in the menu of the return flight SQ 220, it is as follows:
SQ 220
Sydney to Singapore

Breakfast
Fruit
Fruit appetizer
Light starter
Yoghurt
Wholesome beginnings
Fried egg noodles with chicken and vegetables
Or
Poached eggs with grilled tomato, mushrooms and potatoes
From the bakery
Breakfast bakery
Butter – fruit preserve
Hot beverages
Coffee – Tea

Lunch
Appetizer
Smoked turkey with corn-kidney bean salad
Main courses
Stewed beef in red wine, seasonal vegetables and potatoes
Or
Stir fried chicken in dried chilli with vegetables and fragrant rice
Dessert
Ice-cream
From the bakery
Roll and butter
Hot beverages
Coffee – Tea

I am surprised that 2 main meals are offered on SQ 220 to Singapore as it used to be a meal and a refreshment.


Date : 04/12/2003
Sector : Sydney - Melbourne
Flight Number : Qantas QF 431
Aircraft : B767-200 (VH-EAL)
STD: 1200
STA: 1330
Scheduled Flight Time : 1H30M
Actual Flight time : 1H10M
Departure Gate : 5
Arrival Gate : ??

Reached the Qantas domestic terminal 1h before departure. As we have booked E-tickets, we were able to check in using the self-check-in machines. Our baggage was tagged by an agent at the counter. What a convenience it is as check in took less than 1min. However our ids were not checked. Was unable to secure any window seats as the flight was almost fully booked. The flight was original scheduled to be a B763, but realized that it was downgraded to a B762 at the gate. Never mind since it is my first flight on a B767 aircraft and the plane is also leaving QF’s fleet soon. Boarding started 20min before departure. First, 2 female flight attendants brought out headphones from the aircraft to the passenger holding area and put them in a container for passengers to take while boarding. Then the boarding process was started and was handled by the 2 flight attendants (no gate agents!! Cost cutting?). Entered the aircraft and realized that it is really showing its age. Was greeted by a female flight attendant at the door and directed to my seat. Only 2 male flight attendants were helping with the cabin baggage while another female flight attendant was fiddling in the rear galley. The seats are not the new slim-line type but the old thick ones. However they are quite comfortable and the width of the seats seems larger the that on SQ 744s. Seat pitch feels the same though. Headphones are of usual economy quality and are inferior to the new ones offered by SQ. Doors were closed at exactly 1200 and the safety demonstration began. Qantas emphasizes a lot in safety as even though there is a safety video, the flight attendants also demonstrated the safety features manually along with the video. There is only the front mainscreen for IFE on the 762. Takeoff from runway 25 after a short run. Throughout the whole flight, there were no announcements from the flight deck and so I did not know much details of the flight. Lunch service started soon after takeoff. 4 flight attendants were serving in the economy cabin while 2 were in the business cabin. All I can say of Qantas service is QUICK!! I think the crew handed out all the meals to the cabin in less than 5 min!! The tray is thrown on your tray table before you know it. The meal consist of a huge chicken sandwich, Cadbury chocolate bar, a bottle of water and a cup for coffee/tea. After distributing the lunch trays, the crew came around with coffee and tea. No soft drinks or juices were offered unless you ask for it. Trays were then collected for landing. Inflight entertainment were some short programs on the mainscreen or 9 radio channels. The only announcement from the flight deck was “ Cabin crew prepare for arrival”. Made a visual approach (I think, as the plane was still turning while on final approach) to runway 16. Landed quite smoothly with loud reversers. Took the first exit from the runway and taxied to the domestic terminal. Thus this ended my first flight on a B767 aircraft.

Date : 08/12/2003
Sector : Melbourne - Singapore
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 228
Aircraft : B747-400 (9V-SPM)
STD: 1720
STA: 2150
Scheduled Flight Time : 7H30M
Actual Flight time : 7H
Departure Gate : 8
Arrival Gate : F41

Finally my vacation in Australia has ended. My cousin sent us to the airport and we reached the airport about 2.5 h before departure. Check-in was swift as SQ has many check-in counters open for only one flight (1 first class, 2 raffles class, 8 economy class, 2 service desks). The check-in agents were from Qantas and they were friendly. Finally secured a window seat!! Did some duty free shopping before proceeding through immigration to the gate. There are 3 flights departing to Singapore within 20 minutes (SQ, QF and BA) and so the boarding areas were quite crowded. Boarding commenced about 15 min before departure and was completed on time. Hot towels, headphones and menus were handed out. There was a slight delay due to some flight deck preparations. The crew on this flight was just the normal SQ crews, efficient yet slightly robotic. Push backed after a delay of 10min and the safety video was shown. Taxied to runway 34 and took off after a lengthy roll. Our flight path took us towards Ayers Rock, Derby, Bali and on to Singapore. There was some turbulence initial but it smoothened out quickly. This aircraft is also equipped with Wiseman3000. A bar service was first offered with a pack of mixed nuts followed by another round of drinks. Again I got a whole can of coke. Then lunch was served (Menu below) with another 2 rounds of coffee/tea/other drinks. Lunch was ok, but not as good as on the flight to Sydney. The flight proceeded uneventfully with the crew passing every half hour with drinks. View out of the window was limited as it was cloudy most of the way. Hot towels were offered again before refreshment was served about 2h out of Singapore. The refreshment is really unspectacular and rates as one of my worst meals on SQ (other than the continental breakfasts). They have downgraded from a hot meal for refreshment to just a dry sandwich. Descent commenced about 20min out of Singapore and we landed on runway 02L 10 min ahead of scheduled. The landing was very smooth with little (if any) thrust reversers. Kudos to the pilots here. Had a long taxi to our gate which is at the opposite side of the airport. I would rate this flight as an average SQ flight with efficient , friendly service, albeit slightly robotic.


Menu :
SQ 228
Melbourne to Singapore
Dinner
Appetizer
Smoked turkey with corn-kidney bean salad
Average appetizer.
Main courses
Stewed beef in red wine, seasonal vegetables and potatoes
Had this. Beef a little bit tough but potatoes are delicious.
Or
Stir fried chicken in dried chilli with vegetables and fragrant rice
My mum and sis had this. Ok according to them.
Dessert
Ice-cream
An Australian brand raspberry-vanilla flavor ice-cream. Not as good as the Magnum though.
From the bakery
Roll and butter
Hot beverages
Coffee – Tea

Refreshment
Light bites
Croissant sandwich with egg and iceburg
My mum had this. She said that it was good.
Or
Turkish bread sandwich with roast chicken and tomato
Had this. Dry and tasteless. Very bad.
Snack bar
Australian famous Tim-Tam chocolate biscuit.
Hot beverages
Coffee – Tea

For the Singapore to Melbourne Sector :
SQ 227
Dinner
Same as lunch on SQ 219
Continental Breakfast
Same boring stuff.

Thanks for reading my report. My next flight report will be my flight to Kuala Lumpur on SQ, which is undertaken 2 days after I returned to Singapore.

Kiwi Flyer

Great report.

I like the SQ IFE on the long haul flights - especially the day time ones where you dont get much sleep.

mario33

Great report !

Brings back memories of the days when I took the evening flight on KUL-SIN-SYD almost every month a couple of years back.

Actually I quite like the Movenpick ice-cream that they serve on the return sector.

I recently travelled on SQ to DPS, and was a little disappointed that there was no drink service before meal and there was also no meal menus. The clip-on-ear headphones were still in use. Not sure whether these were cut-backs since it was the first time I was travelling SQ for SIN-DPS.