My Longest Flying Hours: SQ First Class AKL-SIN-LHR (Text & Photos)
Oct 17, 2006, 9:00 pm
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My Longest Flying Hours: SQ First Class AKL-SIN-LHR (Text & Photos)
Please note that unlike my previous reports, this report tends to be more concentrated on photographic than text. This is the first time that I have taken the initiative to take pictures onboard the flight to share with everyone. Mind you I am not the best photographer out there and I sincerely apologize for the blur images that transpired as a result of that.
Visits to London for corporate trips have become a regular exercise routine for me in particular this year. A trend that is to resume with yet another visit in October of this month. Routinely for me, a trip to the British capital does not require bloody hours of flying to reach this particular destination. 10 hours from NA or 13-15 hours from Asia would fit just fine in duration being bearable. However as so often we would encounter in our life time, the circumstances are not always the way we had hoped them to be and today was no exception for me.
Having recently relocated down under to New Zealand last month, my expedition to LON this time around would involve a flying time duration of 24 + hours for journeys commencing from down under Kiwi Land. Yep make no mistake as one would have to be locked up inside a flying machine for a total surpassing the total number of hours calculated for a full day when our geography describes Auckland and London to be nearly halfway around the world from each other. Sounds like an unbearable task ahead for anyone who plans to take this type of a marathon. However there is always relief to air traveling where poor food, leg room crampness, etc can be avoided or kept to a minimum. Yes the beauty & grace of being in first class can really turn the tide the opposite direction. With what seemed like an unbearable & never ending journey, one would be amazed how those two adjectives does not fit the description if one can put themselves inside a premium cabin. Yep I have taken this logic for quite a while in all my trips within the last two years and I’ll be applying this logic for the sake of my comfort journey by once again relying upon the efficiency and splendor of SIA’s first class product to transport me halfway around the world.
On a crisp & cool late morning condition on this first full week of October, I managed to get myself to AKL airport smoothly.
Passenger volume once I stepped inside the ground level terminal facility was moderately quiet.
Having very little interest in exploring AIAL’s facility, I managed my way straight towards the SIA check-in counter located near the very edge of the building near entrance #1.
For today, SQ has been assigned counters 79-88. First was assigned counter 79, Raffles 80-81, and Economy 83-87. Counter 82 was designated as the service centre desk while 88 was opened for ticketing purposes.
Apparently the counters had just opened when I arrived but nonetheless a sizable queue had already formed for Y. Raffles and First on the other hand were fairly empty. In AKL, SQ does not have their own staff handling the ground operations and thus contracts everything to Menzies, a local company (similar to Jardine in HKG) to operate the activities. With no one occupying the F desk as I approached to the front, a Menzies lady staffing the counter greeted me as I submitted my passport, E-Ticket receipt, and FF cards. At the moment of processing my record, I decided to speed things up by gently placed my one checked luggage into the scales and informed that I would have only one bags to check. Processing my documents indeed took very little time and my boarding passes for both AKL-SIN & SIN LHR sectors had been printed out along with the luggage tags which she applied towards my bags and managed to wrap first class & star alliance priority tags around as well.
Preparing to hand back my documents along with the boarding passes, I was given the option to pre-pay the NZD 25 departure tax immediately at the same check-in counter. Yes just like YVR’s CAD 15 departure tax, AKL has one as well. YVR’s main purposes of collecting these is for the; however with regards to AKL, I have no idea what AIAL’s main objective is for collecting this. Regardless since I am already standing at the counter, there was no point for me to do extra detours by paying them elsewhere. $25 in cash I paid and at the back of my boarding pass, a sticker as a form of receipt that I had already paid was placed.
While boarding passes were handed out to me, the Menzie staff had to explain that at AIAL, gate numbers are not assigned in advance and thus is not printed anywhere and I would need to check regularly for it to pop out. Why some airports decide not to release the gate location to the passenger in advance is beyond belief.
Last agenda for me before leaving the counter area was getting the NZ departure card which after filling out I can pre-clear in advance and use the express queue at the immigration departure desk located on the first floor.
Yes indeed additional work needs to be done for international departures at AKL. But nonetheless, I managed to successfully complete the card and submitted at the pre-clearance desk located at the grey wall on the edge of the terminal near entrance #1. There, my passport was checked and at the bottom left of my boarding pass, a sticker labeling “NZCS” was applied.
With all my documents and belongings ready for the flight, all that was left for me was to walk back towards the direction I originally came from, make a right turn towards the escalators for the departure level located on the first floor.
Upon arriving on the first floor, shops, shops, and more shops seem to be the theme of the atmosphere which creates wonders for some travelers such as myself who usually has no interest in doing any shopping inside an airport facility.
Regardless, my NZCS stickered boarding pass got me through the express line rapidly and security which followed afterwards was also a breeze. A quick x-ray of my carryon through the machine and I was waved off to proceed forward without any additional laptop nor shoe screening.
Zigzagging through a maze of shopping - a left turn post security, a right turn past the Regency DF another right turn past the DFS Galleria before completing a right turn on a narrow alley leading to the lounge complex. Without a doubt, passengers departing from AKL will gain this awkward feeling that they are doing their routine of visiting a shopping mall as oppose to utilizing an airport facility for their flight. Having said that however, I have no clue as to how much (or a rough estimate) AIAL profits from having all these massive amount of shops.
Anyhow I manage to reach that alley without having knocked off anything off the shelves of those shops despite bumping & dodging through those shops on my way. Right hand side of the alley was boarded off for some unknown construction which more or less made the path even narrower.
SIA does not operate a SKL of its own at AKL and thus relies upon *A partner Air NZ to
allocate its premium passengers to its lounge facility. The Air NZ lounge is located on the 2nd floor which one has to take an escalator at the end of the path and shares the 2nd floor area with the QF lounge.
Entering through the glass sliding door, I was welcomed by a lounge receptionist standing behind the podium. My boarding pass was scanned before I was told that a PR announcement under my name would be called when my flight is ready for boarding.
The lounge itself is very spacious, well lit, and overall a great place to wind down before hopping on the flight. Very quiet and calm as I made my way inside despite a moderate volume of passengers having already made their spot inside the facility.
There was also a range of magazine, newspapers, and other reading materials to keep yourself busy if one chooses that path.
However, I wish they would offer some hot dishes as oppose to just the cold ones. Having been here several times in the past (both day & night), it seems that cold meats, pastas, and deserts seem to be the norm of the choices and today was no different.
I have no idea if the cold dishes are indeed the consistent choice pattern or maybe it has just been my curse of coming in at the wrong time and day. Regardless I opted for Roast Beef Slice, Ricotta Penne Pasta Salad, and an Apricot Slice from the buffet bar along with a glass of Ginger Ale and Gladstone Reisling Wine.
Beverage selections on the other hand was superb and extensive with selections of local & foreign wines, soft drinks, cappuccino making machines, etc.
As mentioned earlier, even though the atmosphere was calm and quiet, there were already quite a handful of guest occupying the seats in various areas thus I decided to head over to the seats located in the facility overlooking the windows towards the airside departure terminal to sit and dine. It was the only remaining area with plenty of unoccupied seats.
After the quick light meal, I headed back towards the computer facilities to browse online and perform a quick check of my emails before 2 PM struck on the local time. A quick check of the flight monitors near the magazine/newspaper racks revealed that SQ286 has been assigned Gate 9. Announcement has yet to be made for my flight but nonetheless I usually would start walking towards the gate area one hour prior to departure did not do anything to change that routine this time around.
Gathering my carryon, I dragged my way out the lounge, down the escalators, a right turn from the alley from where I originally came in to access the lounge, and up the escalators towards the gate areas. Yup, more zigzagging through AKL’s maze layout.
Gate 9 is located at the edge end of the terminal which meant I had to walk past almost all the other gate once I climbed up the extra level through the escalators. However to reach Gate 9, one has to climb down another escalator to reach the area before the terminal walkway comes to a dead end. There are two escalators heading down, one on the right towards Gate 9 and the other on the left towards Gate 10 which after going down is separated by an enclosed left/top/right glass walkway which has been designed to segregate arrivals from departure. Anyways down the right hand side escalator I reached the boarding area where many passengers have already settled awaiting for the flight.
Boarding had already begun once I arrived with priority given to premium passengers and travelers in need of special assistance. And having had enough of the right left up down trekking through AIAL’s facility, I wasted no time and boarded into the aerobridge.
Singapore Airlines SQ 286
First Class, Seat 3A
Sector: Auckland (AKL) – Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Registration: 9V-SPI
Departure Gate: 9
Scheduled/Actual Departure Time: 3:00 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 3:02 pm (Oct 7, 2006)
Arrival Gate: E56
Scheduled/Actual Arrival Time: 8:40 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 7:50 pm (Oct 7, 2006)
No dual aerobridge at AKL but nonetheless the single bridge connected to door 1L as oppose to 2L and all passengers regardless of class boarded through that very same 1L. Why they are utilizing 1L as oppose to 2L remains an unknown mystery?
Upon entry I was quickly greeted by the leading steward who introducted himself as Teong and a fellow leading stewardess dressed in SIA’s green Kabaya by the name of Pik Yen escorted me to my seat – 3A and lifted my carryon into the overhead bin. She offered me two newspaper selections – one being the Singapore Straight Times and the other being the NZ Herald in which I chose the latter followed by the pre-takeoff drinking routine as I began settling into my seat.
IMO, Seat 3A is the best in the house. Call me crazy, but it best suits for my preference as it is not too close to the rear, not too close to the front nose, and not too tight in between the adjacent seat.
Seat Controls
As promised earlier, leading stewardess Pik Yen came back with my ordered glass of DOM Perignon Champage while at the same time all the remaining passengers began to make their way inside.
For today’s flight 9 out of the 12 skysuites were taken for this sector onboard this megatop which registered aircraft 9V-SPI has been assigned to. Many carriers have terminated F class service to AKL, but SIA seems to always have success in the front cabin for their AKL flights (at least on the flights I have been on) and today was no exception.
Menus and writing kits which consisted of pens, post cards, enveloped, and papers have already been placed on the surroundings of every seat.
As the majority of the other passengers in the F cabin has comfortably sat themselves the crews began distributing the inflight Bvlgari Kit which inside the bag consisted of twin blade razor, shaving cream, nourishing hand cream, after shave emulsion, lip balm, cologne, and of course comes along with the complimentary Givenchy dark grey pajama and the basic eye shades along with a pair of socks.
With everyone apparently having boarded in a timely and proper manner, doors closed at 5 minutes before 3 PM. Fairly light traffic taking place at AKL for the current hour as we gradually began withdrawing away from Gate 9 and took off after a brief taxiway onto the runway with a project flying time of slightly over 9.5 hours (one hour less than the scheduled duration).
Takeoff was definitely towards the west out into the Tasman Sea and 9V-SPI continued to apply a westerly direction before banking off towards the northwest.
After reaching a certain altitude, our post-takeoff drink order taken before takeoff was delivered which on my part I had ordered the Orange Cooler. Orders for the first meal service soon followed afterwards.
With this being mostly a day flight, I decided to stay awake for the whole flight and utilize the following overnight SIN-LHR sector to sleep though. Needless to say most of the other passengers decided to do the same. However, the gentleman besides me in 3C his head and slept tight for a good amount hours before opting for their meals.
Nevertheless as the gentlemen went deep into his snooze, the crews began setting up the tables for the light meal lunch service.
Light Meal
Appetisers
Seared tuna loin with mizuna and seaweed salad
Seasame soya dressing
Main courses
Udon noodles in soup with sliced salmon,
Leafy greens and shiitake mushrooms
Roast lamb rack with herb jus and
Seasonal greens, olive oil dressing
Grilled chicken in mediterranean sauce
With seasonal vegetables and potatoes
Dessert
Warm orange-ginger cake with vanilla ice cream
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
One by one the courses were delivered with plate removal and cutlery replacement consistenly conducted.
Upon the completion of the light meal service followed by the clearing of the dishes, we continued to pursue a northwestern direction flying near the Australian Queensland coast where we encountered massive turbulences that the seat belt signs were switched on for an extended period.
Halfway through the flight I decided to pursue the snack menu.
Fish ball soup has been one of my favorite SIA inflight snacks for quite some time so once again I opted for that selection along with a glass of cappuccino.
A light bite of Satay was distributed followed by dinner order taken which was about to begin shortly.
Full extensive dinner service began approximately 3 hours prior to landing in SIN.
Unlike most other carriers, SIA excels in serving both Asian and Western Cuisines at extremely high quality levels and I typically prefer to alternate between the two from one meal to the other. Thus having had the Western chicken dish for the first meal, I opted for the Beef Fried Egg Noodles which had extremely generous potion and was delicious.
Apricot with Ice Cream followed for desert
Fresh Fruits
Sunset was on the horizon upon the completion of the dinner service and we shortly began our descent into SIN.
We touched down at 7:50 pm SGT ahead of schedule and was among the first flight from down under to arrive in the evening; therefore without delays, we wasted no time in exiting the runway and made our way towards T2 and stationed at Gate E56.
After exiting the aircraft and into the terminal, I began to make my way towards the SKL Lounge. Passenger volume at Changi during the moment was moderate with its peak volume in an hour or two to come.
Walking through several travelators down, I reached the foot point of the escalators that took me up to the next level for the Silver Kris Lounge.
There is a separate Raffles and First Class section. As a F passenger, I headed to the F section branching out to the right side when approaching from the outside entrance.
All that was needed for me to gain entry was to show my boarding pass to the attendant standing near the entrance.
First agenda for me upon entrance was heading towards the shower room to refreshen myself after the 9.5 hour journey from Auckland as to increase my chances of sleeping well on the upcoming sector to LHR. Towels, soaps, toothbrush, etc are also available inside and restocked after every single passenger usage.
A sleeping room (aka slumber room) is also available for those who prefer to lie down, take a short nap, or even sleep overnight. Though I would not highly recommend sleeping overnight since wave shaped bed is not a comfortable one to get you a good night’s rest.
As I exited the shower room after redressing from the quick refreshment, an announcement appeared inside the lounge PA that my upcoming connecting flight, SQ322 was going to be delayed for 30 minutes – the original 11:20 pm departure has been delayed to 11:50 pm. Reasons cited for the delay according to the PA was due to operational purposes. Not quite sure what exactly is the operation purposes as all the other flights from down under that arrived close to my earlier flight (those ex-SYD, MEL, BNE, PER, CHC, etc) were not suffering any extensive delays that would prevent passengers on those flight connecting to miss connecting to SQ322 if it were to maintain the 11:20 pm departure.
Regardless 30 minute was not going to kill me nor was it a major issue. As a matter of fact it gave me more time to relax and wind down inside the lounge facility especially breaking in between two major long haul flights. Only complaint about the facility is the dark lighting which does not suit my eyes very well especially as I am using the facility during the dark evening hours.
After feeling refreshed from the shower, I decided to pursue through the wide range selections of food & beverage at the bar and buffet station.
Plenty of hot food and beverage selections at the buffet bar.
Cappuccino and Espresso machine also available.
At the end I settled for some satays, fried noodles, sushi, fish fillet, and potato bites along with a can of soft drink.
A meeting room is also available for those wishing to discuss corporate matters.
As I continued to wind down towards boarding time for the flight, I decided to spend the last moment of the lounge in the computer room to type reports and check emails. Plenty of computers equipped with high speed internet as well as ports for laptops.
Boarding pass for following sector.
At approximately 10:50 pm I decided to vacate the lounge and head straight to the gate. Surprise surprise. The gate as well as the aircraft registration was exactly the same gate in which my earlier flight ex-AKL parked at and the same aircraft registration, 9V-SPI, that earlier operated my AKL-SIN sector.
A massive queue has already begun forming as I made my way back to gate E26 with passengers being screened at the security station of the gate. Lines move quickly though everyone carrying laptops including myself had to remove them from the bags and placed in a separate tray. We were also required to briefly turn on our laptops and present the screen to the security personnel. UK landing cards were distributed to each passengers post security before reaching the seating areas of the gate.
Singapore Airlines SQ 322
First Class, Seat 3A
Sector: Singapore (SIN) – London Heathrow (LHR)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Registration: 9V-SPI
Departure Gate: E56
Scheduled/Actual Departure Time: 11:20 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 12:10 am (Oct 8, 2006)
Arrival Gate: 27
Scheduled/Actual Arrival Time: 5:50 am (Oct 8, 2006) / 6:15 pm (Oct 8, 2006)
Once passengers began permitted to enter the aircraft, there were dual aerobridges one going through 1L for F & J passengers and 2L for Y passengers. With the usual routine after I made my way through 1L and back into 9V-SPI, I was greeted by the leading steward named Seetch who escorted me to my seat – 3A (yes my favorite seat in the F cabin).
Without a doubt this one of SIA’s most profitable flight with all 12 skysuites for tonight’s flight occupied and taken. Raffles was also full and economy only had a few seats left. I can see why we will be seeing the A380 on this flight once it is properly delivered by Airbus.
A pre-takeoff drink as always is offered and even though I am mainly prefer the DOM as my pre-takeoff champagne I decided to bend my preferences this time around. Especially having had the DOM on the previous sector, I decided opted for the Krug Grande Cuvee instead for a nice change which after the request was delivered shortly as I began to position myself in the skysuite.
Around five minutes prior to midnight, doors closed and the captain welcomed everyone onboard and apologized for the takeoff delay. 12 hours and 50 minutes was our estimated flying duration to LHR this evening and the 40 minute of flying faster than the scheduled arrival time should make up for some lost time affected by the delay.
Menus like the previous sector is readily available on our seat above the stationary tables.
We began pushing back from Gate E26 at around midnight and the safety demonstration video lit up our 14 inch PTV as we were making our taxiway for the departure.
Our designated flight path.
Very heavy traffic at Changi during this hour with all the heavy departures to Europe, Australia, and North Asia taking place at the same time frame. We had to wait patiently on the taxiway before the green signal was given to us for liftoff.
15 minutes past midnight our megatop finally lifted its belly into the Singapore night sky. Upon gradually reaching higher altitude, my Singapore Sling Cocktail which I had selected prior to takeoff was brought to my seat.
As I gradually sipped into my cocktail beverage, 9V-SPI pursued a northwesterly direction along the western coast of the Malaysian Peninsula flying above Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding cities as it begins approaching towards the Andaman Sea.
Approximately one hour following takeoff, routine for the supper service commenced with the setting up of the table by leading stewardess Seetch.
Supper
Appetisers
Chilled malossol caviar
with melba toast and condiments
Salad of abalone with roasted capsicums and balsamico dressing
Soup
Beef broth with shimeiji and enoki mushrooms
Main courses
@ Roasted lobster with saffron in chervil and capers butter, sauteed spinach
Steamed potato
Chicken and scallop congee
Shredded chicken and dried scallops in rice porridge
With deep fried chinese crullers
Trilogy of asian kitchen
Thai red curry beef, japanese beef curry,
Indonesian dry curried beef with pickled vegetables and steamed rice
Dessert
Warm pear frangipane flan with rum-raisin ice cream and berries salad
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
@ Exclusively created by Gordon Ramsay, London
Did not opt for Caviar on the previous sector but did so for this sector.
Beef Broth Mushroom Soup followed afterwards.
Have booked the cooked in advance for the main course – Chicken Curry Peranakan. Very mouthwatering and tasty with huge chucks of potato and chicken served with bread roll and rice. But be warned for those who plan to BTC for this dish, it can be spicier than what your taste can tolerate. I am accustomed to consuming spicy dishes and the level of spiciness for this dish was perfect for my taste buds but may not necessarily be the case for everyone.
A great desert plate to conclude the supper service.
Cheese plate one can choose what and how much to be put on the plate.
Following the conclusion of the supper service, lights inside the cabin were dimmed and virtually the time has come for most passengers to sleep. Apparently in the vicinity and reading my mind accurately, leading stewardess offered her pleasure for the turndown service to convert my skysuite into a bed.
Amenity kits distributed after takeoff were the same as the previous sector only difference is the light grey Givenchy pajama as oppose to the dark grey one.
Manage to sleep for four hours following the turndown service but was awoken with turbulences while flying over Afghanistan. Not able to immediately go back into sleeping rhythm, I browsed through Krisworld’s Wisemen 3000 to try to tire myself out.
To further speed up time, I opted for a midnight snack of instant noodles which were accompanied in a bowl with chopped pieces of chilies and small vegetables along with a glass of orange juice
Snack menu on this flight is identical of that on the earlier AKL-SIN sector BTW.
Saw the beautiful full moon illuminating the sky outside from my window as we continue our northwesterly pattern by flying above Turkmenistan having just crossed the Afghan border.
Manage to sleep the rest of the journey all the way through before waking up for the breakfast service 2.5 hours prior to landing in Heathrow. Noticing me fully awake, leading stewardess Loke offered to convert my seat back into the normal upright position while at the same time, I headed to the lavatories behind seat 4A to refreshen myself.
Shortly following breakfast flying over Holland approaching the North Sea, the captain greeted us through the PA and informed everyone that our descent into LHR would commence shortly. With that in consideration, our crews began clearing everyone’s plate and stowing the tables away. As we inched closer to our destination, leading stewardess loke began distributing pink fast track cards to all 12 F passengers.
As we finally entered the skies above Britain, we continued to decrease in elevation with dark skies outside still persisting while we made our final approach into Heathrow.
At 6:15 am local time we touched down on 27R, 25 minutes behind schedule before approaching T3 and parked over at Gate 27. Bid farewell to the wonderful crews who did a spectacular job before heading out onto the terminal aerobridge.
LHR T3 was at its usual dismal state of condition. Foul indoor odor with ceilings that is about to drop and crush me. Luckily Gate 27 was not too far away to the passport controls and our 25 minute late arrival had the fast track lane already open and running for me to breeze through with the pink card the crews distributed to us because the other lines were packed like sardines in absolute chaos. Some were cutting in front of each other that resulted in voices being raised and tempers flaring which is not your typical generous morning wake up call for heavens sake. Baggage retrieval following fast track was equally chaotic but at least this time, they had the monitors lit for carrousel assignment and I was able to retrieve my bags at Carousel 7 shortly afterwards.
So there you have it. The longest number of hours I have spent flying in one go. It is not an easy task to travel half-way around the world but when you’ve got the splendor of SIA F pampering and comforting you virtually from the beginning to the end, it certainly doesn’t feel as if you have just spent 24+ hours going from one place to another.
Even as a frequent flyer and a top loyalty status holder of Cathay Pacific (MPO Diamond), there is no denying that from my heart and experience that overall SIA offers the best and most consistent first class product out there than any other carrier. Their food (portion, choices, quality, presentation), seat (comfort & design), IFE (quality & choices) are much better than what I get in CX F. Thank you SQ once again for delivering two more outstanding flights. ^ ^ ^
Visits to London for corporate trips have become a regular exercise routine for me in particular this year. A trend that is to resume with yet another visit in October of this month. Routinely for me, a trip to the British capital does not require bloody hours of flying to reach this particular destination. 10 hours from NA or 13-15 hours from Asia would fit just fine in duration being bearable. However as so often we would encounter in our life time, the circumstances are not always the way we had hoped them to be and today was no exception for me.
Having recently relocated down under to New Zealand last month, my expedition to LON this time around would involve a flying time duration of 24 + hours for journeys commencing from down under Kiwi Land. Yep make no mistake as one would have to be locked up inside a flying machine for a total surpassing the total number of hours calculated for a full day when our geography describes Auckland and London to be nearly halfway around the world from each other. Sounds like an unbearable task ahead for anyone who plans to take this type of a marathon. However there is always relief to air traveling where poor food, leg room crampness, etc can be avoided or kept to a minimum. Yes the beauty & grace of being in first class can really turn the tide the opposite direction. With what seemed like an unbearable & never ending journey, one would be amazed how those two adjectives does not fit the description if one can put themselves inside a premium cabin. Yep I have taken this logic for quite a while in all my trips within the last two years and I’ll be applying this logic for the sake of my comfort journey by once again relying upon the efficiency and splendor of SIA’s first class product to transport me halfway around the world.
On a crisp & cool late morning condition on this first full week of October, I managed to get myself to AKL airport smoothly.
Passenger volume once I stepped inside the ground level terminal facility was moderately quiet.
Having very little interest in exploring AIAL’s facility, I managed my way straight towards the SIA check-in counter located near the very edge of the building near entrance #1.
For today, SQ has been assigned counters 79-88. First was assigned counter 79, Raffles 80-81, and Economy 83-87. Counter 82 was designated as the service centre desk while 88 was opened for ticketing purposes.
Apparently the counters had just opened when I arrived but nonetheless a sizable queue had already formed for Y. Raffles and First on the other hand were fairly empty. In AKL, SQ does not have their own staff handling the ground operations and thus contracts everything to Menzies, a local company (similar to Jardine in HKG) to operate the activities. With no one occupying the F desk as I approached to the front, a Menzies lady staffing the counter greeted me as I submitted my passport, E-Ticket receipt, and FF cards. At the moment of processing my record, I decided to speed things up by gently placed my one checked luggage into the scales and informed that I would have only one bags to check. Processing my documents indeed took very little time and my boarding passes for both AKL-SIN & SIN LHR sectors had been printed out along with the luggage tags which she applied towards my bags and managed to wrap first class & star alliance priority tags around as well.
Preparing to hand back my documents along with the boarding passes, I was given the option to pre-pay the NZD 25 departure tax immediately at the same check-in counter. Yes just like YVR’s CAD 15 departure tax, AKL has one as well. YVR’s main purposes of collecting these is for the; however with regards to AKL, I have no idea what AIAL’s main objective is for collecting this. Regardless since I am already standing at the counter, there was no point for me to do extra detours by paying them elsewhere. $25 in cash I paid and at the back of my boarding pass, a sticker as a form of receipt that I had already paid was placed.
While boarding passes were handed out to me, the Menzie staff had to explain that at AIAL, gate numbers are not assigned in advance and thus is not printed anywhere and I would need to check regularly for it to pop out. Why some airports decide not to release the gate location to the passenger in advance is beyond belief.
Last agenda for me before leaving the counter area was getting the NZ departure card which after filling out I can pre-clear in advance and use the express queue at the immigration departure desk located on the first floor.
Yes indeed additional work needs to be done for international departures at AKL. But nonetheless, I managed to successfully complete the card and submitted at the pre-clearance desk located at the grey wall on the edge of the terminal near entrance #1. There, my passport was checked and at the bottom left of my boarding pass, a sticker labeling “NZCS” was applied.
With all my documents and belongings ready for the flight, all that was left for me was to walk back towards the direction I originally came from, make a right turn towards the escalators for the departure level located on the first floor.
Upon arriving on the first floor, shops, shops, and more shops seem to be the theme of the atmosphere which creates wonders for some travelers such as myself who usually has no interest in doing any shopping inside an airport facility.
Regardless, my NZCS stickered boarding pass got me through the express line rapidly and security which followed afterwards was also a breeze. A quick x-ray of my carryon through the machine and I was waved off to proceed forward without any additional laptop nor shoe screening.
Zigzagging through a maze of shopping - a left turn post security, a right turn past the Regency DF another right turn past the DFS Galleria before completing a right turn on a narrow alley leading to the lounge complex. Without a doubt, passengers departing from AKL will gain this awkward feeling that they are doing their routine of visiting a shopping mall as oppose to utilizing an airport facility for their flight. Having said that however, I have no clue as to how much (or a rough estimate) AIAL profits from having all these massive amount of shops.
Anyhow I manage to reach that alley without having knocked off anything off the shelves of those shops despite bumping & dodging through those shops on my way. Right hand side of the alley was boarded off for some unknown construction which more or less made the path even narrower.
SIA does not operate a SKL of its own at AKL and thus relies upon *A partner Air NZ to
allocate its premium passengers to its lounge facility. The Air NZ lounge is located on the 2nd floor which one has to take an escalator at the end of the path and shares the 2nd floor area with the QF lounge.
Entering through the glass sliding door, I was welcomed by a lounge receptionist standing behind the podium. My boarding pass was scanned before I was told that a PR announcement under my name would be called when my flight is ready for boarding.
The lounge itself is very spacious, well lit, and overall a great place to wind down before hopping on the flight. Very quiet and calm as I made my way inside despite a moderate volume of passengers having already made their spot inside the facility.
There was also a range of magazine, newspapers, and other reading materials to keep yourself busy if one chooses that path.
However, I wish they would offer some hot dishes as oppose to just the cold ones. Having been here several times in the past (both day & night), it seems that cold meats, pastas, and deserts seem to be the norm of the choices and today was no different.
I have no idea if the cold dishes are indeed the consistent choice pattern or maybe it has just been my curse of coming in at the wrong time and day. Regardless I opted for Roast Beef Slice, Ricotta Penne Pasta Salad, and an Apricot Slice from the buffet bar along with a glass of Ginger Ale and Gladstone Reisling Wine.
Beverage selections on the other hand was superb and extensive with selections of local & foreign wines, soft drinks, cappuccino making machines, etc.
As mentioned earlier, even though the atmosphere was calm and quiet, there were already quite a handful of guest occupying the seats in various areas thus I decided to head over to the seats located in the facility overlooking the windows towards the airside departure terminal to sit and dine. It was the only remaining area with plenty of unoccupied seats.
After the quick light meal, I headed back towards the computer facilities to browse online and perform a quick check of my emails before 2 PM struck on the local time. A quick check of the flight monitors near the magazine/newspaper racks revealed that SQ286 has been assigned Gate 9. Announcement has yet to be made for my flight but nonetheless I usually would start walking towards the gate area one hour prior to departure did not do anything to change that routine this time around.
Gathering my carryon, I dragged my way out the lounge, down the escalators, a right turn from the alley from where I originally came in to access the lounge, and up the escalators towards the gate areas. Yup, more zigzagging through AKL’s maze layout.
Gate 9 is located at the edge end of the terminal which meant I had to walk past almost all the other gate once I climbed up the extra level through the escalators. However to reach Gate 9, one has to climb down another escalator to reach the area before the terminal walkway comes to a dead end. There are two escalators heading down, one on the right towards Gate 9 and the other on the left towards Gate 10 which after going down is separated by an enclosed left/top/right glass walkway which has been designed to segregate arrivals from departure. Anyways down the right hand side escalator I reached the boarding area where many passengers have already settled awaiting for the flight.
Boarding had already begun once I arrived with priority given to premium passengers and travelers in need of special assistance. And having had enough of the right left up down trekking through AIAL’s facility, I wasted no time and boarded into the aerobridge.
Singapore Airlines SQ 286
First Class, Seat 3A
Sector: Auckland (AKL) – Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Registration: 9V-SPI
Departure Gate: 9
Scheduled/Actual Departure Time: 3:00 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 3:02 pm (Oct 7, 2006)
Arrival Gate: E56
Scheduled/Actual Arrival Time: 8:40 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 7:50 pm (Oct 7, 2006)
No dual aerobridge at AKL but nonetheless the single bridge connected to door 1L as oppose to 2L and all passengers regardless of class boarded through that very same 1L. Why they are utilizing 1L as oppose to 2L remains an unknown mystery?
Upon entry I was quickly greeted by the leading steward who introducted himself as Teong and a fellow leading stewardess dressed in SIA’s green Kabaya by the name of Pik Yen escorted me to my seat – 3A and lifted my carryon into the overhead bin. She offered me two newspaper selections – one being the Singapore Straight Times and the other being the NZ Herald in which I chose the latter followed by the pre-takeoff drinking routine as I began settling into my seat.
IMO, Seat 3A is the best in the house. Call me crazy, but it best suits for my preference as it is not too close to the rear, not too close to the front nose, and not too tight in between the adjacent seat.
Seat Controls
As promised earlier, leading stewardess Pik Yen came back with my ordered glass of DOM Perignon Champage while at the same time all the remaining passengers began to make their way inside.
For today’s flight 9 out of the 12 skysuites were taken for this sector onboard this megatop which registered aircraft 9V-SPI has been assigned to. Many carriers have terminated F class service to AKL, but SIA seems to always have success in the front cabin for their AKL flights (at least on the flights I have been on) and today was no exception.
Menus and writing kits which consisted of pens, post cards, enveloped, and papers have already been placed on the surroundings of every seat.
As the majority of the other passengers in the F cabin has comfortably sat themselves the crews began distributing the inflight Bvlgari Kit which inside the bag consisted of twin blade razor, shaving cream, nourishing hand cream, after shave emulsion, lip balm, cologne, and of course comes along with the complimentary Givenchy dark grey pajama and the basic eye shades along with a pair of socks.
With everyone apparently having boarded in a timely and proper manner, doors closed at 5 minutes before 3 PM. Fairly light traffic taking place at AKL for the current hour as we gradually began withdrawing away from Gate 9 and took off after a brief taxiway onto the runway with a project flying time of slightly over 9.5 hours (one hour less than the scheduled duration).
Takeoff was definitely towards the west out into the Tasman Sea and 9V-SPI continued to apply a westerly direction before banking off towards the northwest.
After reaching a certain altitude, our post-takeoff drink order taken before takeoff was delivered which on my part I had ordered the Orange Cooler. Orders for the first meal service soon followed afterwards.
Nevertheless as the gentlemen went deep into his snooze, the crews began setting up the tables for the light meal lunch service.
Light Meal
Appetisers
Seared tuna loin with mizuna and seaweed salad
Seasame soya dressing
Main courses
Udon noodles in soup with sliced salmon,
Leafy greens and shiitake mushrooms
Roast lamb rack with herb jus and
Seasonal greens, olive oil dressing
Grilled chicken in mediterranean sauce
With seasonal vegetables and potatoes
Dessert
Warm orange-ginger cake with vanilla ice cream
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
One by one the courses were delivered with plate removal and cutlery replacement consistenly conducted.
Seared Tuna
Leading Stewardess serving at 4C
I manage to order the Grilled Chicken which turned out to be very juicy and tender.
Ginger Cake in Ice Cream
English Tea to cap off the first meal service
Leading Stewardess serving at 4C
I manage to order the Grilled Chicken which turned out to be very juicy and tender.
Ginger Cake in Ice Cream
English Tea to cap off the first meal service
Upon the completion of the light meal service followed by the clearing of the dishes, we continued to pursue a northwestern direction flying near the Australian Queensland coast where we encountered massive turbulences that the seat belt signs were switched on for an extended period.
Halfway through the flight I decided to pursue the snack menu.
Noodles
Fish ball broth with kway teow or bee hoon noodles
Vegetarian and non-vegetarian instant noodles
Sandwiches
Focaccia sandwich with smoked chicken
Snacks
Cashew, almond, or macadamia nuts
Fruit bar
Arnotts pizza
Cadbury chocolate bar
Potato chips
A selection from the fruit basket
Assorted walkers biscuits
Fish ball broth with kway teow or bee hoon noodles
Vegetarian and non-vegetarian instant noodles
Sandwiches
Focaccia sandwich with smoked chicken
Snacks
Cashew, almond, or macadamia nuts
Fruit bar
Arnotts pizza
Cadbury chocolate bar
Potato chips
A selection from the fruit basket
Assorted walkers biscuits
Fish ball soup has been one of my favorite SIA inflight snacks for quite some time so once again I opted for that selection along with a glass of cappuccino.
A light bite of Satay was distributed followed by dinner order taken which was about to begin shortly.
Full extensive dinner service began approximately 3 hours prior to landing in SIN.
Dinner
Canapes
Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce
Appetisers
Hors d'oeuvre
with malossol caviar
Medallions of lobster with mesclun salad
Sundried tomato dressing
Soup
Chicken soup with chinese mushrooms and bamboo shoot
Cream of green peas with crispy bacon and fresh cream
Salad
Assorted seasonal greens
Honey mustard mayonnaise
Hazelnut vinaigrette
Main courses
@ Roasted lamb rack with lamb jus, pea
puree and boulangere potatoes
Wok fried beef in black bean sauce with chinese greens, mushrooms, red
capsicums and egg noodles
* Panfried chicken with ceps mushrooms in port wine sauce,
roasted vegetables and new potatoes
Indian prawns curry with spcied vegetables and pilaff rice
# Polenta gnocchi with extra virgin olive oil, roasted tomato, grilled eggplant
and chunky walnut-rocket pesto
Dessert
Warm apricot frangipane with english cream and roasted fruit
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
Pralines
To end on a sweet note
@ Exclusively created by Matthew Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney
* Specially prepared meatless selection
# A healthier choice - lower in cholesterol and saturated fat than in our main selection
Lobster Medallion
Green Pea Soup
Salad
Canapes
Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce
Appetisers
Hors d'oeuvre
with malossol caviar
Medallions of lobster with mesclun salad
Sundried tomato dressing
Soup
Chicken soup with chinese mushrooms and bamboo shoot
Cream of green peas with crispy bacon and fresh cream
Salad
Assorted seasonal greens
Honey mustard mayonnaise
Hazelnut vinaigrette
Main courses
@ Roasted lamb rack with lamb jus, pea
puree and boulangere potatoes
Wok fried beef in black bean sauce with chinese greens, mushrooms, red
capsicums and egg noodles
* Panfried chicken with ceps mushrooms in port wine sauce,
roasted vegetables and new potatoes
Indian prawns curry with spcied vegetables and pilaff rice
# Polenta gnocchi with extra virgin olive oil, roasted tomato, grilled eggplant
and chunky walnut-rocket pesto
Dessert
Warm apricot frangipane with english cream and roasted fruit
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
Pralines
To end on a sweet note
@ Exclusively created by Matthew Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney
* Specially prepared meatless selection
# A healthier choice - lower in cholesterol and saturated fat than in our main selection
Lobster Medallion
Green Pea Soup
Salad
Unlike most other carriers, SIA excels in serving both Asian and Western Cuisines at extremely high quality levels and I typically prefer to alternate between the two from one meal to the other. Thus having had the Western chicken dish for the first meal, I opted for the Beef Fried Egg Noodles which had extremely generous potion and was delicious.
Apricot with Ice Cream followed for desert
Fresh Fruits
Sunset was on the horizon upon the completion of the dinner service and we shortly began our descent into SIN.
We touched down at 7:50 pm SGT ahead of schedule and was among the first flight from down under to arrive in the evening; therefore without delays, we wasted no time in exiting the runway and made our way towards T2 and stationed at Gate E56.
After exiting the aircraft and into the terminal, I began to make my way towards the SKL Lounge. Passenger volume at Changi during the moment was moderate with its peak volume in an hour or two to come.
Walking through several travelators down, I reached the foot point of the escalators that took me up to the next level for the Silver Kris Lounge.
There is a separate Raffles and First Class section. As a F passenger, I headed to the F section branching out to the right side when approaching from the outside entrance.
All that was needed for me to gain entry was to show my boarding pass to the attendant standing near the entrance.
First agenda for me upon entrance was heading towards the shower room to refreshen myself after the 9.5 hour journey from Auckland as to increase my chances of sleeping well on the upcoming sector to LHR. Towels, soaps, toothbrush, etc are also available inside and restocked after every single passenger usage.
A sleeping room (aka slumber room) is also available for those who prefer to lie down, take a short nap, or even sleep overnight. Though I would not highly recommend sleeping overnight since wave shaped bed is not a comfortable one to get you a good night’s rest.
Regardless 30 minute was not going to kill me nor was it a major issue. As a matter of fact it gave me more time to relax and wind down inside the lounge facility especially breaking in between two major long haul flights. Only complaint about the facility is the dark lighting which does not suit my eyes very well especially as I am using the facility during the dark evening hours.
After feeling refreshed from the shower, I decided to pursue through the wide range selections of food & beverage at the bar and buffet station.
Plenty of hot food and beverage selections at the buffet bar.
Cappuccino and Espresso machine also available.
At the end I settled for some satays, fried noodles, sushi, fish fillet, and potato bites along with a can of soft drink.
A meeting room is also available for those wishing to discuss corporate matters.
As I continued to wind down towards boarding time for the flight, I decided to spend the last moment of the lounge in the computer room to type reports and check emails. Plenty of computers equipped with high speed internet as well as ports for laptops.
Boarding pass for following sector.
At approximately 10:50 pm I decided to vacate the lounge and head straight to the gate. Surprise surprise. The gate as well as the aircraft registration was exactly the same gate in which my earlier flight ex-AKL parked at and the same aircraft registration, 9V-SPI, that earlier operated my AKL-SIN sector.
Singapore Airlines SQ 322
First Class, Seat 3A
Sector: Singapore (SIN) – London Heathrow (LHR)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Registration: 9V-SPI
Departure Gate: E56
Scheduled/Actual Departure Time: 11:20 pm (Oct 7, 2006) / 12:10 am (Oct 8, 2006)
Arrival Gate: 27
Scheduled/Actual Arrival Time: 5:50 am (Oct 8, 2006) / 6:15 pm (Oct 8, 2006)
Once passengers began permitted to enter the aircraft, there were dual aerobridges one going through 1L for F & J passengers and 2L for Y passengers. With the usual routine after I made my way through 1L and back into 9V-SPI, I was greeted by the leading steward named Seetch who escorted me to my seat – 3A (yes my favorite seat in the F cabin).
Without a doubt this one of SIA’s most profitable flight with all 12 skysuites for tonight’s flight occupied and taken. Raffles was also full and economy only had a few seats left. I can see why we will be seeing the A380 on this flight once it is properly delivered by Airbus.
A pre-takeoff drink as always is offered and even though I am mainly prefer the DOM as my pre-takeoff champagne I decided to bend my preferences this time around. Especially having had the DOM on the previous sector, I decided opted for the Krug Grande Cuvee instead for a nice change which after the request was delivered shortly as I began to position myself in the skysuite.
Around five minutes prior to midnight, doors closed and the captain welcomed everyone onboard and apologized for the takeoff delay. 12 hours and 50 minutes was our estimated flying duration to LHR this evening and the 40 minute of flying faster than the scheduled arrival time should make up for some lost time affected by the delay.
Menus like the previous sector is readily available on our seat above the stationary tables.
We began pushing back from Gate E26 at around midnight and the safety demonstration video lit up our 14 inch PTV as we were making our taxiway for the departure.
Our designated flight path.
15 minutes past midnight our megatop finally lifted its belly into the Singapore night sky. Upon gradually reaching higher altitude, my Singapore Sling Cocktail which I had selected prior to takeoff was brought to my seat.
As I gradually sipped into my cocktail beverage, 9V-SPI pursued a northwesterly direction along the western coast of the Malaysian Peninsula flying above Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding cities as it begins approaching towards the Andaman Sea.
Approximately one hour following takeoff, routine for the supper service commenced with the setting up of the table by leading stewardess Seetch.
Supper
Appetisers
Chilled malossol caviar
with melba toast and condiments
Salad of abalone with roasted capsicums and balsamico dressing
Soup
Beef broth with shimeiji and enoki mushrooms
Main courses
@ Roasted lobster with saffron in chervil and capers butter, sauteed spinach
Steamed potato
Chicken and scallop congee
Shredded chicken and dried scallops in rice porridge
With deep fried chinese crullers
Trilogy of asian kitchen
Thai red curry beef, japanese beef curry,
Indonesian dry curried beef with pickled vegetables and steamed rice
Dessert
Warm pear frangipane flan with rum-raisin ice cream and berries salad
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
From the bakery
Oven fresh rolls
with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic bread
Hot beverages
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
@ Exclusively created by Gordon Ramsay, London
Did not opt for Caviar on the previous sector but did so for this sector.
Beef Broth Mushroom Soup followed afterwards.
Have booked the cooked in advance for the main course – Chicken Curry Peranakan. Very mouthwatering and tasty with huge chucks of potato and chicken served with bread roll and rice. But be warned for those who plan to BTC for this dish, it can be spicier than what your taste can tolerate. I am accustomed to consuming spicy dishes and the level of spiciness for this dish was perfect for my taste buds but may not necessarily be the case for everyone.
A great desert plate to conclude the supper service.
Cheese plate one can choose what and how much to be put on the plate.
Following the conclusion of the supper service, lights inside the cabin were dimmed and virtually the time has come for most passengers to sleep. Apparently in the vicinity and reading my mind accurately, leading stewardess offered her pleasure for the turndown service to convert my skysuite into a bed.
Amenity kits distributed after takeoff were the same as the previous sector only difference is the light grey Givenchy pajama as oppose to the dark grey one.
Manage to sleep for four hours following the turndown service but was awoken with turbulences while flying over Afghanistan. Not able to immediately go back into sleeping rhythm, I browsed through Krisworld’s Wisemen 3000 to try to tire myself out.
To further speed up time, I opted for a midnight snack of instant noodles which were accompanied in a bowl with chopped pieces of chilies and small vegetables along with a glass of orange juice
Approximately halfway through the flight after consuming the noodle snack.
Saw the beautiful full moon illuminating the sky outside from my window as we continue our northwesterly pattern by flying above Turkmenistan having just crossed the Afghan border.
Manage to sleep the rest of the journey all the way through before waking up for the breakfast service 2.5 hours prior to landing in Heathrow. Noticing me fully awake, leading stewardess Loke offered to convert my seat back into the normal upright position while at the same time, I headed to the lavatories behind seat 4A to refreshen myself.
Breakfast
Juices
A choice of apple, tomato or freshly squeezed orange
Fruit
Fresh fruit plate
Light starters
Choice of cereals or yoghurt
Cornflakes or granola with fresh cheese-kumquat compote
Plain or fruit yoghurt
Wholesome beginnings
Scallop udon soup
White wheat noodles in chicken broth garnished with scallop, shredded dried scallop and seaweed
Panfried veal sausage in morel jus
With roasted tomato, leaf spniach and new potatoes
Fresh eggs with bacon or sausage, tomato and mushrooms
Baked, soft boiled or scrambled
From the bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls
Butter, jam, marmalade or honey
Hot beverage
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
Breakfast service began with a plate of fresh fruit.
Followed by a bowl of cereal.
Our inflight supervisor serving the gentlemen at 3D across from me.
Ice Cappuccino
Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Tomatoes, Mushroom, and Toast – a great breakfast to start the day.
Everyone gradually digging into their breakfast plates
Juices
A choice of apple, tomato or freshly squeezed orange
Fruit
Fresh fruit plate
Light starters
Choice of cereals or yoghurt
Cornflakes or granola with fresh cheese-kumquat compote
Plain or fruit yoghurt
Wholesome beginnings
Scallop udon soup
White wheat noodles in chicken broth garnished with scallop, shredded dried scallop and seaweed
Panfried veal sausage in morel jus
With roasted tomato, leaf spniach and new potatoes
Fresh eggs with bacon or sausage, tomato and mushrooms
Baked, soft boiled or scrambled
From the bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls
Butter, jam, marmalade or honey
Hot beverage
Freshly brewed coffee
Espresso or cappuccino
Selection of tea
Breakfast service began with a plate of fresh fruit.
Followed by a bowl of cereal.
Our inflight supervisor serving the gentlemen at 3D across from me.
Ice Cappuccino
Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Tomatoes, Mushroom, and Toast – a great breakfast to start the day.
Everyone gradually digging into their breakfast plates
Shortly following breakfast flying over Holland approaching the North Sea, the captain greeted us through the PA and informed everyone that our descent into LHR would commence shortly. With that in consideration, our crews began clearing everyone’s plate and stowing the tables away. As we inched closer to our destination, leading stewardess loke began distributing pink fast track cards to all 12 F passengers.
As we finally entered the skies above Britain, we continued to decrease in elevation with dark skies outside still persisting while we made our final approach into Heathrow.
At 6:15 am local time we touched down on 27R, 25 minutes behind schedule before approaching T3 and parked over at Gate 27. Bid farewell to the wonderful crews who did a spectacular job before heading out onto the terminal aerobridge.
LHR T3 was at its usual dismal state of condition. Foul indoor odor with ceilings that is about to drop and crush me. Luckily Gate 27 was not too far away to the passport controls and our 25 minute late arrival had the fast track lane already open and running for me to breeze through with the pink card the crews distributed to us because the other lines were packed like sardines in absolute chaos. Some were cutting in front of each other that resulted in voices being raised and tempers flaring which is not your typical generous morning wake up call for heavens sake. Baggage retrieval following fast track was equally chaotic but at least this time, they had the monitors lit for carrousel assignment and I was able to retrieve my bags at Carousel 7 shortly afterwards.
So there you have it. The longest number of hours I have spent flying in one go. It is not an easy task to travel half-way around the world but when you’ve got the splendor of SIA F pampering and comforting you virtually from the beginning to the end, it certainly doesn’t feel as if you have just spent 24+ hours going from one place to another.
Even as a frequent flyer and a top loyalty status holder of Cathay Pacific (MPO Diamond), there is no denying that from my heart and experience that overall SIA offers the best and most consistent first class product out there than any other carrier. Their food (portion, choices, quality, presentation), seat (comfort & design), IFE (quality & choices) are much better than what I get in CX F. Thank you SQ once again for delivering two more outstanding flights. ^ ^ ^
Last edited by Rejuvenated; Oct 18, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Oct 17, 2006, 9:44 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Sydney
Programs: QF Plat, VA Gold, HH Diam, PC Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,082
Great trip report and photos...the photos are great and made me feel that I had gone on the trip with you in F 
Mmmm... 
Perhaps you might want to re-word that bit in bold as our imaginations are starting to run wild!
Originally Posted by Rejuvenated
Apparently in the vicinity and reading my mind accurately, leading stewardess offered her pleasure for the turndown service to convert my skysuite into a bed.
Perhaps you might want to re-word that bit in bold as our imaginations are starting to run wild!
Oct 18, 2006, 12:02 am
#7
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chicago
Programs: UA 1K, AA Gold
Posts: 3,640
Great report and great photos! Brought back great memories of flying SQ F SYD-SIN back in July - it was a great experience (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590133). I have to say I am a bit sad that it'll be awhile before I'm flying SQ F again, but at least it's a good thing to look forward to. ;-)
Thanks again for a great report.
Thanks again for a great report.
Oct 18, 2006, 12:12 am
#8
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
Fantastic report rejuvenated ^^^ - a shame I wasn't flying through AKL, SIN or LHR the same day so we could have met.
The NZ$25 departure fee is mostly for airport redevelopment, and AIAL wants to put the fee up! I reckon I must have just about single handedly paid for the last lot of "improvements".
It is only recently they stopped putting gate numbers on BPs - so pax are encouraged to shop more
Yup, shopping accounts for a large share of their profits (together with rentals something over 50% IIRC).
The AKL lounge does have hot dishes, but not around the middle of the day. The selection of dishes does change several times throughout the day. There is quite good variety if, like me, you fly out at all sorts of hours of day and night.
AIAL always connects airbridges up to door 1L. I am pretty sure it is due to the way they are set up. The only times you ever get to enter/exit from door 2L at AKL is if unlucky enough to get a remote stand (and bussed in/out).
Looks like the postcard has changed since my last flight with SQ.
The NZ$25 departure fee is mostly for airport redevelopment, and AIAL wants to put the fee up! I reckon I must have just about single handedly paid for the last lot of "improvements".
It is only recently they stopped putting gate numbers on BPs - so pax are encouraged to shop more
Yup, shopping accounts for a large share of their profits (together with rentals something over 50% IIRC).
The AKL lounge does have hot dishes, but not around the middle of the day. The selection of dishes does change several times throughout the day. There is quite good variety if, like me, you fly out at all sorts of hours of day and night.
AIAL always connects airbridges up to door 1L. I am pretty sure it is due to the way they are set up. The only times you ever get to enter/exit from door 2L at AKL is if unlucky enough to get a remote stand (and bussed in/out).
Looks like the postcard has changed since my last flight with SQ.
Oct 18, 2006, 1:09 am
#10
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: EL AL Matmid, BA Executive Club GfL, GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Avis President's Club
Posts: 2,085
Great report. I agree with your comments that whilst travelling at the back can be very tiresome, at the front you just want more (I once joked with a crew member that if we arrive early we should get a partial refund ... imagine being in a hotel and getting woken up at 3am and being told that the morning has arrived early today 
).
).
Oct 18, 2006, 6:35 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 6,984
As always, really enjoy your great report. And I am glad to hear that SQ still delivers consistently excellence services. ^
Just two notes:
- There is a curfew for arrival early am in LHR. When there is stronger tailwind, usually the departure ex-SIN will be delayed accordingly to make sure that the flight will not arrive at LHR when the airport has not opened yet.
- I am just being picky here.
A typo on departure for SIN-LHR. Should be gate E26, right? Arrival from AKL, should be F56? In addition, you must be lucky to have both flights with the same reg 9V-SPI.
Lastly, did you visit VS Revival at LHR this time? If yes, would love to see the pics as well.
Just two notes:
- There is a curfew for arrival early am in LHR. When there is stronger tailwind, usually the departure ex-SIN will be delayed accordingly to make sure that the flight will not arrive at LHR when the airport has not opened yet.
- I am just being picky here.
A typo on departure for SIN-LHR. Should be gate E26, right? Arrival from AKL, should be F56? In addition, you must be lucky to have both flights with the same reg 9V-SPI. Lastly, did you visit VS Revival at LHR this time? If yes, would love to see the pics as well.