Let the fun/hell begin.
Flight: SQ318
Carrier: Singapore Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Scheduled Departure time: 12.45
Duration: 14h 00m
Scheduled Arrival time: 18:55 (local)
Routing: Singapore (SIN) T3 - London Heathrow (LHR) T3
Class: Economy
Seat: 34A – Main Deck (
seat plan)
Originally, we only had an hour between flights but arriving 20 minutes early meant that we didn’t have to rush over to Terminal 3 with quite the same amount of haste.
I gathered up our party and we took the very short journey over to T3 via the monorail system.
The train arrived and immediately we were out in the open of the new and spacious Terminal 3.
Our flight to London was leaving from ‘A’ gates which is an area that is mostly used for SQ’s A380 services.
Terminal 3’s ‘A’ Gates
I could see our aircraft waiting at A5 so decided to take the opportunity to take some photos as they were in the process of loading.
Our A380 operating SQ318 to London today
The SQ A380 livery
Loading the belly of this big bird
The queues for security were already quite long so rather than dawdling we decided join them. Security was relatively quick, there were quite a few different lines active so we made our way through within 10-15 minutes and out into the spacious seating area.
‘A’ gates seating area
‘A’ gates seating area
There was a special announcement by the gate staff inviting passengers to enjoy the A380, which was interesting. Boarding was announced at 40 minutes to departure, at 12.15 and started with suites. The boarding announcements were displayed on the electronic display above the gate.
Gate A5 – boarding announcements were made on the display above the doors
Looking around the boarding area it was really obvious that the flight would be packed. It was also clear how many people you can actually squeeze on to this aircraft!
I really missed the calm of ‘board at your leisure’ priority boarding. You could see everyone hanging off every announcement with an under current of apprehension. It was subtly quite stressful.
As mentioned previously, boarding took place in a strict order. Firstly, Suites were invited to board through door A and business through door B. Main deck rows 53-63 boarded next, then rows 44-63 and upper deck 71-83. All remaining (which included us) followed last.
Walking down to the air bridge I noticed that the A380 next us to looked to be having trouble with one of it’s external sensors. A number of engineers were crowding around trying to get a better look. At one point the fire service turned up although I’m not sure for what reason.
Faulty sensor?
We boarded through door M2L, one step left would have us in the Suites section and the area around the door was decorated in such a style, with framed pictures adorning the walls.
This is all I got to see of the suites for 99% of the flight!
I arrived at my seat (34A) right on push back time at 12.45.
Let me talk a bit more about the seat. It was pretty comfortable, with thin cushions providing passengers with a 32” pitch and 19” width. A foot rest is also provided (lacking on the exit row seats). Crucially, the arm rests can be raised to the vertical to provide bench style seating if you happen to be lucky enough not to have anyone sitting next to you.
My seat for the next 14 hours – 34A
Leg room
IFE screen (taken later in the flight)
IFE controller and phone
USB, video and network port (not used)
Doors were closed at 12.50 and the Captain came over the PA announcing a flight time of 13 hours and 25 minutes. Hot towels were handed out as well as menus. Push back started shortly afterwards as the safety video was playing.