jacob_m

The flight back to Europe was on my “home carrier” SAS Scandinavian Airlines, a flight of 11 hours and 10 minutes to Copenhagen in business class.

In general I have mixed feelings about SAS, despite being the airline where I have status, there are surely some ups and some downs.
During the past years I have met a few tired and grumpy FAs, however this flight had absolutely nothing of that. It ended up being a most delightful experience!



After the rather adventurous landing it was nice to get off the plane and enter the terminal building.
Transfer security was very quick with no line, I very much appreciate they have changed the set-up so security takes place before entering the transit hall rather than just before the gate.

I already had a boarding pass for my connecting flight and quite nicely when getting off the plane from Singapore there was a young woman standing there holding an SAS sign with the departure gate used for the flight to Copenhagen.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge, C-Concourse, Bangkok

There are several Thai Airways lounges to use in Bangkok, however I do have a preference for the one in the C-concourse.
It is not as large as the one in the D-concourse so it feels cosier and more intimate. Also it has never been very crowded during any of my visits so far.



There was an adequate selection of food in the lounge, I believe the selection is the same in all Thai lounges in Bangkok.
Some cold and hot snacks (including different types of pies), sandwiches, pastries, vegetables and fresh fruits. There is usually some kind of hot food as well, something like noodles with chicken.



The selection of drinks was a mixed bag. The selection of spirits was extensive, definitely a wider selection than most business lounges.
The selection of beer and soft drinks was adequate, but very poorly there was no wine in the lounge. I don’t know why there is no wine in any of the TG lounges in Bangkok.

I got some light snacks and a Chang beer from the self-service buffet and had a seat at an empty table. Despite being a Friday evening with many midnight departures the lounge was surprisingly empty.
I checked my e-mails using the free WIFI, however I found it to be very slow.

The lounge was nice, tidy and well-maintained. The armchairs were quite nice and had nice comfortable cushions.

Pics
The entrance to the lounge
The self-service buffet area
Hot snacks
Decent selection of spirits
Snacks, pastries, sandwiches, vegetables and fruits

Boarding

I left the lounge around 11.30 pm and started walking towards the gate.
Apparently I had chosen a lounge quite far from the assigned gate E3, located in the E-concourse at the other end of the airport, however I did not mind stretching my legs a bit.

Boarding started almost the same moment as I arrived at the gate. There was a separate exit for business class passengers and a woman was holding a business class sign and also checked boarding passes of those who passed.
Nice to see priority boarding being enforced!



I was greeted at the entrance by a friendly crew and directed to my seat 04H, a window seat on the fourth row of the cabin.
I arrived just at the right moment to take some cabin photos before most other passengers arrived.

Trays with the pre-departure drinks (OJ, water and champagne) were already prepared at front of the cabin and shortly after I had settled in my seat I was offered a drink and naturally went for the bubbles.
The drinks were served in nice glasses designed by Orrefors with the old SAS logo engraved.

Newspapers were available by the entrance to the cabin, however I completely missed that and did not notice it until I saw the newspapers being removed by the crew.
A few moments later a female FA passed my seat and I told her I had missed the newspaper rack and asked her if they still had any Swedish papers left.
She assured me she would check and went a great length to find a few spare copies in the cabin and in fact delivered three different ones to my seat a few minutes later. Very nice!

Pics
The international transit hall
The business class cabin with pre-departure drinks prepared at the front
Still raining at Bangkok airport
The cabin in preparation for departure

Bangkok-Copenhagen, flight SK 972 operated by SAS Scandinavian Airlines
Departure: 00:25
Arrival: 06:35
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 04H

Boarding was completed right on time and a safety demonstration video was shown on the monitors in English.

Since SAS is the national carrier of three countries the crew on intercontinental flights is usually a mix of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians (and occasionally some more nationalities).
Language is not a problem as all crew members are used to all the three Scandinavian languages and they naturally also speak perfect English.
On this flight the captain was Swedish and the purser Danish.

We pushed back right on time at 0.30 am and took off a few minutes at 0.45 am from runway 19L.
It was still raining in Bangkok, but the thunderstorm was gone and both the take-off and climb were smooth.
The Airbus A340 has a very low rate of climb so it took a bit of time before we had reached a safe altitude and the seat belt sign was switched off.

After take-off slippers and amenity kits were handed out. The amenity kit was a new design, a dark grey bag with the standard contents as well as some skin products from Rituals.
When handed out it was wrapped in white paper, I’m not sure what the purpose was of doing that (other than avoiding any damage).

Business class was completely full on this flight to Copenhagen.
I was seated next to a French man, not too hard to figure out as I noticed he was reading a French book.
I might be wrong, but I just got the impression that I annoyed him, just some stares I got, one possible reason could be that I took photos onboard.
Anyway, to loosen up the situation a bit, when the right moment arrived I struck up a conversation with him in perfect French and that did wonders.
He was actually rather friendly and as a small coincidence we realised we worked in the same industry, but for competing companies. It’s a small world...

Pics
The business class amenity kit

The menu

The menu was printed in a new format than the one previously used in business class.
I thought it was a refreshing change and the new menu looked and felt much more elegant than the old menu which was in the shape of a booklet.

The menu was entirely in English, no pages in any of the Scandinavian languages.

Here is the menu for the overnight flight to Copenhagen:

Pics
The business class menu

The meal service



The meal service was fortunately quite quick, it was well after midnight and many passengers wanted to get some sleep.
I thought they did it just right. The entire meal service took around an hour, it was not too long but neither did it feel rushed, those who wanted to enjoy the inflight service certainly had the chance to do so.

Hot towels were handed out, white table cloths were laid on the tables and the meal tray was handed out with the appetiser (smoked trout and potato salad) as well as a bowl with salad.
Bread rolls were offered as well as a nice selection of drinks, I asked to get a glass of the French red wine.

Next the main course was offered, delivered from a decorated table by the crew.
There were three choices of main course and I chose the pork fillet with mashed potatoes.
It was excellent, very tasty!
Refills of drinks were also offered and I accepted another glass of the French red wine.

The meal trays were collected and those who wanted coffee or tea were given cups at the same time.
Right behind another trolley passed with coffee, tea, liqueurs and exquisite petits fours.
The male FA explicitly pointed out that “you can take two if you want”...

Since I wanted to get some proper sleep I declined the coffee but I did ask for a glass of Ballantines, which was later topped up.
More lovely petits fours were offered as well as chocolate pralines.

All-in-all I was most satisfied with the meal service, it was in fact very nice and certainly one of the nicer “light meals” I have had in my life...

Pics
The light dinner in business class
Petits fours and a glass of whisky
Flying over the Bay of Bengal
The cabin after the meal service

The seat



The SAS business class seat is a modern lie-flat version with excellent legroom (a 61” seat pitch) and a nice 170 degrees recline.

The seat is controlled by a rather advanced seat control in the armrest, I found it to be very straight-forward and had no problems adjusting my seat the way I wanted it.

Each business class has a private screen and also storage for a water bottle and magazines and there is a power socket in the seat in case you want to use your laptop onboard.

There are 46 business class seats on the Airbus A340 in a 2-2-2 configuration.
Eight rows in total divided into a larger cabin with six rows and a smaller cabin behind the business class galley with two rows.

Pics
The business class seat
Seat controls
The individual screen
Storage for individual water bottles

Inflight entertainment



SAS has AVOD on longhaul flights in business class and economy extra.
The selection of movies was OK but far from spectacular and nowhere near for example the Singapore Airlines KrisWorld system.
There were around 20 movies, some documentaries, audio channels and some games to play.
The IFE also had a flight map and two cockpit cameras.

In business class the IFE is enjoyed on a 10.4” screen. Perfectly fine, but it did feel a bit small compared to some newer business class screens I used during this trip.

I watched half the movie “The girl with the dragon tattoo” (Män som hatar kvinnor) as well as a documentary about the New Hebrides.

Pics
The inflight entertainment menu
IFE control
Watching the movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Män som hatar kvinnor)
Cockpit camera

The self-service buffet



SAS has a self-service buffet in business class, located just by door 2L between the larger and the smaller business class cabins.

The buffet is one of the best ones around! ^
I have not seen anything comparable on any other airline so far (I don’t know if the Emirates business class bar could be considered a self-service buffet).

An excellent selection of sandwiches, pastries, muffins, chocolates and fruits.
There is also wine for self-service, beer and soft drinks, and if you fancy a coffee you can make yourself an espresso using the espresso machine.



Just by the buffet they had also placed a nicely decorated tray with the remaining petits fours from the meal service.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to visit the lavatory, and that tray is there... Dangerous!!
They were irresistible, the petits fours tasted like small drops of heaven.

Pics
The nice buffet
Petits fours for self-service

Sleeping onboard



After the meal service they played a short movie on the monitors about SAS, presumably for Asian passengers onboard, but it was in Mandarin which made no sense on a flight from Bangkok.
Someone must have completed mixed up the languages...

The crew also passed through the cabin and asked if we wanted to be woken up for breakfast.



After finishing my glass of whisky and watching an hour of the movie I went to the lavatory to change into my sleeper suit pants and get ready for bed.

Pillows and comfortable blue duvets are provided in business class and I found the seat to be fine to sleep in.
However although the seat is lie-flat and not too far from horizontal I found the slope to be a bit strange.

It took a bit of time before I fell asleep, but I eventually got a few hours of proper sleep onboard and was in a reasonably good shape when I got off the plane.

Pics
Passengers getting some sleep in the business class cabin
The business class cabin darkened
Cosy ambiance in the cabin

Breakfast



Around two hours before landing the lights were turned on in the cabin and the crew started preparing for the breakfast service.

Hot towels were handed out to all passengers followed by very nicely decorated juice cocktails.

Table cloths were once again laid on the tables and the meal tray was handed out with the continental breakfast. A very extensive breakfast tray with fresh fruits, cheese and cold cuts, yoghurt, cereals, butter and marmalade.
Bread rolls, croissants as well as coffee and tea were offered by the crew.

Next a trolley passed through the cabin with the hot breakfast.
All of it was à la carte, so you could decide yourself what you wanted to eat out of bacon, sausages, poached eggs, beans, tomatoes, spinach, ham and mushroom pancakes, and Asian-style noodles with fish cubes.

I asked to have a bit of everything and it ended up being a very filling breakfast, I was very full afterwards.

More coffee, tea, orange juice and bread rolls were offered before the tables were cleared.

Actually this was one of the best and most extensive airline breakfasts during the entire trip!

Pics
Flying over western Russia
Morning cocktail
Continental breakfast
Hot breakfast

Arrival in Copenhagen

After breakfast I changed back to my regular clothes in the lavatory.
There are only two lavatories for all business class passengers (46 passengers on a full flight), which is simply not enough. Many business class passengers (like me) want to change into something more comfortable to sleep in and freshen up before landing, and inevitably that takes time.
There is a lavatory in the forward galley as well, but it is for crew use only.
However I got there quickly after the breakfast service, it was worse for those after me who had to wait several minutes.



We started our descent around 30 minutes before landing and a short video was shown on the monitors about Copenhagen airport and the transfer procedures.
The crew passed through the cabin to collect earphones and duvets.

The approach to Copenhagen was most beautiful!
We flew just south of the city of Malmö and then along the Öresund bridge (which connects Sweden and Denmark) while the sun was rising in the background. Absolutely spectacular!

I could spot the airport in the far distance as we passed south of it. A sharp 180 degrees turn was made for a visual approach to runway 04L where we landed at 6.20 am, a few minutes ahead of timetable.
The cockpit camera was turned on during the entire approach.

Copenhagen airport was very quiet this Saturday morning and we were safely parked at the terminal in no time and we were waived goodbye by the friendly and smiling crew.

Pics
The city of Malmö with the famous building “Turning Torso” to the left
Copenhagen airport in the far distance
Sunrise over the strait of Öresund
Final approach with the Öresund bridge in the background
Just landed, cockpit camera
The apron for smaller aircrafts at the airport
The SAS Airbus A340 seen from the terminal

Verdict

This was a delightful flight with SAS, just perfect in almost every aspect.

The food and drinks were great, lovely petits fours, an excellent self-service buffet, and a reasonably comfortable seat which I managed to sleep a few hours in.
Also very refreshing to see new elegant menus and amenity kits in business class.

However what always makes or breaks a flight is of course the crew, on this flight they were all nothing but fantastic.

The service was extremely friendly and attentive.
When I missed the newspapers in the beginning of the flight they went out of their way to find spare ones in the cabin. When I asked for a refill of my whisky glass it took 20 seconds before another FA was at my seat with the bottle.
Every time I went to either the lavatory or the self-service buffet (especially to take photos) someone stepped out of the galley to greet me and talk to me and ask if they could do anything for me or get me something to drink. It happened every time, at any time during the flight...

Another nice touch was when they rolled out the trolleys in the cabin, they always did it simultaneously in both aisles which looked very elegant and professional.

I’m surprised to say it, but my own airline actually surprised me! I have flown SAS longhaul business class before, but this was actually a much better experience than expected...

Very well done SAS! ^