Singapore Airlines 860, Singapore Changi (SIN) to Hong Kong (HKG)
February 23rd, 2018
8:25 am–12:25 pm
Airbus A380 9V-SKU
Seats 1A/F (HOLY CRAP IT’S THE NEW SUITES CLASS)
Down to the gate and through security the flight was already more than half boarded by the boarding time listed on our boarding passes. But that’s okay.
Here’s the thing. When we booked this, the new Suites product hadn’t even been announced yet, let alone been assigned to any routes. So it was a serious stroke of luck that our flight from Singapore to Hong Kong ended up being the fourth flight ever on the route with the new product.
Our original 3C and 3D became 2A and 2F, meaning nobody would get the double suite on this flight. We inquired with the gate agent about the possibility of changing seats, and he asked us to refrain from boarding until he could speak with the people in 1A and 1F, hoping that they would take the A double suite and we could have the F double suite or vice versa. Sure enough, the gentleman in 1A was just a few people behind us in line, and after a long back-and-forth that he didn’t really seem to comprehend, he said okay and the gate agent crossed out 2A on my wife’s boarding pass and wrote in 1F.
On to the plane!
Somehow, as soon as he boarded, Mr. 1A decided that he and his wife absolutely had to be in the same row and that facing backwards for any part of the flight was totally unacceptable, so we were left with no option but to apologize profusely for causing so much confusion and to take their original seats, meaning my wife and I ended up in 1A and 1F and none of the four people involved had their original seat. Whatever.
Turns out it’s still the greatest thing ever.
My first view of the seat was with it facing forward in the takeoff position.
You might think on seeing this that that’s an awfully small screen for a first class airline seat, and you’d be right. Thankfully, it’s just the backup screen for when the main screen can’t be used. The main screen is, dare I say, substantially larger.
Below the backup screen, there’s a bassinet fitting and a big cocktail table on either side.
The table towards the aisle includes the tray table and a set of power outlets.
The seat swivels around to face the aisle for maximum space.
Just inside the suite door, there’s a closet that is also, dare I say, substantial in size.
Along the window side, there’s power, there’s storage, and there’s the remote control tablet.
Five minutes later—exactly enough time to get settled, but not enough time to notice one had been waiting at all—a flight attendant appeared with some vintage Krug for our troubles.
The flight pushed back about ten minutes late, and the safety video screened just about everywhere.
Once it was time for takeoff, the cabin crew forced everybody to face forward and deactivated my big screen.
About the remote control: there’s also the traditional IFE remote you find on most planes, but this was a battery-powered Android tablet that detached from its holder and everything that you could use to peruse the entertainment selection. Impressive.
A short flight, so time to start right in on a movie. I don’t remember the IFE system on other planes showing how much time is left in the flight in comparison to the length of the movie.
Half an hour later, time for brunch. Here’s the full menu.
Showtime.
We had eaten in The Private Room about two and a half hours earlier, so we weren’t super hungry. I started with a nice fruit plate.
I made it all the way to four beverages at the same time. Not bad, though one of these four is significantly more expensive than the others.
Bread basket.
For the main course, I opted for the dim sum: “seafood dumpling in superior soup, pork siew may, seafood pickle cabbage dumpling, steamed pork pot sticker and vegetarian dumpling”. Fantastic!
After I was all set up with my main, the flight attendant closed the door to the suite and I was left alone with my brunch, my movie, and my ludicrously spacious airline seat.
Dessert was a forgettable raspberry and rose cream eclair with lychee gel.
A bit later on, I stopped by the lavatory. Different airlines do different things with the massive areas at the front of the upper deck of the A380; many have a lavatory on one side and storage or a lounge on the other. Singapore has a large one on the starboard side along with a smaller one and some storage on the port side.
The starboard lavatory is huge. The extra space in this case is used for a makeup vanity.
The port lavatory is a bit smaller, to the point that I’d describe it as merely “oversized”.
A few more seat photos: the ceiling has a nice pattern to it.
The tablet docks on the window side table, but there’s also a holder for it on the aisle side table since you’ll be facing that way for watching entertainment.
One movie and one meal left me with about half an hour left to go before landing in Hong Kong, so all I could do was watch the only TV show that exists on planes. On the smaller backup screen, the horror!
Nice approach on a nice day in Hong Kong.
Finally, a window seat pointing in the right direction! The plane spotting involved lots of similar planes, though.
Cathay Pacific A330, Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific 777s.
Lots of Hong Kong Airlines planes.
Peach A320 in front of a few HK Express planes.
More Cathay Pacific planes; American 777.
Cathay Dragon and XiamenAir planes.
China Eastern 737.
Farewell to this plane and onwards!
The review
No doubt, the new number one flight I’ve ever taken. Not even a contest. Old suites was great, but this is on just an entirely different level. I can only imagine just how nice this would be for a proper long haul.