SIN-EWR - the inaugural worlds longest flight, part II
28 June pm (SIN timezone)
Before I get on to the flight - something more on the pre-flight matters (mainly the gate reception which I missed).
All passengers and invited guests were treated to drinks (champagne, orange juice, etc) and nibbles at the gate. There were the inevitable speeches, and on boarding Sinatra's
New York, New York was playing.
Throughout the airport visitors were provided with free "big apples". I was pleased to see they were NZ apples ^
Okay now back to the flight. It is time to sit down, buckle up and prepare for take-off (suitably put in the mood by some more pre-take-off champagne of course
)
During the latter stages of boarding the TV screens played a short (5 minutes?) segment commissioned by SQ on New York featuring mayor Bloomberg and the Gabbie (?) Cabbie. This video is currently playing on all SQ flights.
After the safety video played we had a short taxi and took off just a few minutes late.
Soon after take-off I met up with
StarG,
CGK and an english fellow living in the ukraine who we all recognised from the SIN-LAX inaugural. We spent a lot of time talking during the flight - apologies to passengers towards the rear of the front business cabin if we were too noisy. We were joined for a short while by a woman from SQ's
??? department who wanted to meet the passengers who were doing the double inaugural and thank us for our support
A journalist spent quite a lot of time talking with us - she had also been on the SIN-LAX inaugural.
It was to be quite some time later before we caught up with the nice non-FTer who was also doing the double inaugural (and did so for SIN-LAX too).
For those who havent checked out the various SQ A345 and SIN-LAX threads I will give a brief run-down of seating, IFE, etc. More info and thoughts on seat selection can be found in the threads linked in post 1. One point of difference I noted from SIN-LAX is the front business cabin was much quieter with less traffic between the forward and middle galley. I guess the initial teething problems and logistics have all been worked out over the past 4 months or so ^
There are 2 business cabins, with galleys serving the cabin at the front of each section. The toilets at the second galley have a window ^ and there is also a very small area with snacks and magazines at the second galley.
Business seats are spacebeds. Some FTers have previously posted they are slightly narrower than usual, but even as big as I am I did not notice any difference. There is however a lot more pitch making it much easier to get to the aisle from window seat, although if the aisle passenger is stretched out you still have to step over her/him unless in the bulkhead row. Biz seating is 2-2-2. On the seat in front is the screen, usual pouches to put stuff in, mirror, coat hook, etc. The bulkhead row has screen on the wall and doesnt have as much storage space or mirror or coat hook. Personally I didnt care for those things and so was pleased to get bulkhead on the return.
Executive economy is 2 cabins - the front one being much smaller than the rear. The galleys are at the front and rear of the economy section. The passenger standing area is between the rear of economy and the back galley, and contains several windows, plus snacks and drinks.
Executive economy seats have increased pitch
(and width?) over other aircraft, and are layed out 2-3-2. Reportedly very comfortable for economy.
IFE is the extended Wisemen 3000 version. All on demand - 60 movie channels, over 90 tv channels, over 200 audio channels and 56 game channels. There is also an hourly news update with which you can keep in touch of events of the day while in the air.
Towards the end of the flight my IFE and seat functions (movement, light) failed completely, as did those of some other passengers. The engineer/systems guy on board very quickly and efficiently rebooted each passenger affected individually without needing to shut the whole system down.
Food and drink were fairly good and certainly in plentiful supply. I will post the business menu later [edited - or get
StarG's scanned menus linked in - he also has economy menus]. One thing I found odd was the timing of the meals was clearly set to SIN time - ie lunch a couple of hours after take off, dinner some 8 odd hours later and a breakfast before landing. The flexi meal option (for middle meal) from the inaugural SIN-LAX was gone. I wonder if that change is just for SIN-EWR (perhaps New York bound passengers are less demanding than Los Angeles bound ones
) or has been made for SIN-LAX too?
The service was fairly good with regular sweeps of the cabin by the crew. For me it was noticeably slower service in some mid-flight portions (when some crew rostered for rest), but more normal(!) passengers who were resting/sleeping may not have noticed.
As you may have guessed I didnt get a lot of sleep as spent too much time talking and was generally too excited. Filled in the rest of the time effortlessly eating, drinking, playing games, watching movies, drinking, etc. Didnt even read the book I'd brought just in case, or the magazines that I'd taken from the shelf.
For those who may be curious as to the routing. SIN-EWR is considered trans-pacific (as it is a crossing between Asia and America). The flight path took us north east past Japan, keeping well clear of the typhoon near Philippines. Then turning more easterly at Kamchatya to pass north of the Aluetian Islands, over central Alaska and northern Canada. On the way back south we passed over Toronto. Nearing EWR, we zig-zagged a bit down the Hudson Valley and eventually straight into landing. No scenic fly-by the city as per the SIN-LAX inaugural - I can understand why.
Naturally I purchased the model A345 (now I have quite a few) to get the signed certificate of flight. By now my carry-ons are both very full and there is still the return flight - oh oh. One thing that did annoy me a little was a rejection of my offer to purchase something else (more expensive) in the SkyShop and get the certificate with that.
Next up, an eventful 4 hours at EWR.