Route: SIN - FRA
Flight: SQ26 / SIA26
STD: 23:55
STA: 06:20+1
Aircraft: A388 (Airbus A380-800) 9V-SKI
Class: First (A)
Seat: 1F

As is the norm at Changi airport, security was handled at each individual gate. In my case, the flight was leaving from a group of four gates which shared one security checkpoint, where about five or six lanes were open. There were actually quite a few people going through security at the time of my arrival, and I had to wait for a few minutes. Obviously, there is also some kind of priority lane, which was not clearly marked. I just overheard a french speaking guy behind me say something about „premičre classe“ to his companion while pointing to the rightmost security lane.



The gate holding area was really crowded, and somehow it doesn’t seem to be a good idea to cram passengers of up to 4 flights into a relatively confined space, particularly when one of those flight is operated by an A380. Fortunately enough, boarding started only a few minutes after I had arrived.





Once on board, I was welcomed by the three flight attendants (a woman and two guys) who would be taking care of first class during the night. I had a short conversation with the male flight attendant who showed me to my seat, and not long after, I was asked whether I prefer Dom or Krug Champagne as a welcome drink. As I had already had the Krug in the lounge and found it to be a bit too intense for the night, I opted for the Dom Perignon of which they were serving the 2009 vintage. Slippers, amenity kit and pyjamas were also brought around, and I settled down in my suite.







One thing I can tell for sure is that Singapore Airlines’ old first class suites are clearly showing their age. Everything looks quite scratched and somehow the back of my seat wouldn’t really hold tight when I leaned against it. The entire seat seems to be quite shaky, and both the backrest and the armrest would wobble quite a bit with every move I made. Additionally, I found both the locations and the size of the storage compartments at the seats to be quite impractical, as most storage areas are really small and oddly placed. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to put in there.







Also, there are no overhead beans or other luggage storage compartments in Singapore Airlines’ old suites, so your carryon would go under the ottoman across from the seat, just like in Emirates’ A380 suites. All in all I thought that, at the time of its introduction, this product was probably really industry-leading, but nowadays, it seems as if it has lived well beyond it‘s expiration date. Anyway, I believe that the planes still featuring the old suites will either be scrapped in the near future or upgraded to the new version of Singapore airlines suites. Another downside to those suites as compared to other more up-to-date products, while they are much higher than most other suites in today’s first class products, Is the fact that most parts of the walls (at least the movable parts) are only made of fabric that is rolled up within the struts of the structure and unfolds when you, for example, close the door and open the door. This hardly keeps any noise from the cabin out, and the location of my suite was directly across from a storage area that was frequently used by the flight attendants during flight.

Soon after we had taken off a few minutes behind schedule, dinner service started. I had always wondered what fellow trip reporters meant when they were talking about „robotic service“ on board of Singapore Airlines - now I can fully understand what that is about. The flight attendant who was serving me during both dinner and breakfast really made me feel as if she didn’t enjoy her job the least bit. The meal pace was quite fast, and even though everything was handled with perfection, there was never a smile or a personal comment - this really felt like the infamous „assembly line“ that is often attributed to service in SQ’s business class. I would not have expected to experience this in a first class cabin, but this might easily have been the most sterile and impersonal service that I have had so far. Furthermore, she would reply to every single sentence I’d say (even when I was just replying to her questions) with „thank you“, sometimes several times in a row.



I had selected the tuna as a starter followed by the lamb as my main and concluded by the Panna Cotta as my dessert. The food was actually quite good, and I certainly enjoyed the meal, definitely more so than previously in the lounge - A gin and tonic I had ordered as an aperiitif was also much better than what I had had in the lounge.















After dinner, I asked to have my bed made. Unlike most other first-class products these days, the seat is not put in a flat position, but folded away towards the floor, while the bed will be folded down from the wall behind the seat. During this process, the window console will also be lowered significantly, which is probably the reason why everything at the seat was slightly shaky, as most elements of the seats are actually movable. After lying down I realized That I had fully forgotten to order Singapore airlines signature drink, the Singapore sling. I rang the bell and ordered one which was promptly delivered to my seat.









Actually, I have to say that I really liked the bed itself. Even though many people complain that it is too hard for their likings, I think I never slept that well on board of a plane. I woke up again when we were just crossing the coast of Romania, when we still had approximately 3 hours to go. About half an hour later, without any previous warning, they suddenly switched on the cabin lights to full brightness. Only a few seconds later, the flight attendant was standing at the door to my seat, and more or less told me to get up because they wanted to serve breakfast. I can understand why they do something like this in business class when they have a lot of people to give out breakfast to, but even then I would expect them to warn people before they switch on the lights, or at least switch the light on gradually. Other than that, my experience in other airlines’ first class has always been that they leave the light off as long as possible, sometimes only until half an hour before landing, in order to maximize the passengers’ sleep.

Breakfast was then served with the same indifference as dinner had been served the night before, while the food quality was once again really good. Even though I’m not really a breakfast person, I enjoyed the dim sum breakfast and finished everything.









During descent, there were several announcements telling passengers who would continue on the same plane to New York that they needed to leave the plane and take all their belongings with them and could not stay on board. After a long right downwind which provided a perfect view of Frankfurt and the airport with a few really low clouds, we landed slightly behind schedule and had a very long taxi to one of the B gates.



I really have to say that I was quite underwhelmed by the entire experience that I had had on this flight. From the lounge, in which the food and drink quality was below average, to the plane, where the food was the only thing that was convincing, I would have expected much more from Singapore Airlines. Certainly, the product that I had been flying on was already quite old, and they are also planning to refurbish their lounges in Singapore soon, but it was particularly the mediocre service that disappointed me, particularly as Singapore Airlines is usually known for providing exceptional service. I might actually give them another chance if I have the opportunity to fly in their new first class, but other than that I would certainly prefer SWISS or even Lufthansa for that matter.

However, I received exceptional service after landing in Frankfurt. I did not expect this, but when I left the plane there was a guy standing right at the plane door, holding up a sign with my name and the number of my connecting flight to Paris. I have never heard about Singapore Airlines providing personal assistance for arriving or connecting passengers, and I am not sure whether this might not have been the result of me being booked on the Lufthansa codeshare, or because I was holding a SWISS ticket. Maybe someone who has more experience with Singapore Airlines can comment on this. As far as I could see, no other passengers were picked up at the plane. The guy, who told me he was originally from Greece and who was exceptionally friendly, then walked me through passport control and transit security (I am not sure whether I would have easily found the way myself, as I am completely unfamiliar with concourse B at FRA). This all happened at a very fast walking speed, almost as if I had a short connection to make (my connecting time were a more than generous three hours), and he was even removing all kinds of barriers and discussing with both border police officers and the security staff, in order to whisk me to the front of every single line. As soon as we had had reached the entrance to the „tunnel of doom“ (the underground airside corridor that connects concourses B and A at Frankfurt), I told him that I would be able to find my way alone from here.



This was really a surprisingly high level of service, and I would certainly not have expected this to happen to me in Frankfurt, of all airports in the world.