Hello,

my 3 friends and I are planning to travel to Singapore in the Summer and we're about to start planning/booking. We're based in Vienna so basically the flight options are:

VIE-ZRH-SIN with a Swiss A340-300
VIE-FRA-SIN with a Lufthansa A380-800

But both of those are long 11h+ flights. We are all 1,90m+ and can only afford economy, so we wanna rather avoid being cramped into this tight space for 12h at once. That leaves the other two options:

VIE-DOH-SIN with a Qatar B787-8
VIE-DXB-SIN with an Emirates B777-300ER

Both would be roughly 5-6h to Doha/Dubai, 6-7h to Singapore.

1) Should we go with Emirates or Qatar?
2) Which airport is more interesting for the stay inbetween flights?
3) Are the 787 seats/legspace really even narrower/smaller? In 2013 I flew with an American 777-300ER and I was already jammed into this tiny uncomfortable seat which was hardly bearable, how can there be even less space than that?
4) Emirates has free booze, does Qatar have that too?
5) Who has the better food? I assume they both serve 2 meals in the 6h+ flight and only 1 in the 5h flight?

Thanks!

1. Definitely Qatar given the equipment used on those routes. The 9 abreast 77W from EK will be a lot more cramped than the 788 on QR.

2. DXB is more interesting since it's a lot bigger thus it has more to do.

3. The 787 Y seats on QR give you ample pitch and is the best your going to get between those two carriers.

4. Not sure about this one, but most likely yes.

5. This really doesn't matter, they are Y meals, so probably very similar.

Throwing something else into the mix.
I'm 1.88, a bit shorter.

If you want good Y meal and a break in-between, you can also consider Turkish Airlines.

I'm ok with the seats on TK.

The EK 77W afaik is flying in 3-4-3 configuration, so even worse!

I just checked again and it turns out, the QR flight from DOH to SIN will be in an A350-900 That's a dream come true. From what I read the economy seats in the a350-900 are extra spacy(in 3-3-3 config), right? At least it seems the width is 18,5ft in the A350 and 17,9ft in the 787-8 and both are in 3-3-3 configuration.

(please forgive me if I'm talking bollocks, I'm really an amateur in regards to those details but fascinated nonetheless)

Oops, I meant to put 10 abreast ! Book the QR flight !

The 787 seats on Qatar are awfully cramped in Economy, or so I have read.
But if they are changing to the A350, then I think it would be better. I have not flown on Qatar, so I don't have first hand experience.

I've flown with Emirates in Economy. Pretty good.

Here are some video reviews. Emirates Singapore to Dubai on the A380.
https://youtu.be/-nXZM64tHXc

Emirates Dubai to London on the A380.
https://youtu.be/4DUkv4aihuU

The Dubai Airport is massive. But our layover was quite long, about 3 hours.

Another option would be to fly Austrian or EVA VIE to BKK and connect there. That's a 10 hour flight on the long leg.

QR - Cramped: 787, Normal: 777, 330, 340, 350, 380
EK - Cramped: 777, Normal: 340, 380

Avoiding the cramped aircraft is probably the most important factor.

QR--787 and more room seals the deal.

QR 787 is one of the cramped configurations to avoid.