Sin - mle sq462
 

For a detailed write up, kindly visit my blog here! Sorry as I can only include 20 images here :rolleyes:

Finally the day has come for my redeemed flight in J to Maldives for a long awaited vacation. Redeem using miles for my companion while purchasing tickets for myself using AMEX Ascend allows me to take full advantage while in being the first three months of card activation. Got a whole lot worth's of miles from this trip while redeeming a free ticket too.

Singapore Airlines operates a twice daily return flight to Maldives from Changi International Airport. The two outbound flights are SQ462 and SQ452 respectively. SQ462 departs at 1005 local time while SQ452 departs at 2045 in the night. However, it is sad to know that Singapore Airlines will only operate morning flights to Maldives, Male International Airport on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from now on.

Naturally, it would be better to take SQ462 to be there in Maldives at 1135 Maldivian time in the afternoon, just nice for your hotel check in after your transfer to the hotel. More about the accommodation in due time. Thus, I am at the SQ check in counter which opens 24/7 at terminal 2 at 6am in order to have sufficient time to do some shopping and have my breakfast at the Silverkris lounge.

Located in Passenger Terminal Building Two (Inside the departure/transit area), the Silverkris Lounge is on the third floor, of the northern wing all the way in after the Krisflyer Gold Lounge. Contrary to what many would expect, the Silverkris Lounge is actually a tier higher than the Krisflyer Gold Lounge.
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After having our boarding pass verified by the lounge dragon, we are granted access to the business lounge on the left side. The right side is reserved for suites, first and PPS passengers traveling with the airline.
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There are a few dining tables and a single high table which was quickly taken up, thus proceed to the arm chairs lounge areas while ferrying food and drinks back repeatedly. Food selection is definitely more than that of SATS premier lounge and they have a wide selection of drinks!
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Good times pass fast, before long it was time to proceed to the boarding gate E28 for our flight to Maldives!
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At the gate, there was already quite a queue. But thanks to the efficient operations of the Airport police, we cleared security checks in about five minutes. Remember to have your laptop & ipad's out to save time! Boarding have already commenced but I believe there is still some time for aircraft spotting!
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SQ462 SIN to MLE was operated by a Airbus 330 for the four hour flight to the islands nation of Maldvies.
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Made a left turn and headed for the L1 door via the air bridge! No queues at all despite being at the gate rather late. Grab a papers and proceeded onto the aircraft! Quite surprised that there is no cabin crew at the door, so we made our own way to the seats!
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We were seated at 12A and 12C, with Singapore Airline's 330 being a twin cabin configuration (30 Business Class & 255 Economy Seats); seat numbers starts from row 11. Perhaps due a lacking of first class.
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A look onto the ground operations while the cabin crew are busy preparing to depart on time. A selection of juices and water was offered to passengers along with hot towels. Beverage orders was also taken pre-takeoff. Take a quick look at the F&B menu while waiting for push back!
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Selection of wines and champagne to get the vacation started!
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Cocktails menu, would recommend a Singapore sling if you are a not a Singaporean or a Silverkris cocktail if you are also flying this route for a island resort vacation.
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After a quick taxi to Runway 20C, we were airborne and commenced a left climbing turn towards the north before a final heading change to the west heading to VRMM.

Once seatbelts signs are off, the cabin crews sprung into action preparing beverages and meals for business class passengers. Was previously informed that there is only two cabin crew serving the whole business class, thus,. workload can get quite heavy!
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As a fan of bubbles, Singapore Airlines does provides Bollinger Special Cuvee, which is the result of the delicate blending between harvest grapes and a majority of reserve wines, including some, aged in magnums for more than 15 years in Bollinger's cellars. A perfect match for my pre-ordered Lobster Thermidor through SQ's BTC menu.
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A frequent traveler's delight! Satay with assorted condiments is said to have helped traveling Singaporean businessman feel more at home after many days overseas.
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Personal inflight information, after flying with budget airlines for quite sometime; you forget that there is inflight information on krisworld...

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Entree is served in full table service, complete with contemporary designer tableware from Givenchy. And should you wish, the table may be adjusted to varying heights, allowing one to dine in absolute comfort.
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SIA's pioneering Book the Cook service that enables you to pre-order and have your gourmet main course specially prepared for you. Be tantalised by a wide range of gastronomical pleasures only available exclusively in our premium classes of travel.
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Out of Singapore, enjoy a wide range of over 60 diverse dishes, including dishes created exclusively for Singapore Airlines by the world's most sought-after culinary masters from our International Culinary Panel, all-time favourites, low-fat and low-carbohydrate delights and comforting local fare. However, should the onboard menu entices you; one may also choose the local menu.

Should you choose the local menu, the cabin crew will benefit from your generous donated menu. Followed by desserts (Crème brûlée), fresh fruits with coffee & tea.
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Ending with some port (Fortified Wine) to go with selection of cheeses... Non stop wine tasting and pairing with great food.

Approaching VRMM, Maldives's Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (IATA: MLE, ICAO: VRMM), more commonly known as Malé International Airport, previously known as Hulhulé Airport, is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé.
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VRMM is a small international airport with disproportionate number of commercial aircraft at the apron.Arriving and departing aircraft have use the runway as a main taxiway to get into position for takeoff or to proceed to the apron.

After a short taxi we are at our parking stand, there is no air bridges and passengers have to rely on air stairs to get off the aircraft.

Which is good in my case as it provides me with a opportunity to get up close and personal with the aircraft. Allowing for great photo opportunity as you are one of the first off the aircraft.

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Just cross the driveway and at a short 100meters away will be the arrival terminal.

No queues yet at the arrival terminal, wonder what will be like if it was raining. But it was a nice touch for arrival into a exotic island vacation!

Tourists and visitors into Maldives be advised that it is a Muslim country and importation of alcoholic beverages of all kinds is not permitted. Even those that are brought in airport duty free and sealed in translucent packing with receipt display nor those brought onboard aircraft duty free.

The airport is most non air-conditioned and there might be quite a queue to clear immigrations in your arrival time is closed to that of other airlines.

Out of the arrival area, you will see many resort's counters ahead. Just proceed to your booked resort's counter and the staff there will have your flight details and arranged for transportation to the island resort.

Don't expect to see cabs outside the airport as the city is far from the city and only accessible by water taxi or seaplanes.
Click here to read more about our trip report in Maldives Island Resort, Centara Ras Fushi.

For a video compilation of our Maldives Trip, do go to the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-jEUQodJr0

looks like the CX product to MLE is going to be much better than this, maybe SQ will change when CX joins

Great TR. What app is this?

thanks for tr. Its 20 photos per post. I honestly don't get the allure of the maldives. Each to their own I expect.

The app is called Air Nav Pro and it's available on iTunes for a fee. It's more like a budget Garmin GPS handset. Does CX flies to MLE at the moment? Didn't know about that!

Well now that SQ is cutting the day flight to MLE, other airlines can scoop in and pick up the demand!

Thanks for all your support and looking forward to reading more trip reports from you guys! It was all your post that got me interested to fly more and share my experiences, so thank you!

Will be sharing more on my return flight and transit experience in Changi Intl to Melbourne. MLE -> SIN -> MEL

Transiting in SIN [SQ451 - EK404]
 

Continued from my previous trip report on my outbound flight and stay in Maldives, this report will include my return flight and transit experience in Singapore.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...mle-sq462.html

After the boat ride from the resort to the airport where departing passengers have to go thru a security check before collecting this boarding pass inside the restricted area.

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After collecting your tickets, don't forget to redeem your deposited alcohol beverages here:

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After immigrations, you will have another security check before you find yourself in the duty free section of the airport.

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There is only on lounge for all first and business class passengers for all airlines. Of course, Plaza Premium members are also welcome to use the lounge. Sorry for the shaky image though...

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Soon it was boarding time and many passengers are already queuing up. Did not find a separate line for J passengers so I gave up and plan on being the last one boarding after finding a seat in the common boarding area. Thankfully a call was made for all J and Star Alliance Gold members to board using a seperate line.

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Boarding time, it is actually quite nice to be on the tarmac at night. It gives you more perspective especially when the lights comes into play.

The flight was about 80% full in business class and I overheard some stewardess worrying about the high number so certain passengers onboard. Recently it came out in the news that several passengers took cutlerys and refused to return them. For more details of the flight and Male International Airport click here.

http://www.sg-flight.com/2013/09/sin...e-intl-to.html

I shall then contiune with my transit experience after we landed at Changi International Airport the next morning from SQ451. The first thing we did was to have some breakfast over at Burger King before heading to Terminal 1's transfer desk to collect our tickets for our evening flight to Melbourne on Emirates flight EK404.

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I had previously checked my luggage to MEL from MLE via Singapore by informing the counter agenet at Maldives Airport.

Transit at Changi is never dull as there is so many places to explore and visit. There is a free movie screening at T3 which is also a sleeping lounge for many passengers.

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A butterfly park, various massage points, gym and many more....

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Head over to terminal 3 for some shopping and spotted several A388 and took a couple of shots.

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Brought a gift and got a card for 50 chances at the draw at Changi. I was told that the going rate for winning small prizes was about 1 gift per 50 chances.

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A very "unexpected" win! We got a travel pouch, better then nothing.

For foreginers new to Singapore with 6 to 8 hours to spare before their connecting flight, there is also a free Singapore Day tour to the city provided by the government at no cost.

However, do register early as slots tend to fill up rather quickly. The booth is located at T3, close to the A380 boarding gate A & and the skytrain zone.

After walking around for sometime, we came across this:

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A perfect solution for our weary legs!

After the short massage, we managed to make it to the Ambassdor Transit Hotel at Terminal 1.

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It was rather quiet and we paid USD90 for 6hours of rest time on dual basis. It was funny that you have to call to have toothbrushes delivered to you.

However, one good news is that our room comes with a small window where I could do some spoting. Video as follows in the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=y0pi90piPm8

Soon, it was 6pm and we woke up recharged and have a nice shower. After meeting afew friends in the airport, it was time to proceed for dinner.

We headed to level 2 of the departure transit area at terminal one where the airline lounges are located. Using the vouchers from my Amex Ascend card, we was able to get into Sats Premier Lounge for dinner and drinks while waiting for our flight even though we will be traveling in EK404's Y class.

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There is buffet spread was quite descent with a reasonable selection of hot food, salad bar, breads, fruits, drinks and alcoholic beverages. Shower is also available upon request where they will provide you with towels.

Soon it was time for boarding, it was a nice experience transiting in Singapore Changi International Airport!

sgflight I've merged this with your previous thread so that the report flows as one trip.

Thank you.

matthandy
Moderator: Trip Reports