At the Airport

Singapore Airlines operates eight check-in counters in Row L at the rightmost end of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal building. Three of these eight counters were dedicated to Business Class passengers, and one to KrisFlyer Elite Gold or Star Alliance Elite Gold members. The rest of the four counters were designated to service Economy Class passengers. Unlike most airports, I am surprised to see a separate queue for elite members, which lumps Elite members into the queue with Business Class passengers.

The Aircraft

Singapore Airlines mainly deploys the older B737-800 NG, inherited from SilkAir, B737-8 Max, and the A350-900 Long Haul variant between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. We took the same A350-900 Long Haul variant for this flight back to Singapore.

The Cabin

Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul variant Business Class cabin has a total of 42 seats, with a bulk of 26 seats in the forward Business Class cabin and 16 in the more intimate aft cabin. The Business Class cabin employs an earthy tone, which is apparent in the cabin’s brown leather seats, armrests, and carpeting. Coupled with the lilac-coloured lighting during boarding, the Business Class cabin emits a sense of elegance and calmness.

Three lavatories serve all 42 Business Class passengers: one in the front part of the cabin just behind the cockpit and another two between the Business Class cabins. The Business Class lavatories were designed with the same colour tones as the cabin. The dark wood-coloured panelling at the sink cabinets and the light brown backsplash at the sink ensured the design language flowed into the lavatories. Singapore Airlines even carpeted their Business Class lavatories and decorated them with orchid flowers to make them feel more premium. Regarding amenities, the Business Class lavatories are packed with even more amenities than the Economy Class lavatories. On top of the more premium dental kits, hairbrushes and shavers, Penhaligon’s toiletries, such as hand cream, facial mist, and eau de toilette, were also supplied in these lavatories.

The Seat

Singapore Airlines Business Class seats in the A350-900 long haul variant aircraft are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with each of the 42 seats having a generous pitch of 60″ and a width of 28″, making it one of the widest seats in the skies. The seats onboard are designed with three modes: upright for takeoff/landing, angled for relaxing and lounging, and flatbed for sleeping. Two of these three modes can be accessed using the seat control buttons, which also control the lighting located on the aisle side of the seat. Converting the seat to bed mode would require the assistance of the cabin crew to flip the seat back over. Singapore Airlines also programmed an adjustment button for passengers to customise the angle of tilt and how much forward they want the seat to be to increase the comfort of the passengers. Personally, I find the lounging mode to be the most comfortable. As this was a short flight and the cabin crew was busy with service (they have a very short window to service and collect the china), I did not bother them to convert my seat into the flatbed mode. We managed to secure the highly in-demand bulkhead seats, usually blocked off for higher-tiered Singapore Airlines members during booking. The main difference between the bulkhead seat (and the main reason for their popularity) and the rest of the seats is the size of the foot well. The regular A350-900 Business Class seats were designed with a small footwell, angled towards the middle (for middle seats) and the sides (for window seats). Due to this angle, sleeping on longer flights can be a challenge. Instead of a small footwell, the bulkhead seats are designed with a footrest that spans the entire width of the seat, allowing passengers to sleep in a variety of positions. This also gave passengers more space underneath the footrest to stow away carry-ons.

Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul Business Class seats are fitted with a large solid table, stowed at the armrest away from the aisle. Despite the sturdiness of the table, deploying it is pretty effortless. While the positioning of the table was convenient, I kept bumping my elbow onto the ledge when the table was stowed away, causing it to spring out of its stowage position. The table can be swivelled for passengers to get in and out of their seats, and its height can be adjusted depending on how high passengers like the table to be (particularly useful when the seat is in bed mode).

There are several storage spaces available in Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul Business Class seats. The inflight seat pocket is located before the table, where the airlines provide reading literature such as the inflight magazine, duty-free shopping catalogue, and aircraft safety card. Right next to the seat is an open cabinet that allows us to place our tablets or laptops. However, due to the open design, items stored here must be removed during takeoff and landing. Besides the open cabinet, a deep storage compartment is designed into the armrest. I found this space perfect for storing my passport and mobile phone (when not being charged). Here comes the difference between the bulkhead and the regular Busines Class seat. The regular Business Class seats come with an additional cabinet next to the personal TV, which I usually use to store items such as my toiletries pouch or the provided amenity kit. In the regular seat, there is also a small cocktail table beneath this cabinet, which I found very useful for placing drinks. These features are not present in the bulkhead seat. I am torn between sacrificing additional storage space in the seat over the large legrest and more storage space under the legrest.

Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul Business Class seats come fitted with several lighting to illuminate, especially for night flights. Besides the overhead reading light, the seat is fitted with two more lights on either side. On the aisle side, I found three lights for passengers to use while the seat is converted to bed mode. On the middle or window side, fitted next to the open cabinet, is another adjustable reading light meant to be used when the seat is in upright or lounging mode. There are some charging outlets fitted under the seat side reading light. I found two USB-A outlets and a universal power outlet to satisfy passengers’ power needs for charging our mobile devices and laptops. Besides these power outlets, Singapore Airlines also fitted an iPod and HDMI ports for greater connectivity to the TV.

Inflight Entertainment

Singapore Airlines fitted its A350-900 Business Class seats with a large 18″ personal TV. The high-resolution TV produces crisp and sharp images, converting the seat into a mini theatre in the sky. I have flown in this Business Class product several times (the most recent time was in Jan this year when I flew from Paris to Singapore), and this is the first time I discovered the TV can be tilted to angle downwards, perfect for passengers to watch while lying down. The TV installed in the Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul Business Class product does not have a touchscreen function. Controls for movie selection must be done via the IFE controller, stored on the armrest away from the aisle. The IFE controller is very intuitive to use, and passengers can use the physical buttons or the touchscreen function on the IFE controller to select their entertainment option. Singapore Airlines did not provide headphones for the passengers as this was a short flight. I am unsure if they will be made available upon request from the cabin crew. When it comes to Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system – KrisWorld, passengers are spoilt for a choice of entertainment options ranging from the latest Hollywood blockbusters to hundreds of movies to TV series and documentaries. There is even an entertainment menu for children to access kids-friendly cartoons and movies. I’d say KrisWorld is jam-packed with numerous entertainment options catering to various passengers and entertaining us for hours.

Meal

Despite the short 1 hour flight to Singapore, Singapore Airlines manages to serve its Business Class passengers with meals. However, menus were not made available during this flight, but we could view the food options on the Singapore Airlines website. Due to the short flight time, both food options made available to us were cold food. During boarding, the cabin crew approached us and asked if we wanted the Poke Bowl or the Beetroot Toast Sandwich option. I opted for the Poke Bowl and had very low expectations of the meal since neither option was the food that I usually ate. To my surprise, the Poke Bowl served was very tasty and tasted akin to sushi. The Japanese rice complemented very well with the seared tuna, creating an interesting flavour in my mouth. Drinks were served shortly after the food was served.

Service

The service onboard this short flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore was nothing short of impeccable. We were warmly welcomed and ushered to our seats the moment we boarded the aircraft. Like clockwork, another cabin crew came around, offering us orange juice and champagne as welcome drinks when we were seen settling into our seats. Throughout our interactions with the crew, we were always addressed by our first name. We even managed to engage in short conversations with the cabin crew during boarding. The caring cabin crew took note of my 7-year-old nephew, and I saw them checking on him several times during the flight to ensure he was comfortable. As my nephew is a picky eater, the food served during this flight was nothing to his liking. The caring cabin crew gave him some biscuits in case he was hungry. I can understand the immense pressure the cabin crew faces for this short flight. Other than the fatigue of operating a turnaround flight (they are the same set of crew we flew with for our flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur), the crew working in Business Class were also under immense time pressure, having to serve food and drinks for a flight that is barely 1 hour long. Despite these pressures, the cabin crew still serviced their Business Class passengers with a smile, and service did not come across as rushed.

Afterthought

Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul Business Class seats are very comfortable, being the largest seats in the sky. The cushioning on these seats made one feel like sinking into them and not getting up. I particularly like the seat in lounge mode, where I was able to adjust the seat to the angle I find most comfortable. It is a shame that headphones were not provided for this short hop between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which hampers passengers from enjoying the numerous entertainment options on KrisWorld (I brought my headphones). Despite being under immense time pressure, the well-oiled procedure and teamwork allow the cabin crew to service passengers with much grace and with a smile. This short flight with Singapore Airlines in their Business Class exceeded my expectations, and I thought the crew did a great job ensuring that passengers were well taken care of.