At the Airport

Singapore Changi Airport

Check-in

Our Singapore Airlines flight to Seoul departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. However, despite its refurbishment in 2022, this SilverKris Lounge still feels outdated. We checked in at Terminal 3, where Singapore Airlines also operates several rows of counters, since we prefer to use the flagship SilverKris Lounge in that terminal. Singapore Airlines dedicated the whole of Row 6, in the centre of the terminal, to its premium passengers to check in. Seven of the nine counters serve Business Class passengers, and one serves First and Suites Class passengers. Our check-in experience left much to be desired, where the ground staff at the counter took her time to check us in. We were made to wait for 10 minutes while she took her time casually punching our details into her computer without any explanation of what took her so long. She ignored our questions when asked what the issue was, and this time she hastened our check-in. The whole check-in process took us 20 minutes. After check-in, the ground staff only told us that our flight departed from Terminal 2 and did not provide information on the lounge or the boarding time.

SilverKris Lounge (Terminal 3)

The escalator to the SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 is about a 2-minute walk from the immigration checkpoints. One floor above the immigration, SilverKris Lounge, Singapore Airlines’ flagship lounge, is at the end of the corridor. Another escalator opposite Bacha brought us directly to the lounge’s entrance. The SilverKris Lounge exudes a relaxing vibe with its use of earthy themes, while the use of marble throughout the lounge gives it a luxurious vibe. The expansive four sections of the lounge ensured passengers would find a spot to relax while waiting for their flight. The section immediately to the right of the entrance mainly consists of lounging furniture and some bar tables. A bar counter is next to the entrance, where passengers can grab drinks. There is a buffet table after the bar where the limited choices of food and a fridge of beverages provide convenience for passengers utilising this part of the lounge.

The main and larger part of the lounge sits to the left of the entrance. The main dining area is dominated by a large number of dining chairs and tables stretching to the window with a view of the apron. A few lounging chairs before the main dining area provide limited seating for passengers who prefer to lounge near the food area. This area is also where the toilets and shower facilities are located. Food in the SilverKris lounge is mainly served in a buffet line that includes Chinese, Malay, and Indian cuisines. A small section at both ends of the buffet line serves made-to-order food. I like the Laksa served in the made-to-order section, and always order this dish whenever I visit the SilverKris Lounge.

There is another section opposite the main buffet line, furnished with a mix of high-back lounge chairs and single-seater sofas for passengers to relax. This area was previously temporarily used as the First Class Lounge when it was closed for renovations. The high-back lounge chairs provide passengers with some privacy, which is great for those who want to do some work. There are 14 semi-enclosed sleeping pods in the SilverKris Lounge at Terminal 3, housed in a room at the back of the dining area. These pods are available on a first-come, first-served basis. These pods are furnished with rather comfortable leather lounge chairs (which the angles cannot be adjusted) and a small table for passengers to rest while waiting for their flight. Blankets and pillows can be obtained from the cabinet by the entrance of the sleeping room.

Seoul Incheon Airport

Check-in

Singapore Airlines flies out of Seoul Incheon Airport Terminal 1. The airline operates check-in counters D27-D34 at the end of Row D, located on the left of the terminal. The nearest door to these counters is Door 4. Singapore Airlines dedicated two counters to Business Class passengers, one to Krisflyer Elite Gold and Elite Silver status passengers, and four to Economy Class passengers. The check-in experience at Incheon Airport was very pleasant, a huge difference from our experience at Singapore Changi Airport. The ground staff welcomed us with a warm smile and efficiently processed our check-in. She also provided detailed directions to the SilverKris Lounge and where to go for our tax refund. She even gave us an estimation of the time it would take us to walk from the SilverKris Lounge to our boarding gate.

Asiana Lounge West

Seoul Incheon Airport is one of the handful of overseas airports where Singapore Airlines operates its SilverKris Lounge. Since we had previously been to the SilverKris Lounge at Incheon Airport and thought the lounge would be crowded, we opted to use the Asiana Lounge. Asiana operates several lounges in Seoul Incheon Airport, and the West Lounge, opposite Gate 29, was the nearest to our boarding gate. We thought the Asiana Lounge might be less crowded, and the queue for showers might be shorter. However, we spent about 1½ hours waiting for the shower room here. Asiana Lounge West adopted an earthy theme with the large use of dark brown wood on the flooring and the walls in the lounge. Right after the lounge entrance, opposite the toilet and shower rooms, are some bar tables with charging outlets, which seem to be designed as a work station for passengers.

Asiana Lounge West is segregated into the forward lounging section and the back dining area. The first thing that greeted us was a bar right after the entryway into the lounge, where passengers can help themselves to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The lounging area was furnished with armchairs that were oddly arranged to face the bar and entrance, providing little privacy. However, a limited number of cubicle pods are lined up at the side of the lounge. The last two of these pods are fitted with massage chairs. Due to their limited numbers and passengers tend to hog these pods, we could not find any available during our 2-hour stay at the lounge. The area at the back of the lounging area is furnished with armchairs and coffee tables, which cater to passengers who want a drink with a few friends.

A feature wall separates the lounging and dining area in the lounge. Seats in the dining area are arranged in a 2 chairs to 1 table format, placed next to the buffet table. These seats are packed very close to each other, making assessing them a tad difficult. The food offering at Asiana Lounge West is rather disappointing. Being in their home port, I thought the lounge would be stocked with many food options. However, to my disappointment, we only found one meat, two vegetables and a pasta served in the hot food section. Perhaps the most Korean cuisine in the lounge was the cup noodles found at the beverage station. The salad section occupies the other end of the buffet table, and a selection of bread is in the centre. I thought the food offering at Asiana Lounge West was underwhelming for an airline in its home port.

The Aircraft

We flew on the Singapore A350-900, fitted with a medium-haul Business Class product for both legs of the flight.

The Cabin

Singapore Airlines A350-900 has a total of 303 seats, with 40 seats in Business Class and 263 in Economy Class. The Business Class cabin comprises two sections, the larger forward cabin housing 28 seats and a smaller aft cabin with 12 seats. Singapore Airlines Regional Business Class A350-900 is decked in cream and brown colour, together with the lilac lighting used during boarding, exudes a relaxing vibe. The dark brown colour is apparent from the Business Class seats from the shell’s interior to the cabin’s carpet. The design of the cabin’s overhead compartment provides a small footprint that makes the cabin look airy and spacious.

Three lavatories serve the 40 passengers in Business Class, one in the front of the aircraft and two more between the two Business Class cabins. The lavatories felt small, and the use of white lights and mirrors did not make them feel any larger. The dark brown backsplash and grey marble patterned plaster flooring gave it a luxurious feel. Other than the dental kits and shavers which can be found in the drawers, Singapore Airlines also stocked its Business Class lavatories with Penhaligon’s eau de toilette, facial mist and hand lotion, which seem to be out of league with their newly launched Le Labo amenities kit.

The Seat

Singapore Airlines introduced its Regional Business Class seats in 2018. These Business Class seats are arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, ensuring all passengers get direct aisle access. These seats next to the window provide more privacy compared to the aisle side seats, but the high-back shell design in the seats enhances privacy for passengers in the aisle side seats. Singapore Airlines’s Regional Business Class seats have a pitch of 60″ and measure 28″ wide. These seats have armrests that can be lowered when the seat is in bed mode to increase the seat width slightly. Like all Business Class lie-flat seats, Singapore Airlines Regional Business Class seats come with three standard modes: Upright, Lounging, and Flatbed modes, that can be adjusted using the touchscreen seat control buttons at the side table. The padding on these leather seats is sufficiently thick to provide comfort for passengers even in the Upright mode. The seat can also recline 180° with a touch of a button, turning the seat into a true flat bed. However, I find the headrest a little too low for my preference in flatbed mode, requiring me to use two pillows or tilt slightly upwards. I had a great 4 hours of sleep on both legs of the flight in flatbed mode. My favourite of all three modes is the Lounging mode, somewhere between the most upright and fully flat mode, where the seat is adjusted to an angle where I was able to dine and watch movies. I like how the seat angle can be further adjusted using the additional control buttons for passengers to customise to an angle of their preference.

Each Singapore Airlines Regional Business Class seat is fitted with a cabinet with a sliding door by the side, above the side table. This cabinet was already full with headphones, a bottle of water, and the in-flight menu during boarding. Although the storage capacity of the cabinet was small, I welcomed this cabinet as it provided me with easy access to my 11″ iPad and power cables that I would use in-flight. The side table, mainly used as a cocktail table, can also be used to stow some items during cruising. The seat pocket is found near the floor at the exit of the seat. Apart from the storage cabinet, the space under the footrest can also be used to store carry-ons.

The Regional Business Class seat table is stowed under the IFE screen and can be deployed with the pull of a lever. It expands to a rather sizeable and sturdy table when fully deployed. However, due to its design, the seat table must be stowed away when getting in and out of the seat. Singapore Airlines Regional Business Class seats are equipped with one international power outlet and two USB-A charging outlets inside the side storage cabinet. Due to the requirement to keep the cabinet door open when charging, the airlines purposefully placed the charging outlets so that the cabinet door cannot be closed when charging from the power outlet or the USB-A outlets. On top of the overhead lighting, Singapore Airlines Business Class seats are fitted with three additional reading lights on the headboard of the seat to provide illumination in all three seat positions.

Inflight Entertainment

Singapore Airlines fitted a large 18″ touchscreen TV in every one of their Regional Business Class seats. The picture quality of these screens was great without much reflection. The TV can be tilted downwards to allow passengers to watch movies from the KrisWorld while lying down. The IFE controller comes in the form of a phone-like device with a large, easy-to-use touchscreen. It also has this air mouse mode, which I never got used to using. Fortunately, the distance from the IFE screen still allowed me to use the responsive touchscreen function to select the movies I wanted to watch. Singapore Airlines supplies noise-cancelling headphones to all its Business Class passengers, which are very effective in blocking out the ambient noise. KrisWorld is Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system with a huge library of movies organised into an easy-to-navigate menu. The KrisWorld is loaded with numerous entertainment options, from the latest Hollywood movies to yesteryear movies to TV serials. There is even a games section in KrisWorld to keep young passengers and the young-at-heart entertained. Singapore Airlines also provides free in-flight Wi-Fi to its Business Class passengers and KrisFlyer members travelling in Economy Class. While the Wi-Fi speed does not allow streaming, it is good enough for communicating via chats and posting on social media.

Meal

Back in 2019, when we flew on Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Seoul, we were served two meals for redeye flights. For this trip, we were only served one meal, which we had to choose to be served after take-off or before landing.

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We opted to have our meals before landing to maximise snoozing time on this redeye flight. The cabin crew woke us up about 2 hours before landing to serve us our meals. Due to the short meal service time, we were only served mains and fruits as desserts in one setting. Flying out of Singapore, the airline has an extensive Book-the-Cook menu, giving us many more meal options. I heard good reviews on the Singapore Chicken Rice and pre-ordered this dish from the Book-the-Cook menu. The chicken rice portion was big and was as good as the reviews I read online. The rice was fragrant, and the chicken remained tender and moist. It went very well with the provided condiments, like the chicken rice, chilli sauce, and minced garlic. However, I was disappointed that Singapore Airlines did not serve its famous garlic bread during this redeye flight.

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Singapore Airlines also provided a limited choice of the Book-the-Cook menu for flights out of Seoul. I chose the Stir-Fried Pork Belly from the Book-the-Cook menu and opted for the meal to be served before landing to maximise my sleeping time on this redeye flight. Unlike our outbound leg, where the cabin crew would wake us up for meals 2 hours before landing, the cabin crew did not wake us up. It was about 1½ hours before landing when I woke up and had to request my meal. The meal service started with the main course, which I found the pork to be flavourful but a little tough. Fruits were presented as dessert after the cabin crew cleared my main. Like my outbound flight, garlic bread was unavailable during this redeye flight.

Service

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For this leg, we were warmly welcomed by the cabin crew at the door and pointed to the aisle where we would find our seats. The cabin crew came across as professional and welcoming throughout the flight, and requests were promptly acted upon. Like clockwork, a cabin crew came by shortly after we were settled into our seats to confirm our meals and check our preference for meal timing, while another crew came by with welcome drinks. Cabin crew were seen patrolling the cabin and serving drinks for those of us who were still awake. I like how the cabin crew gently wake us up about 2 hours before landing, giving us sufficient time to enjoy our meal and wash up. The lavatories were kept clean, and amenity kits were topped up. In terms of amenities, only slippers were found on our seats. Amenity kits were not present at the seat during boarding, we had to request the recently updated Le Labo amenity kits from the cabin crew. These amenity kits are only available for flights longer than 6 hours.

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Similar to my outbound flight, we were warmly welcomed by the cabin crew and directed to the aisle where my seat is located. During boarding, one of the cabin crew was so engrossed with confirming meals with another passenger that she was unaware that passengers were waiting for her to complete her task to access their seats. However, this cabin crew was observed to be friendly and diligent. Another male cabin crew member, Eric, was attentive and responsive. When Eric saw me still waking after take off, he took the initiative to ask if I wanted any drinks or any snacks and promptly brought my requests. Eric also took note of my preference for the mocktail and asked if I wanted another after spotting my empty glass. I couldn’t say the same level of service provided by another male flight attendant (a Leading Steward), who came across as rather rude. He was serving bread during our meal time, and instead of asking for our preference for bread, he just shoved the bread basket in front of our faces without uttering a word. This behaviour was observed to be constant when he served me or other passengers. Cabin crew did not seem to bother to top up the additional amenities such as dental kits and shavers in the lavatories.

Afterthought

Singapore Airlines’ Regional Business Class was a good product. The seats were comfortable, and the varied seating positions allowed all passengers to find an angle they deemed comfortable. In flatbed mode, the seat was so comfortable that I was able to get a few hours of sleep. The food was tasty and flavourful. The cabin crew (except for one of them) were generally welcoming and warm. However, there was some inconsistency on both legs when waking up for meals and the amenities at the seat.