At the Airport

Check-in

Singapore Airlines departs from both Terminals 2 and 3 at Singapore Changi Airport, with Terminal 2 dedicated to regional destinations and Terminal 3 for further destinations. As our flight today is classified as a “further” destination, it departs from Terminal 3. Singapore Airlines operates several rows of check-in counters in Terminal 3, with Rows 3 and 4 dedicated to Economy Class, Row 6 for Business Class and Row 7 for Star Alliance Gold and KrisFlyer Elite Gold/Silver members. We used Row 6, located in the middle of the Terminal, to check in. At its full capacity, Singapore Airlines operates nine counters in Row 6, but today we only saw six counters open. There was a small queue for check-in today, but the wait was no more than 5 minutes. At check-in, we were warmly welcomed by the ground staff. She was friendly and efficient, and we were handed our boarding pass in under 5 minutes. Before leaving, the ground staff gave us essential information such as the boarding time and the boarding gate. She was thoughtful in giving us directions to the gate and the lounge.

SilverKris Lounge Terminal 3

The SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 at Singapore Changi Airport is Singapore Airlines’ flagship lounge. The lounge exudes a warm and relaxing vibe due to the walnut colour and warm lighting used. There are two main parts to the lounge: the left wing and the right wing. The right wing is a smaller section, located on the right side of the lounge entrance after the bar, furnished predominantly with lounge chairs. There are a few high tables to cater for larger groups or for passengers who want to get some work done. I found this section to be quieter and felt more relaxed. There is a small buffet table, offering mostly finger food, and a beverage station in the right wing so passengers do not have to walk all the way to the dining area for food.

The larger left wing houses the dining area, a small lounge area and a sleeping room. From the entrance, the first thing that we saw in the left wing was a small lounging area, furnished with two rows of lounging armchairs. Further into the left wing, we came to the dining area, predominantly decked with dining tables for two. There are quite a number of dining tables spread across this area, placed near the buffet line. I thought the best seats were those that were by the window overlooking the tarmac. Speaking of the buffet, Singapore Airlines has a generous offering of food in the SilverKris Lounge. The main buffet line offers food from the three races in Singapore. There are a couple of counters on either side of the main buffet line serving up made-to-order noodles, pasta and their signature Laksa. We found desserts and salad housed in the section between the main buffet line and the entrance to the lounge. The beverage station in this part of the lounge is located to the right of the main buffet line. There is another lounging area in the left wing of SilverKris Lounge, opposite the buffet line. This section was formerly the First Class lounge, and with the launch of the Private Room and First Class lounge, this section was converted to the Business Class lounging area, decked mainly with armchairs. There is a sleeping room at the back of the lounge behind a couple of doors, housing 12 sleeping pods. Use of these pods is on a first-come, first-served basis and pillows and blankets are self-served inside the cabinet by the door.

The Aircraft

Singapore Airlines uses several types of aircraft between Singapore and London: B777-300ER, A350-900 (Long Haul Variant), and the super jumbo A380-800. Our flight today uses the A380-800, featuring the Jamco Business seats (2017 iteration).

Cabin

Singapore Airlines uses the upper deck of the A380-800 aircraft for their premium passengers, with six in their Suite Class at the very front of the plane and 78 seats in Business Class behind the Suites Class cabin. Singapore Airlines’ Business Class cabin is further segregated into two sections, with the largest section housing 50 seats at the front of the aircraft. A more intimate aft cabin with a 28-seat Business Class cabin at the end of the upper deck of the super jumbo. Stepping into the Business Class cabin, one can immediately feel the calmness and sophistication from the harmonious palette of warm neutrals—soft champagne, creamy beige, taupe and rich walnut wood tones. Despite being a large cabin with 50 seats, the forward Business Class cabin did not feel cluttered and feels more airy, thanks to the absence of the centre overhead bin. The leather seats, upholstered in muted sandstone and mocha hues, resemble finely crafted residential furniture rather than conventional airline seating. Soft indirect illumination washes across the ceiling and cabin sidewalls, creating a warm and welcoming ambience throughout the flight. The cabin embraces a timeless design language centred on comfort, composure and understated prestige.

There are five lavatories in the Business Class section serving all 78 passengers: four of which are located between the larger forward cabin and mid-sized cabin in the centre; there is another lavatory at the rear of the upper deck of the aircraft. The lavatories are pretty much standard-sized, but the one at the back of the aircraft is slightly smaller. The premium feel in the cabin was also found in the lavatory, as seen in the walnut laminate on the sink cabinet. Singapore Airlines thoughtfully filled its lavatory with amenities such as dental kits and shavers that passengers would require for such a long flight time. Apart from these, Singapore Airlines also supplied its Business Class lavatories with Payot toiletries such as Eau de cologne, hand cream and facial mist in the Business Class lavatory.

Seat Features

All 78 Singapore Airlines Business Class seats onboard its A380-800 are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, granting direct aisle access to all passengers. Each of these light grey, high-walled cocoon Business Class seat shells onboard Singapore Airlines’ A380-800 provides great privacy despite not being fitted with a door. Singapore Airlines Business Class on their A380-800 seats has a pitch of 60″ and measures 25″ wide. When converted into a bed, these seats have a pitch of 73″. Like most Business Class seats, these seats come in three standard modes: upright, lounge and bed modes, spread across four preset buttons. The upright mode for take-offs and landings is the default mode that greeted us when we boarded the plane. Despite being in the upright position, I find these seats to be comfortable, thanks to the soft leather and the plush cushioning used. Unlike their B777-300ER and A350-900 (Long Haul) counterparts, where converting to bed mode requires flipping the seat back, the Business Class seat onboard the A380-800 converts to bed mode with the push of a button. We were lucky to be able to snag one of the three pairs of the highly sought-after double bed. As the name suggests, this pair of middle seats converts into a double bed with the partition fully lowered. As the seat uses a plush cushion, instead of relying on duvets like their B777-300ER/ A350-900 (Long Haul), I find the seat in bed mode to be very comfortable. However, like their B777-300ER/A350-900 (Long Haul) counterparts, the footwell in the regular seats is slanted to one side, forcing passengers to sleep on their sides on the standard seats. Fortunately, the bulkhead seats that we managed to get did not have this issue. The footwell spreads across the entire width of the seat, allowing us to sleep in various positions. The mode that I find most comfortable is the mode between the upright and bed mode, which I termed the lounge mode. Singapore Airlines has two preset positions for this lounge mode instead of one found in most airlines. The first lounge mode is merely slightly angled from the upright mode, while the second lounge mode is closer to the bed mode. I find these two preset angles to be either too upright or too low. Fortunately, the airline allowed us to adjust the angle of the seat back and the calf rest to our liking, so I could find an angle that I found most comfortable.

When it comes to storage, I find the storage situation onboard Singapore Airlines A380-800 Business Class seats to be thinner than that onboard their other aircraft, including the regional Business Class seats. The location of the seat determines the amount of storage we get. The seats with the least amount of storage are the highly sought-after double-bedded seats that we snagged. Other than the side table and the miserable seat pocket, the only other place that offers any form of storage is at the footwell. It felt like we had traded storage space for a larger ottoman. The non-bulkhead centre seats have a little more storage space, not by much, just marginally. Other than the side table, the seats offer two smaller cubby holes next to the IFE screen. Though not much, these cubby holes allow passengers to stow small items. The seats that offer the most storage space (again relative to the other Business Class seats onboard) are those window seats. For these seats, the cubby by the literature pocket provides a generous amount of storage, on top of the one cubby cut out next to the side table and the one hole beside the IFE screen. All these Business Class seats have one thing in common: the side table is the main storage space offered by the airline.

The main charging point in these bulkhead double seats is beside the IFE TV, where the airline installed one USB-A charging outlet and an international power outlet. The seat also has another USB-A charging outlet at the side table. Singapore Airlines A380-800 Business Class seat is fitted with a large seat table, stowed under the side table. This seat table, deployed with the push of a button, is folded in half for storage but reveals a sizeable and sturdy table when fully deployed. The airline installed two reading lights in its A380-800 Business Class seat. Apart from the overhead reading light, there is another reading light next to the headrest of the seat that can be adjusted to suit the various seat modes.

Inflight Entertainment

Singapore Airlines fitted a larger 18″ HD touchscreen display in its Business Class seats onboard the A380-800. The picture quality from these TV screens was excellent, and we were able to get sharp pictures regardless of the seat mode we were in. The touchscreen function on these TVs was responsive, rendering the IFE controller redundant, if not for the distance between the seat and the TV screen. The IFE controller onboard the A380-800 was very well designed, resembling a mobile phone and was intuitive to use. Thanks to their thick padding, the headphones provided by Singapore Airlines were very comfortable to use even for a prolonged period of time, and the sound quality from these headphones was excellent. The noise-cancelling function of these headphones was so effective that I had to remove my headphones whenever I spoke to the cabin crew. When it comes to entertainment options, KrisWorld – Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system- was decked with a huge library of content, from the latest Hollywood blockbuster to TV series to Asian movies; there is something to keep one occupied throughout the 13-hour flight time. KrisWorld interface is also well designed, as we had no issues finding the movie that we wanted to watch. I also thought it was very thoughtful of Singapore Airlines to incorporate an entertainment menu in KrisWorld for young flyers. Singapore Airlines provides complimentary internet to its Business Class passengers and its frequent flyer members. However, the internet was only good for chatting and scrolling social media. I found streaming shows from YouTube to be rather slow.

Meal Service

Singapore Airlines offers its “Book the Cook” service for Business Class passengers on flights out of Singapore and selected destinations. This service gave passengers additional meal choices on top of the three on the in-flight menu. As this was a long-haul flight, there were two meals served: breakfast and dinner. Passengers who are still famished in between can opt for the selection from the airline’s Delectables menu. Breakfast service commenced about 30 minutes after taking off. For the in-flight menu, options were Scrambled Eggs, Dim Sum, Pancakes and Continental Breakfast. I forgone the options from the “Book the Cook” menu and opted for the Dim Sum, a dish I had not tried before. The Dim Sum option comprises three dumplings and a glutinous rice with smoked duck. Though not a large dish, I find the portion is just right. The dim sum was tasty, but I did not like its sticky texture.

Dinner was served about halfway through the flight, served course by course. To start, the cabin crew came around and served their signature Chicken Satay service. The satay is always tasty and one of my favourites; the chicken is well seasoned and tender, and the peanut sauce elevated the taste. The appetiser followed suit, which was a cold tuna and crab salad. The peppery taste in the tuna gave it enough flavour and, at the same time, was not overpowering. The crab in the salad tasted fresh. For mains, I also forgo the “Book the Cook” and opted for the Iberico Pork Collar. The other options for dinner were Chicken Tikka Masala, Chargrill Angus Beef and Seafood Hor Fun. The Pork Collar was so tender that knives were redundant when tearing meat into smaller pieces. The mashed potato is not mushy and is rich in flavour. Dinner service ended with a choice of Chocolate cake, Ondeh Ondeh Cake and Cheese. I opted for the chocolate cake, which I find a little thick, but it is by no means awful. It is still tasty; I am just not a fan of its thickness.

Service

Service was as impeccable as always on board Singapore Airlines, especially in their premium cabins. We received the standard welcome at the door and felt very scripted initially. As we were at our seat, the cabin crew, Dawn, who is responsible for my aisle, came introducing herself and verified my orders for my meals, while Trevor was around serving welcome drinks and handing us warm towels. These are the standard protocols that one would expect to receive from Singapore Airlines Business Class product. But what stood out was the warmth and sincerity the cabin crew portrayed. Dawn wasn’t hesitant in recommending her personal favourites from the menu; Trevor was always present with snacks between meals, ensuring that there was something for us to munch while watching shows from KrisWorld. Their Inflight supervisor, Karen, did an exemplary job in leading their section by example. Karen is chatty and sincere in my chats with her. I appreciate her frankness when I asked about going from T2 to T5. Karen did not pretend she knew and was frank about it. Instead of leaving it at that, she volunteered to help me arrange with the ground crew at Heathrow to give me the right directions (I refused the service as I thought it might be easier than I thought). My chats with Karen felt like chatting with a friend, but she managed to maintain that professionalism when doing her job. I’d say this set of crew that I flew with felt like friends; it is this feeling that made this flight feel intimate and enjoyable.

Afterthought

This was my first Singapore Airlines A380-800 Business Class experience. The seat felt familiar, as it did not differ too much from the regional seat and felt like a bridge to the long-haul business class product. The seat is comfortable to sit in the upright mode, but I found the lounge modes a little restrictive. The A380-800 Business Class product improves the convenience of turning the seat into its bed mode, but it lacks storage space. The catering was delicious and flavourful. The Dim Sum tasted alright, but the satay and the pork were very well prepared. What was memorable for me was the service rendered by the crew. Karen, Dawn and Trevor were very sincere and came across like friends, yet remained professional.