> detail
Flight Check
Singapore Airlines 215
Sampling SIA’s new A330 business-class service on a flight to Western Australia.
Route: Singapore–Perth
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Class/Seat No.: Business/12K
Departure time: 19:35
Arrival time: 00:40 + 1 day
Boarding
The SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 at Singapore’s Changi Airport is a marked improvement over the one in Terminal 2. The design is sleek and spacious, with high ceilings and lots of light. There’s a good selection of food available, as well as a full self-service bar. The only downside is the distance between the lounge and most gates—the walk took me 15 minutes.
Cabin
The A330 only has business and economy classes. The business-class cabin is well spaced out, with five rows of six paired seats. A number of improvements make the cabin much more comfortable than older models: seats recline automatically to a near-flat position, and there are screens between them for privacy. I was impressed with the amount of storage space available around the seats, including handy compartments for laptops, drink bottles, and mobile phones. The bathrooms have also been upgraded—the leather toilet seats are a nice touch. Toiletries are not given out to passengers during the flight, but the bathroom is fully stocked with L’Occitane amenities.
Service
Everything ran flawlessly, as expected. I was greeted by name upon entering the cabin and also whenever meals and snacks were brought around. Aside from during the meal service, drinks were made available on a regular basis. meals Upon boarding, I was offered fruit juice and a glass of Heidseick Brut Réserve champagne. There was a good range of starters and mains on the dinner menu, including rib-eye steak and a pan-seared escalope of salmon. I opted for the Asian menu—a delicious Cantonese roast duck with vegetables and steamed rice, followed by a selection of cheeses and fresh fruit.
Tech/entertainment
If you’re planning to work during the flight, then you’ll find the technological provisions excellent—there are dozens of outlets in the business panel. But if you’re not using your laptop or other devices, you’ll probably find it all quite confusing. I had to ask the stewardess where the jack was for my headphones because I couldn’t find it. (It was actually next to the headrest, rather than in the arm of the chair, where I normally look for it.) The KrisWorld system offered an amazing variety of on-demand entertainment options (more than 1,000), complemented by noise-canceling headphones and a 15-inch LCD screen. There was also a wide selection of Singaporean and Australian newspapers and international magazines on offer.
Verdict
A near-perfect flight experience. Despite a full plane, service was friendly and efficient, and we actually arrived slightly earlier than scheduled.
AIRLINE NEWS
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner finally took to the skies in December 2009, more than 18 months after its planned May 2008 maiden flight. The Dreamliner will not only use 20 percent less fuel than most other airplanes of comparable size, but will also offer a more pleasant flying experience thanks to state-of-the-art cabins with larger windows, more storage space, and cleaner air. The mid-sized jet is expected to enter service by the end of the year, with the first deliveries going to All Nippon Airways.
Garuda Indonesia (garuda-indonesia.com) is set to launch 10 new routes this year. First up is Jakarta–Taipei, beginning in April on an Airbus 330-200. A daily Jakarta–Dubai service will start on June 1, followed by the return of the airline’s Denpasar–Brisbane service, which was discontinued in 2007.
The Grand Hyatt Hong Kong (hongkong.grand.hyatt.com) is taking some of the pain out of flying with its new self check-in service—the first of its kind in Hong Kong. The whole procedure takes less than a minute at the hotel’s business center, where kiosks scan passports and print boarding passes for six airlines, including Dragon Air, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, and KLM.
With the launch of a groundbreaking mobile service called MHmobile (flymas.mobi), Malaysia Airlines passengers can now book, buy, and check into flights using their Web-enabled phones. The user-friendly application also connects bookings to TripIt, Facebook, and Dopplr, giving friends and colleagues instant access to each other’s travel plans. Other browser options include flight-status reports and a baggage tracker.
Story by Dean Wilson
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