SQ Business: SIN-HKG (Part 1 - Lots of Photos)
Hi all, and welcome to my first ever trip report. This will cover the Singapore to Hong Kong leg of my trip.
Background Back in October of 2012 I got an email from Singapore Airlines saying I had 30,000 miles expiring at the end of October. So instead of expending them I decided to spend it on a business class flight somewhere, as I have never flown business class. After looking around I decided on going to Hong Kong. It had the aircraft I wanted to fly and I have always wanted to visit Hong Kong. I had chosen my flights, as I wanted to try both of SQ’s business class offerings, the regional seat and the long haul seat. I had also never flown on an A330, shocking I know. So it was decided, I would fly when I was in Singapore visiting family, which I will cover in a different trip report as it is a lot less interesting. Flight 1 Date: 12/01/13 Airline: Singapore Airlines Flight: SQ 890 Aircraft: Airbus A330-300E Registration: 9V-STC Seat: 16A Route: SIN-HKG ETD: 7:25 ETA: 11:20 Fun Facts 21st Flight on Singapore Airlines 1st Flight on an A330-300 1st Flight on 9V-STC At The Airport I arrived at the airport nice and early at 5 am. This was to maximise my time in the lounge. T3 was quite as per usual and check in was very quick in typical Changi fashion as there were multiple counters open for business class with absolutely no wait. I got my lounge invitation printed onto my boarding pass with a nice Blue strip at the top indicating business class. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8...ac3460b9_c.jpg My Boarding Pass I didn’t delay and went straight through immigration again with no lines. I headed for the lounge which having never been there before took me towards the KrisFlyer Gold lounge rather then directly to the SilverKris Lounge, but no problem, they are next to each other. I found a seat in a dark looking and very very crowded lounge near to the food. I settled down and went to get some breakfast. I had virtually everything they had on offer. Sorry no pics, I was too hungry. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8113/8...513f8276_c.jpg A sneaky shot of the lounge, too many people to take everything Having had breakfast and a really bad coffee thanks to the automatic machines, I headed to A13, the gate I would depart from. It was a fairly long walk to A13 but I didn’t mind. I still couldn’t see much outside due to the very low light and multiple layers of glass. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8112/8...f080dcee_c.jpg Almost there! At the gate there wasn’t much of a line and I quickly passed through security without any hassle. The lounge was fairly full and I spotted my A330 outside. It was still dark and the reflections were too much for me to get a clean shot of it. Boarding was called fairly quickly and for once I was one of the first to board. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8109/8...66a661e3_c.jpg Only shot of my A330. The Flight I boarded through door L1 and was greeted by name and directed but not escorted to my seat in the last row of business class. I chose this seat, as it would give the best view of the wing in business class. I then got a glass of orange juice as a welcome drink. During boarding I had no view out of my window except for the grey jet way connected to door L2. I settled down and got acquainted with the biz seat. Not a bad product, the only annoying thing is that there is no under seat storage. But not to worry the very friendly stewardess offered to keep my camera bag in the overhead bins. The load today wasn’t too bad. Only 4 or 5 seats were empty. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8112/8...23cc7cb9_c.jpg Obligatory legroom shot http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8524/8...63179e5c_c.jpg Seat controls and remote http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8...b3354e80_c.jpg SilverKris Magazine and Menu http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8118/8...ddd5ac32_c.jpg Socketts Socketts were handed out and our orders taken for breakfast. I chose the “Selection of Dim Sim” as from previous experience “eggs + altitude = disgusting” and I didn’t fancy having noodles. Yes I know this menu says brunch and it is from SQ 856/861 but it has exactly the same menu and I couldn’t be bothered to take two shots. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8...f5a31dbd_c.jpg Breakfast selections The jet ways pulled back and pushback was imminent. I could finally see the apron, and the rest of SQ land. We taxied towards 20C, where virtually all the aircraft depart from. We were 4th in line for take-off but had to wait for one landing Air India. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8...84a5c132_c.jpg Pulling away http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8...9e13573a_c.jpg 9V-SWR next to us http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8403/8...ed0f2a46_c.jpg It’s definitely Singapore. The land of SQ heavies http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8...43710fce_c.jpg Our gate http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8...b59eacc5_c.jpg Pins out, we are ready to go http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8116/8...062e2f6b_c.jpg 9V-STN, One of my aircrafts sisters |
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A Shanghi Airlines 767 also parked at T3. I didn’t even know they flew here http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8...6330bae6_c.jpg SQ Land, with, I think was the SQ albino Star Alliance 777 landing on 02L http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8103/8...fcc89e4d_c.jpg Three other sister aircraft, 9V-STK, 9V-STS, and 9V-STB http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8...73aedae0_c.jpg Crossing the bridge http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8388/8...fa9decec_c.jpg Probably my last ever look at an SQ A340-500. I wish I could have flown it at least once http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8...f4a78499_c.jpg 9V-SRO taking off http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8243/8...67661af1_c.jpg Air India A319 landing http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8116/8...cb59dd9d_c.jpg 9V-STA taking off, the 6th and last SQ A330 I saw that morning http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8112/8...340a318b_c.jpg Air Asia A320 taking off http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8...8377d10f_c.jpg Garuda 737 taking off http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8118/8...326a284c_c.jpg Holding short of Runway 02C, and looking back at the line of waiting aircraft Now it is out turn. (Video) – Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel http://youtu.be/VJGrV0Fi_8U The take-off was very powerful and I got a very nice overview of Changi Airport. All of which can be seen in the video above. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8251/8...121a9f0a_c.jpg Out of the clouds http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8121/8...47bc22e3_c.jpg Into more clouds |
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And out of the clouds again The meal service then started. The Prelude was “Fresh fruit” http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8393/8...3cceb1a6_c.jpg My fresh fruit. Containing pineapple, papaya, honey melon, strawberries and blueberries The fruit was nice and cold and tasted good. I skipped the cereal, as I’m not much of a cereal person. The main “Selection of dim sum” http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8...9082c5db_c.jpg Radish cake, siew mai, fried Shanghainese dumpling and har kow. Along with the remnants of my croissant and my finished cappuccino. It all tasted good with absolutely no complaints. My orange juice was constantly refilled throughout the flight, which may have lead to multiple toilet breaks. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8524/8...6ae61f01_c.jpg Clear blue sky with puffy ***** of cotton wool, I mean clouds I settled down and started watching Taken 2. Absolutely loved it, full on action during the whole movie. The noise cancelling headphones provided are not quite as good as my Bose QC15’s but since I was travelling fairly light I didn’t carry them and had to make do. After Taken 2 finished there was around an hour left and since I couldn’t finish another movie I switched to the map. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8...b61da534_c.jpg Almost there We did a few turns on approach in a slight holding pattern. The cabin was prepared and winds were quite strong. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8...bbb39314_c.jpg Turning The Landing (Video) – Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel http://youtu.be/E5TibiNx8Mw We landed on Runway 07L and was quite bumpy and the engines kept spooling up and down. We had a crosswind on approach and the A330 was being blown around a bit. We taxied to out gate, which was a fair distance away but gave me the chance to spot some unusual birds that I cant get down under. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8254/8...13138e0b_c.jpg Star Alliance (United) 777 http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8379/8...21a92ca9_c.jpg Random biz jet http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8...9ab22e5b_c.jpg Dragon Air A230 http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8523/8...f854ddf3_c.jpg Hong Kong Airlines A330 under tow http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8538/8...959c76c9_c.jpg One World (Cathay) A330 at the gate next to us http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8...bbf3b906_c.jpg Out gate, awaiting out arrival Disembarkation was quick but I took my sweet time, I was the last off in business class and spotting my opportunity I asked the lead steward if I could visit the cockpit. He went off to ask and said the captain said ok but no photos, sorry guys. I then headed out into the terminal. HKIA has a split-level design much like my home airport of Sydney but much more pleasant. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8261/8...a3ea873e_c.jpg A few doors down was a Hong Kong Airlines pushing back. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8524/8...487c1690_c.jpg And next to it was a Korean Air 747 in the “Welcome to Korea” colour scheme and if you can see behind it was the Dragon Air A330 in the “25th Anniversary” colour scheme. Immigration was quick and baggage claim was quicker still with my bag priority tagged. I then headed out into the massive arrivals area of HKIA and then into the very efficient transport system of Hong Kong as I took the Airport Express MTR into the city. Part 2 covering my return journey in SQ 861 coming soon. |
Excellent report. Thanks for sharing.
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Nice report, good pics!
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