Hi all, and welcome to my second trip report. This will cover the Hong Kong to Singapore leg of my trip.
This is part two; Part 1 can be found here:
http://yssyforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=9171
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 861
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Registration: 9V-SKM
Seat: 22A (Upper Deck)
Route: HKG-SIN
ETD: 15:20
ETA: 19:20
Fun Facts
22nd Flight on Singapore Airlines
11th Flight on an A380-800
1st Flight on 9V-SKM
At The Airport
I took the MTR Airport Express from Kowloon Station in the city direct to HKIA. The transport system in Hong Kong is excellent. The trains are twice as long and it is a direct and dedicated service to the airport unlike Singapore. There are also free shuttle buses to the main hotels, which further reduces cost to the passengers. The train was fast and I arrived at HKIA T1 at 12 noon.
Design of HKIA
My Boarding Pass
Check in was painless again with no lines. Boarding pass printed I headed past security and immigration with no troubles. And as soon as you clear immigration and walk downstairs the SQ lounge is there, and directly opposite was gate 15, the gate I would be departing from. But before I hit the lounge I wondered around HKIA a bit. I was getting a bit hungry and went to the SQ lounge for some free food. There were plenty of free seats all around probably cleared by the midday flight, and before it started filling up with my flight. The offering in the lounge was as expected nowhere as much as in Changi but most of the food on offer looked appealing to me. I had a bit of everything and finished with a couple of Haagen Dazs Ice Creams.
Pastries and a Coke
Haagen Dazs Ice Cream, I wish they gave bigger serves
The SQ lounge in Hong Kong is all right but my biggest annoyance is the lack of toilets in the lounge. You have to walk out and around the corner to the nearest toilet, a major inconvenience. Thanks to flightradar24 and the free Wi-Fi I was able to find out which of the new config A380’s would be operating my flight. This would be my first flight on the new seating layout A380, as normally when flying economy I prefer the upper deck seats and tend to choose the older A380’s, which have economy upstairs.
It was nearly boarding time and I was getting a bit bored in the lounge so I went outside to see if I could do any spotting but as I stepped out and faced gate 15 the boarding call was made for Business class, ahead of the stated time. Amazing for once boarding was called early. Due to the parking angle of gate 15 I was unable to snag a pre-departure shot of my A380.
The Flight
I was one of the first to board and was greeted by name and escorted to my seat in 22A. My baggage was stowed in the overhead locker and this time was able to have my camera bag under the seat in front of me. Since there was no one else but me in the main section of the cabin the stewardess seeing my DSLR and me snapping away offered to take me in the biz seat. +1 for service.
The empty cabin
This A380 has an all-upper deck business class and the cabin is slightly different from the first batch of A380’s. The overhead bins, which were installed on the sides, have moved to the middle. And the seats have now got a headrest, which hangs down vs. the cloth of the older seats. The seats despite only being just over 2 years old are showing some signs of ware and tear, namely the footrest. The seatbelt also had an airbag; I guess it is needed for such a wide seat.
BA 747 next door
Drinks runs and newspaper runes were constantly running as each individual passenger boarded, excellent attentiveness by the staff. I had a welcome drink of orange juice and was asked my selection for the post take-off drink; I had a coke with lemon. Meal orders were also taken and I had selected the beef, which according to the menu was prepared by Alfred Portale from New York.
The menu
Obligatory legroom shot + orange juice
SliverKris Magazine and the menu
Socketts
As only business class was upstairs boarding seemed very quiet and I had no idea where boarding was at. Load was very light; I think it was less then 50% in biz.
A while later the jet ways were pulled and pushback started. The captain informed us it would be a very long taxi to the runway threshold. Boy was he right we had to taxi from Gate 15 all the way to runway 07R.
The BA and two CX’s
2 ANA’s, 2 CX’s, 1 GA, 1 MU, and 1 EVA in the 777-300ER colour scheme
A MAS parked at the satellite terminal
Our reflection
Its been a long time since I’ve seen an EK A340-300