LPGMelbourne - 14/06/2011 08:41 GMT
Manchester-Melbourne 2/6/2011. Economy Class seat 49H on leg 1 and seat 34H on leg 2. Total journey time is 25hrs 15mins with a 1hr 10min transit in Munich and 2hr 40min plane change in Singapore. The transit in Munich is seemless. You disembark plane with hand luggage, sit at gate or explore a very modern airport then board at same gate.
Cabin - Seat are very comfortable and well equipped with AVOD, foot rest adjustable head rest with winglettes. Leg room is 32 inches or 34 inches if your take out 3 magazines. Seat width and pitch is notably better/wider than Qantas BA Emirates and on par with Qatar and Cathay. Rear Economy cabin is brighter and more pleasant colour than forward economy cabin. This commences as a pleasant day flight then cabin lights are dimmed about 4 hours into journey.
Meal Service - Food service was plentiful and high quality on all legs. Although did note final leg SIN-MEL had less extensive meal service as classed regional not long haul.
MAN-MUC (1hr 50min) commenced with newspapers before takeoff. Hot towels 15 mins after take off then full bar service followed by brunch. This consisted of tasty cheese wrap or smoked chicken sandwich, green leaf side salad, fruit salad, small cake, drink of your choice (I had Singapore Sling) tea/coffee all served professionally and with a smile. More drinks were offered before clearing trays. Intensive service considering short flight.
MUC-SIN (11hrs 15 mins) commenced with standard hot towels and full drink and snacks service 1 hour into flight. This was then followed by full meal service. The tray held tasty salmon starter salad, fish curry, breads, dessert, cheese and crackers, tea/coffee and proper stainless steal cutlery. Further alcoholic drinks and hot drinks were offered during meal time. This was very tasty and fulfilling meal. Chicken casserole was the other choice. Friendly flight attendants walked through cabin every hour with water and snacks basket. At about 6 hours into flight baskets of sandwiches and wraps were carried through cabin followed shortly by baskets of chocolate, small cakes and crisps. Alcoholic or hot drinks were available from galley or call button at any time. 1 hr 45 min before descent hot towels and full breakfast service started. There was a western and asian option. My tray held, warm bread roll, jam, butter, fruit salad, hot omelette, chicken sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms. juice, water. tea/coffee. This was very tasty indeed and a nice wake up call.
SIN-MEL (7hr) had two meal services. Breakfast served shortly after take off. I took asian option. My tray held, refreshing congee, very tasty noodles, fruit salad, water, juice, tea/coffee and small biscuit wafer. There was only limited juice and cold drinks served. Many passengers were requesting alcoholic drinks. The friendly flight attendants spent a lot of wasted time zipping back to the galley to fulfill requests. A full drinks service should overcome this problem. Water and juice were served through out the day time flight. Alcholic drinks were on request only. The next food service commenced 1hr 45 mins before descent. This was a lunch service despite our destination time being 7pm at night. My tray consisted of only water, tea/coffee and chicken casserole. The other option was fish. Alcoholic drinks were offered but strangely after the meal. This final meal service seemed to be lacking compared to service on flights so far.
Service Levels- You could not fault the cabin crews level of professionalism and constant smiles. Every request was met with a smile. The flight attendant spilt juice on my lap and fussed over me very much. She later spilt water on my lap and was very embarrassed and had her lead stewardess apologise profusely to me. it was only an accident yet I was impressed with the crews reaction to this.
Overall - I would highly recommend Singapore airlines. This is a long haul flight they managed to make durable if not somewhat pleasant, a rarity in most economy class cabins. Qantas, BA and Emirates most certainly can learn from the levels of service and quality of product. Legroom is biggest gripe of any long haul traveller and I found SQ's 777 product offering to be very comfortable indeed. The AVOD system was easy to navigate, fast to respond with plenty of movies, shows, games music and surprisingly e-library publications available to entertain
