a row of seats in an airplane

Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Premium Economy (HKG-SIN)

Home » Reviews » Flight Reviews » Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Premium Economy (HKG-SIN)

Since this trip report only consists of three installments, I’ll just write them separately, instead of producing a cohesive, multi-chapter trip report which I normally do. We were able to find promotional Singapore Airlines premium economy roundtrip fares for HK$3,800 per person, which you wouldn’t normally be able to find in such a premium market.

We arrived Hong Kong Airport at around 12 PM for our 2:25 PM flight, and were promptly on our way, as I had checked everyone in beforehand. Since I didn’t have lounge access this time around, I stuck to plane spotting, though made my way to behind the gate area at 1:30 PM to watch our massive A380 tow itself into the gate.

a row of luggage carts in a building
Behind Gate 15 Hong Kong Airport

The A380 is a very impressive plane – I don’t think there will be a plane that surpasses its ability and capacity – so it was great watching our plane tow itself into the gate.

an airplane on the runway
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

a large airplane on a runway
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

Rumour is that the best views of the plane can be spotted at Café Deco, but that isn’t true – people are normally permitted in the gate area I took these pictures in, right below Café Deco, where you get a direct view of the plane.

a large white airplane on a tarmac
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

a large white airplane on a runway
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

a large white airplane parked at an airport
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

Adjacent to the Singapore A380 was a Cathay Pacific A350 – one of the three aircraft that will be undergoing a refit due to faulty business class seats.

a large white airplane at an airport
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong Airport

I asked if I could be one of the first onboard the plane, but since I didn’t inquire earlier, my request was rejected – fine by me, as it was my fault for not calling Singapore beforehand. It was interesting to watch all the Suites Class passengers be called using a whiteboard that was hauled around, as the agent doing so tended to ask every single white or suited passenger in the gate area if they were one of the people listed. There has to be a better way.

people in a terminal
Gate Area for A380 Hong Kong Airport

I hate being “that guy” that hangs around the gate area, but I had to do so in this instance to guarantee being first onboard. Man, there were a lot of people on this A380 – the load factor must have been at least 90%. Slowly, passengers started lining up, and unfortunately boarding was delayed from 1:45 PM to 2 PM, as the plane arrived slightly late from its outbound flight to Hong Kong. It’s insane how Singapore schedules the A380 to be turned around in an hour and 45 minutes.

Singapore Airlines has a very orderly boarding process. Those needing assistance are invited to board first, along with first class passengers. Business class passengers and PPS club members are then invited to board second, followed shortly by premium economy and Star Gold members flying economy. Economy class is then boarded starting with those in the upper deck and those flying in rows 51 and backward, followed finally by those flying in rows 41-50. In no part was the rule broken during our boarding process, unlike other airlines, which just board everyone at the same time in two separate lanes. It is a very complicated process, and I overheard one of the junior gate agents, who was “scared” to be boarding such a massive plane in such an orderly fashion.

Within a minute after business class started boarding, Star Gold, KrisFlyer Gold and premium economy passengers were invited to board.

Singapore Airlines Flight 863
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Origin: Hong Kong (HKG) Gate: 15 Dep: 14:25 (14:40)
Destination: Singapore (SIN) Gate: B2 Arr: 18:20 (18:35)
Duration: 3 h 55 min (3 h 55 min)
Aircraft: Airbus A380 Reg: 9V-SKK
Seat: 34A (Premium Economy Class)

I managed to be the first onboard the lower deck, as business class passengers are seated in the upper deck. Premium economy is situated directly to the right of door L2, and I found myself alone in Singapore Airlines’ premium economy cabin, as I don’t believe there were any PPS club members on this flight.

a row of seats on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy

Singapore Airlines’ A380 features 36 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration (the windowside blocks have five rows, while the center block only has four rows due to how the bulkhead is positioned). Each seat is allegedly 19.5 inches wide, though there probably is more space, considering that economy is apparently 19 inches wide and is 10 abreast.

a screenshot of a computer

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seatmap

If I hadn’t known beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that these seats belong to Singapore Airlines. The seats themselves are grey, though there are vibrant orange pops throughout the entire cabin, contrary to Singapore’s normal beige, brown and blue colour tones.

a row of grey seats in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy

I had assigned seats 33A, 33C, 34A and 34C for our family, and seated myself in 34A. These are the third and fourth (third and second last) rows of the cabin, respectively. Obviously my preference in premium economy, no matter what, is to sit in the last row so I can recline my seat without having to be “considerate”, but the seats at the back were taken in this instance, as we only confirmed around a month or two before departure (Singapore Airlines doesn’t allow seat selection prior to confirmation).

a row of grey seats with orange pillows
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy

a seat with orange pillows on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seats 34A and 34C

Unlike their dated economy and business class counterparts, Singapore’s premium economy cabin is slick and swanky, with bright pops of colour. While the orange seems “cheap” at first glance (the other airlines that notably use this type of orange are easyJet and Jetstar), it’s placed so subtly around the cabin that it lifts the colour tones up without overwhelming the passenger, which I appreciate.

a row of seats in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cabin

In this instance I guess row 35 wouldn’t have been the best place to sit, as there’s a peephole in the back so cabin crew can easily look into the economy cabin from premium economy in case of an emergency. The issue is that whenever the peephole has to be flipped, the cabin crew has to ask those sitting in row 35 to put their seatbacks upright, which can cut up to 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted sleep. I still would choose these seats given the choice, as I’m more comfortable seated at the very back of a cabin, though I wouldn’t actively recommend them.

a group of seats in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seats 35A and 35C

Honestly, the cabin is gorgeous, especially when complemented by the orange hue the mood lighting provided during boarding, which cuts through any sterility imposed by the grey seat covers.

an airplane seats with orange pillows
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cabin

Before exploring my seat I had a quick peek at the empty economy cabin, which I’d have to pass through anyway as I needed the bathroom. Economy class is in a 3-4-3 configuration, so unless I snagged an upper deck seat, I’d avoid flying the A380 when booked in economy class. Ultimately the seats are from 2005, so obviously the colour tones are getting slightly dated by now – but there certainly have been a couple of updates, such as a USB port at every seat. I didn’t manage to get a picture of the upper deck cabin, though I’d try my best to choose that, even under a small fee.

a row of seats on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

a row of seats in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

While 3-4-3 cabins aren’t ideal as they feel really crowded, at least the cabin was broken up into three separate sections, the largest of which sat 87 people.

a row of seats in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

I’m not sure how much recline the last row provides, though as a rule of thumb I’d try to sit there anyway if in economy class, as there’s no risk of the person behind you in need of your seat being upright.

a group of seats on a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

Each seat featured a relatively large TV with a remote – apart from a footrest at each seat, which I’m sure economy travelers would appreciate, the seat is pretty standard, and I’m sure frequent economy class travelers would have seen the same type of seat elsewhere.

a row of seats with monitors
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

I returned to my seat to explore it a little bit, as Singapore’s premium economy seat is still one of the relatively newer ones in the market. The seats are slightly hard, which wouldn’t be ideal for sleeping on a long flight. They featured decent recline, though (I didn’t get a photo as I wasn’t seated in the last row, but I did on the return flight, which ultimately features the same seat albeit on the 777-300ER), and the recline doesn’t protrude too much into the space behind you, as your seat cushion slides forward ever so slightly maximising your comfort.

a seat with a pillow and an orange pillow next to an airplane window
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seat 34A

I was excited to see that within the 38 inch pitch, the seat was complemented with two windows. While I don’t normally geek out over that, the A380 windows are large and certainly one-of-a-kind.

two windows with a view of the sky
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Windows

The cabin filled up relatively slowly, as the jetbridge was quite long and I walked at a fast pace to be able to maximise my time for photos before it filled up. The crew were happy to let me take photos, so I certainly made sure I was spending my time wisely.

a row of windows in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cabin

The seat was quite decked out for a premium economy seat. It featured a decent amount of legroom, actually quite splendidly, as the seat pitch was only 38 inches.

a person's legs and feet in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Legroom

Swinging out from each non-bulkhead seat was a footrest, which was easy to use and actually quite handy, contrary to what I expected – I expected that just a legrest would be fine, as the seat featured a legrest as well, but the footrest stopped my feet from dangling off the legrest each time. It wouldn’t have been a big problem, but it was easily resolved, which I commend Singapore for.

a close up of a seat
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Footrest

As for the legrest itself, it was small, but still fit both of my legs, which I can’t say I was expecting. It certainly maximised sitting positions and while I wasn’t sleeping on this flight, when turning your torso slightly it was actually a quite comfortable sleeping space.

a seat on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Legrest

The seat itself maximises storage options, starting from a pocket for each seat that would fit an iPhone or a small camera. Unlike the Cathay Pacific regional business class nooks, these could probably fit an iPhone 6+ or 7+.

a close up of a pocket
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Storage

There was another (slightly larger) seat pocket by the legrests, though I believe there was only one, so it would have to be shared during the flight. It helps, as there are two power ports by each seat – if you wanted to charge your phone so it could be near you, you could put it in the storage area by the legrest, and if you wanted to charge your phone so it wouldn’t be in your way when stepping in and out, you could put it in the storage area in front of you.

a person's feet in a chair
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Storage

As for the USB ports, one was featured by the seat, and the other was embedded in the seat in front of you, which I found quite thoughtful (so to maximise the choice of where your device could be placed while charging).

a usb port on a device
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy USB Port

The back panel USB ports could be used for connecting USB devices to the inflight entertainment system, though iPhones were not compatible (you can’t browse pictures you took on your iPhone with the inflight entertainment system, though I suppose legitimate USBs would work in that instance). The headphone jacks were also featured there, which, slightly annoyingly, were of the three-pronged version, so “standard” headphones would have to be awkwardly slotted in halfway in order to have sound playing out of both ears.

a black rectangle with usb ports
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy USB Ports and Console

The seats feature reading lights, though they certainly could be more flexible, as positioning them felt like handling an elephant. Under the reading lights were coat hooks, which I guess are redundant as coats are hung in most cases (and certainly redundant in this case, as the A380 was operating from a hot city to a hotter city).

a close up of a tv
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Reading Light

The seat could be controlled by fully functional buttons located by the armrest, which didn’t require a lot of strength to adjust.

a close up of a seat controls
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seat Controls

In terms of other charging options, larger devices could be charged with the 110V universal charging port, which is always handy.

a close up of a power outlet
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy 110V Power Port

The seat also comes with cupholders, and they’re well placed – unlike on Virgin Atlantic, swiping glasses onto your seatmate’s lap would be slightly harder. In this case, my seatmate was my father, so I certainly would’ve had crap if I spilled anything on him, so I’m glad they were positioned carefully.

a close up of a container
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cupholders

A final thing was that the seat pocket was designed to be of high capacity, and featured two compartments (you could pull the “pocket” out and there would be a separate netted area to place iPads and laptops), so I could actually comfortably tuck my 13″ MacBook Pro behind the pocket without it jutting out. That’s actually really smart of Singapore, and something that I wish other airlines would consider.

a bag in a pocket
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Seat Pocket

There was also another storage option under the armrest, which I realised that I didn’t take a picture of on either flight. It was enough to fit headphones or a phone, but that was about it.

In terms of the hard product, it’s worth noting that there was a lot of space between the seat and the wall due to the curvature of the aircraft – that’s great if I want to put my pillow there when I’m not sleeping, but less great if I want to lean against the wall and nap. Ultimately I was fine with that, as I wouldn’t be sleeping on the flight, but it is something worth considering.

The seat pocket also featured some amenities, as was positioned around the rest of the seat. Featured on my seat was a plush pillow and a decent blanket, which were of a nice variety (some other airline would benefit from these pillows in business class on regional flights).

an orange pillow on a plane seat
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Pillow

The blanket was substantial, though I know that other airlines provide duvets for premium economy passengers on longhaul flights, which I don’t believe is true for Singapore. That said, Singapore isn’t known for good bedding in premium cabins as a whole.

a blue blanket on a person's hand
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Blanket

Headphones are also featured, and they’re certainly more substantial than what you’d find in economy, though it still isn’t really high quality – the padding on the headphones is worse than that of the seat, so I ended up using my own.

a pair of black headphones on an orange surface
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Headphones

Apparently earbuds were also passed out during boarding, which my dad took advantage of, though I don’t think they were as high quality either.

a plastic bag on a seat
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Earbuds

I had to visit the lavatory when I first boarded, so I was pointed towards the back of the first economy cabin. The lavatories are substantial, though it was clear that there was a bit of age on them, which is fair enough since the plane was seven years old.

a toilet in a bathroom
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Lavatory

a sink in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Lavatory

a bathroom with a mirror and sink
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Lavatory

a shelf with white containers and drawers
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Lavatory

I initially used what I believed was had soap to wash my hands, and it smelled slightly reminiscient of something else I use in the bathroom. So I had a look at the signage on the bottle, and was horrified to find that it was mouthwash. Oops…

a hand sanitizer in a bottle
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Lavatory Mouthwash

Singapore’s A380 overhead panels featured the A380’s standard fare – reading lights and the seatbelt sign. Unfortunately they didn’t include air nozzles, but it wasn’t like the cabin was that hot to start with – good thing the cabin wasn’t created to reflect the Singapore “experience” (in case you haven’t been before, that’s really hot weather).

a ceiling with a sign and a light
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Overhead Console

Boarding was completed at around 2:25 PM, around departure time. I neglected to check ExpertFlyer before my flight, but economy seemed mostly full, and the left middle seat in our row was empty, as was the left center aisle seat in the row behind us. The man sitting in the left middle seat of that row moved to the aisle seat before takeoff.

After the door was closed, the crew came by with hot towels – something also provided in economy on Singapore, establishing how premium they are as an airline.

a white towel on a black surface
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Hot Towel

The really friendly cabin manager soon came by and confirmed our Book the Cook orders – Singapore Airlines offers Book the Cook for premium economy passengers, which is a service that lets you order (marginally better) meals. I had ordered “fish with garlic butter” for myself, and my parents and Hailey all chose the “beef stew with mushroom”. Stickers were placed on our seats to reflect that we had chosen this service.

a sticker on a black case
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Book the Cook Sticker

I looked out the window, and saw a gorgeous Singapore A350, which features a slightly different premium economy product (I would’ve asked to try it out, but it does arrive Singapore quite a bit later, so I was happy on the A380).

a plane parked at an airport
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong Airport

I was able to get a nice view of the plane as we pulled back at around 2:40 PM (an hour before that flight would be departing, as it would be operating SQ 861, which used to be the A380 flight operated out of Hong Kong).

an airplane at an airport
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong Airport

The safety video was then played. Singapore Airlines has to feature the most boring safety video, if you ask me – not only is it the standard fare to start with, but it also features quite a few long pauses in between instructions. Thankfully it’s in English, and isn’t repeated in the three other official languages that Singapore has. I love it when humour, dramatics or local culture is injected into safety videos, as people just tune out if it’s the same boring fare every time – remember, the key is to get the passengers’ attention, so you get the point across, and not just to “go through the motions”. I believe Singapore has the same safety video no matter which aircraft you’re on, which is as follows (they don’t upload the “original video” onto YouTube):

Singapore Airlines Safety Video

a screen with a woman on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Safety Video

a group of people sitting on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cabin During Safety Video

After the safety video was played, the Australian captain came onto the PA, saying that he wasn’t expecting a delay and would get us to Singapore in 3 hours and 30 minutes. Shortly after, the cabin manager came around to collect cups, as well as the plastic that our blankets came with. That’s pretty impressive, as most airlines just let you deal with your trash yourself.

When taxiing we passed a few interesting aircraft, including a Finnair A350, a Cathay Pacific A330, an Emirates A380 and a Thai A330.

an airplane on the runway
Traffic Hong Kong Airport

a large white airplane on a tarmac
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Hong Kong Airport

a large airplane parked at an airport
Emirates Airbus A380 Hong Kong Airport

airplanes parked at an airport
Traffic Hong Kong Airport

We then turned to taxi towards the runway, and through the FlightRadar24 app I found out we were third in line for takeoff, behind a Korean Air 747-8 headed to (Seoul) Incheon and a Royal Brunei A320 headed to Bandar Seri Begawan.

a blue airplane on a runway with mountains in the background
Korean Air Boeing 747-8 Hong Kong Airport

a white airplane on a runway
Royal Brunei Airbus A320 Hong Kong Airport

Next in line was a Cathay Pacific 777-300ER in a oneworld livery, which was operating the afternoon Cathay flight to London.

a white airplane on a runway
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong Airport

We took off on runway 07R. While my personal seat preference is to sit by the right side, I certainly don’t mind occasionally sitting on the left side when departing Hong Kong, as I get a view that overlooks the airport.

a group of airplanes at an airport
View upon Climbout Hong Kong Airport

an airplane wing on a runway with many airplanes and a body of water
View upon Climbout Hong Kong Airport

an airport with many airplanes
View upon Climbout Hong Kong Airport

a group of people sitting in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Cabin View upon Climbout

Shortly after takeoff I browsed the entertainment system. I’ve geeked over it so won’t do so again, but it’s unarguably one of the best entertainment systems out there. One downside is that the A380 screens aren’t touchscreen, so I had to use my remote to control the system at all times.

a screen with icons on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Screen

a screen with a map on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Inflight Map

However, the selection is insane – the pictures obviously don’t do the spread justice, but there are:

  • 47 European movies
  • 15 newly released Disney/DreamWorks movies under “Young Ones”
  • All 8 Harry Potter movies
  • 7 out of 9 Star Wars movies
  • 34 entire seasons of TV shows
  • 160 albums of music
  • All UK Top 20 songs dating back to 1960

The interface could have been easier to use, but compared to the return flight, it didn’t require much working around – you could add individual songs within playlists to your own playlist, etc.. I still do have a few complaints – it does take a little navigation for you to be able to pause your music, and there isn’t a button that takes you straight to the moving map, so StudioCX wins on the navigation regard. You’d think that the new system on the 777-300ERs would fix that, but boy, you’re wrong

a screen on a vehicle
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen with numbers on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a television
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a television
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a television
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a computer
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a television
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen with a picture of a cartoon character
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a computer
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a television
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen shot of a computer
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

a screen with a blue and white image
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy KrisWorld Entertainment Selection

The WiFi pricing on the A380 is ridiculous, but I knew that to start with, so wasn’t planning to work on this flight. I got free WiFi across the entire flight on Lufthansa for US$18, while you can only buy 50 MB worth of WiFi for US$20 on this flight. I’m terrible when it comes to data caps, so there was no exception here.

a screenshot of a website
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 OnAir WiFi Pricing

Soon the crew came around with beverages to precede the meal service. I took an orange juice, which was zesty, though didn’t seem to be freshly squeezed (not that I’d expect it to be in premium economy – I don’t remember the last time I’ve had fresh juice onboard an aircraft). Meanwhile my dad took a beer, which apparently came from Singha (his beer palate is amazing, so I’ll trust him).

two plastic cups of liquid in a tray
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Beverages

The drinks came with packaged nuts, which were tasty (and salted).

a bag of nuts on a keyboard
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Roasted Nuts

As Book the Cook customers, we got our meal around 10-15 minutes before everyone else. Most people seemed to have picked the beef stew with mushroom, so I was the only one around my vicinity that went with the fish with garlic butter. Unlike some reports I’ve read, the meal was served at the perfect temperature, so kudos to them.

a tray of food on a table
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Meal

The fish itself was great, flaky and not overcooked in the slightest, and it also seemed like mid- to high-quality fish, perhaps halibut or sea bass (I’m not that great with tasting fish, as I haven’t had many opportunities to try halibut or sea bass in my lifetime). It came with some diced carrots, zucchinis and yellow bell peppers mixed with Israeli couscous/ptitim, which could have been better seasoned, but overall was fine. The roasted carrots and broccoli on the side were also really nice and complemented the fish well, so overall it was an impressive dish for premium economy, and I certainly have no complaints.

a tray of food on a table
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Meal – Fish with Garlic Butter

However, the most spectacular part of the meal had to be the side “salad”, which consisted of chicken and quinoa. Both were dressed in a beautiful lemon vinaigrette which I found to be really refreshing – not something I normally say about salads, especially in economy (I believe economy features the same salad).

a bowl of food on a tray
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Meal – Quinoa and Chicken Salad

My parents and Hailey all had the beef stew with mushroom, which wasn’t as great a choice – the mashed potatoes weren’t well seasoned, the beef was slightly tougher than you’d expect for it to be truly restaurant quality (though still could be eaten without the use of a knife), and the vegetables on the side weren’t seasoned as well as they were in the dish I ordered. Still a solid meal, I suppose, and perfectly edible, so I won’t give Singapore too hard of a time with their meal service.

a tray of food on a tray
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Meal – Beef Stew with Mushroom

I ordered the beef stew with mushroom for Hailey as well, though she slept through the flight, so I got an extra portion, which was fine by me as I didn’t have lunch. I didn’t manage to finish it all, though at least not the entire meal was going to waste.

My dad and I were done our meal when the cabin manager passed through, though he didn’t collect our trays (which is fine, as he didn’t have a cart). Instead, he asked us if we wanted drinks, which we both turned down. Häagen-Dazs ice cream was soon passed out, which was the perfect temperature. It was creamy and delicious, and could be eaten comfortably with a spoon (without the use of a chisel). To those who complain when I state that ice-cream is rock hard, it’s because it can be done perfectly. I know that economy class also got this ice-cream, so it’s not because I was in premium economy, or anything.

a container of ice cream on a keyboard
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Meal Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream

I was served my meal at 3:50 PM, which was an hour into the flight. I find that to be perfectly reasonable. However, the meal wasn’t taken from me until 4:45 PM, which was 55 minutes after the meal was served. I understand that I would have to deal with my meal the longest, as I:

  • booked the Cook, which meant that I got my meal 15 minutes before everyone else
  • was seated in premium economy, and the crew have to work economy as well, and the A380 is a large plane

However, I still think that there still needs to be some efficiency to the meal service, as 55 minutes on a four-hour flight is too long to be handling my tray for. At least that’s what I felt during the time as I needed the washroom…badly (I had coffee beforehand, and since I only started becoming a coffee drinker recently, my bladder hasn’t learned to accept caffeine as its friend and companion…yet).

Other than that, service through the meal was fine – the cabin supervisor was spectacular, though everyone else just seemed to be slightly removed.

a map of the world
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Airshow During Meal Service

Shortly after the meal service I opened my window shade and had a look at the beautiful sky, which never gets old, and is one of the reasons I love flying. The fact that the A380 can even fly makes it so impressive, as it’s such a large plane.

an airplane wing and blue sky
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Premium Economy Wing View

I found a hallway between the bathrooms which seemed to just exist because there was a single bathroom embedded in the middle of the first economy cabin. This hallway would’ve been a nice place to hang out and stretch my legs if no one was in need of that bathroom, and was a good place to stand while I waited for the cart to be rolled past after the crew collected economy meals. I didn’t want the crew to have to move their cart for me, so I hung out there for a while, which was pleasant enough, especially since there was a rainbow on the floor…no, actually.

a rainbow in the hallway
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Hallway

I asked the leading steward (I don’t know what colour his tie was, so I can’t exactly remember, though he seemed to be leading everyone else) if I could visit the business class and first class cabins upon arrival, and he said he’d check for me. He was gone for quite a while, so I initially thought that he’d forgotten.

At 5:25 PM, immigration forms were passed out, and we were informed that KrisShop would be closing in ten minutes. I’d prefer immigration forms to be passed out the first thing after we took off, as we’d be able to complete the form at our leisure, instead of rushing it near the end of the flight. At around 5:40 PM, we were informed that we’d be landing in 30 minutes, and were informed to put our seats upright and have our window shades open. That seemed slightly early, in my opinion, though I won’t question the captain’s motives.

The cabin supervisor soon reappeared and I made eye contact with him, and he seemed to suddenly remember that I had asked him about taking pictures in the first place. He soon returned and said that would be fine, though advised that I’d have to wait for him until he aided with deplaning, so I’d be last off the plane. My parents were fine with that, so I was pretty happy.

The captain then said that we’d be entering a holding pattern due to congestion at Singapore Changi, and expected a landing time of 6:35 PM. After circling around the airport once, we started our descent into Singapore.

a view of the sky from an airplane window
View upon Descent Singapore Changi

a view of a river from an airplane window
View upon Descent Singapore Changi

an airplane wing with land and water in the background
View upon Descent Singapore Changi

We touched down at 6:35 PM, as the captain suggested, and started making our way towards Terminal 3, passing some interesting aircraft along the way.

a view of an airport from an airplane window
View upon Landing Singapore Changi

an airplane on the runway
View upon Taxiing Singapore Changi

During our arrival, we were welcomed to Singapore, and the cabin crew also wished Singaporeans a “warm welcome home”.

a screen with a map on it
Airshow Arriving Singapore Changi

a view of a runway from an airplane window
View upon Taxiing Singapore Changi

We passed a Singapore Airlines A330 upon our way to the gate, and eventually parked at gate B2, beside a Garuda 737.

a large airplane on a runway
Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 Singapore Changi

a plane parked on the tarmac
Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 Singapore Changi

I stayed at my seat and waited for everyone to deplane, which was an arduous process, as the economy cabin is quite large. The deplaning process took about ten minutes from when premium economy was invited off the plane to when the last economy passenger was gone.

The cabin manager invited me to take some pictures of the Suites along the way, which were impressive, and certainly a nice place to sit. I do question the bedding, which seems to be slightly lacking for first class based on pictures I’ve seen, though the friendly crew offered to take a picture of me in the seat, which I won’t be posting here, so I don’t end up embarrassing myself.

a seat in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class Seat 4A

a seat in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class

a room with a bed and monitors on the wall
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class TV Screen

The aisles in Suites class are unlike anything else I’ve seen, and I’ve walked through quite a few first class cabins in my life.

a person standing in a row of rows of chairs
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class Aisle

a chair in a room
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class Middle Seats

Each seat features a door, so you bet there’s plenty of privacy. Interestingly that’s a trend that’s coming to business class as well, so I might get to try some seats with doors in the future.

a seat in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class Seat 3D

I decided to walk up to business class, which may be useful for more of you. I only managed to grab a few photos, but I could be scheduled to try this product in the future.

The cabin manager in premium economy explained that people “like this seat because it’s wide and features a comfortable sleeping surface”. To be honest, I don’t think that this seat is industry leading anymore, but that makes sense since it’s been around for a while.

a seat with pillows on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class

Each seat still features direct aisle access, so it’s a solid product. Singapore’s business class cabin is separated into two, with a smaller cabin at the front and a bigger one at the back. On some planes, there’s a third cabin at the very back with a single row behind the last exit row, but there was an economy cabin at the back in this instance.

a row of seats on a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Cabin

Each seat actually seemed pretty wide, and there are side consoles which provide ample storage. I’m not sure how the seat does with storage otherwise, but overall I guess it’s a solid product for business class.

a seat in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class

a seat in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Seat 21A

The cabin manager offered to turn seat 11A into a bed for me, so I was able to see how much better the bulkhead seats were as a bed. Ultimately they’re still designed the same way, so while there is more space for sleeping, I’m still skeptical about how comfortable the seat is, as there’s a gap between the ottoman and the rest of the seat, as you can see below. The sleeping surface also looked slightly bumpy, which could be a problem on longhaul flights.

It’s also worth noting that seat 11A doesn’t feature a full set of windows, so I’d almost take another seat over seat 11A. Seat 17A doesn’t have this issue, so I’d snag that seat first if I were on this aircraft.

a seat with a white sheet on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Bed

a seat with pillows and a blanket on it
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Bed

The cabin is impressive, though, on the whole, especially with how wide the seats are – I imagine they’d be more comfortable to lounge in than Cathay Pacific’s regional business class product. 😉

a row of seats on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Cabin

a row of seats in an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Cabin

a row of seats on an airplane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Cabin

a seat in a plane
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Business Class Seats 18D and 18F

I thanked the cabin manager for showing me around the upper deck, and he sent me on my way, saying he hoped I had taken the pictures that I had wanted to take. The guy was so understanding and clearly loved his job, and I hope to be on another one of his flights in the future.

I believe I was waited on before I left as the last passenger, so in a way I was escorted off the plane – a first for premium economy. I didn’t manage to get a great view of Singapore’s A380, though I did get a nice view of one of Singapore’s 777-200s, which seems to frequent between Singapore and Hong Kong.

an airplane on the tarmac
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200 Singapore Changi

I was expecting a long line at immigration, since I was the last of 400+ people off a plane. However, due to how efficient Singapore Changi is and how many lanes were open at the time, I was through within five minutes of exiting the aircraft – my parents didn’t wait for me and went for the luggages first, so I was landside within fifteen minutes of leaving the plane.

a group of people in a building with plants on the wall
Singapore Changi Airport Baggage Claim

Bottom Line: Singapore Airlines’ A380 Premium Economy Class

Singapore’s A380 premium economy is a very solid option for traveling shorthaul, and was definitely worth the money that we paid (considering you can get economy prices that probably cost more). I liked the seat, though I do wish it was slightly better padded. It was decked out with a lot of storage options as well as a really great entertainment system, so I’d overall consider it an industry leading hard product. The soft product was obviously made great by the cabin manager, and I did note that people kneeled down to talk to passengers, etc. which is what gives Singapore it’s reputation in hospitality, and I greatly appreciated. However, some of them seemed slightly removed, and were just going through the motions.

I’m not sure if I’d go out of my way to fly Singapore Airlines premium economy on a longer flight, and honestly don’t regret not choosing Singapore’s premium economy to London. I do hope they follow up on some of the issues (better blankets, possibly considering adding better padding on their next generation seat, etc.) to create a truly industry-leading premium economy product.

2 comments

  1. It sounds like you made the most of your time at the airport, even without lounge access! Plane spotting at Hong Kong Airport must have been a treat, especially with the impressive sight of an A380 towing into the gate. There’s something so exciting about the anticipation before boarding such a massive aircraft. Hope the flight lived up to the experience of watching it arrive!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *