Review of Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Economy Class

After booking my flight to London LHR from Brisbane BNE via Singapore SIN online I was pleased to see that the flight from Singapore to Heathrow was on the new Airbus A380. I reserved my seats in Economy on the Singapore Airlines website, I used SeatGuru to find the best seat. However, even though I’d gone to do this quite a while before the departure date I found that a lot of seats had already gone. Next time I will reserve my seats as soon as I book the actual flight. Anyway, on the first flight to London I managed to get an aisle seat on the Upper Deck on the way back I got an aisle seat on the Main Deck. When I boarded the A380 the first thing I noticed was the smell, it smells exactly like a new car. The brand new fittings, fixtures and upholstery are a pleasure to see, everything is nice and new, shiny and clean.

The economy class cabin is similar to economy on other Singapore Airlines aircraft except for the following: The actual seats are different they are a little harder than usual but I prefer a harder seat. The leg room has improved, I could pretty much stretch my legs right under the seat in front (I’m 6′2”), if it wasn’t for the seat pocket and the foot rest my legs just touched the seat in front. The personal screen in economy has also improved they are 10 inch and the entertainment system is fully on-demand, I found it a lot easier to watch the movies and TV shows on the bigger screen and there was almost too much to choose from. The entertainment system also had a great selection of music to listen to. The food was pretty much the same as other flights I’d been on, the usual Chicken, Beef or Fish options which tasted OK. At the back of the Upper Deck next to the galley there is a staircase which leads down the the economy cabin on the Main Deck at the back of which are 4 toilets and an area about a metre and a half long and the width of the plane. A good enough space to stretch the legs and have a stand for a while.

I thought the lighting on the A380 was very good, when the cabin crew are getting ready to serve breakfast the cabin lights gradually go from off to fully on over a period of about 10 minutes. You don’t really realised it is happening, this is much more reasonable than suddenly turning the lights on while everyone’s eyes are still used to the dark, it also allows you to wake up gradually as if it were morning.

The flight time from Singapore to London is still roughly the same and it is still a long and boring flight but in situations like this little things seem to make a difference. It was over all a good experience and made my trip back to London easier to handle. The only thing I would grumble about was the fact that when the plane arrived at Heathrow it took us in the Upper Deck economy cabin about 30 minutes to get off the plane into the terminal building. This as we found out was due to the two level air bridge being broken and the ground staff having to get a normal one set up. Therefore everyone in the Upper Deck had to wait for all the passengers on the Main deck to exit before we could. However, it did give me an opportunity to see what the first class suites were like – all I can say is they are very spacious and sleeping wouldn’t have been a problem.

The flight back was much the same except for the fact that my entertainment system froze while I was watching Kung Fu Panda this required the stewardess to reset the whole system which took about 20 minutes to reload. I then had to fast forward back to the point the movie froze. Also, they had run out of the Beef option at dinner.

Video from youtube of Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Upper and Main Deck

These pictures of the A380 were taken at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 on Saturday 17th August 2008 immediately prior to departure for Singapore.

Returning to Oludeniz

As mentioned in a previous post I have recently returned from Turkey after spending 5 days staying at my Dad’s place in Fethiye. The day I arrived I visited Oludeniz – the only place that really stood out in my mind from my last visit to Turkey when I was a child. I was sort of expecting it to be the same as it was 21 years ago. My Dad confirmed my memory that when we had first visited Oludeniz there were only a few wooden structures on the beach at the lagoon end of the bay and a boat mooring – very untouched. However, this was not what was presented to me upon my arrival this time. On the beach at the lagoon end of the bay is a sea of beach umbrellas, which in fact stretch quite along way along the beach. Also, back from the main beach is basically a town which has developed to cater for all the tourist which visit Oludeniz every summer. Hotels, shops, restaurants etc. (You can see how big the town is in picture_03 below) I was also interested to find out that Oludeniz has become one of the most popular paragliding places in the world, the evidence of this was by the fact that while I was there one landed on the beach every few minutes. Having said that Oludeniz and the surrounding area is still a beautiful place and well worth a visit. Oludeniz is however a victim of its own magnificence, there are still untouched places on this coastline like the Oludeniz of 21 years ago but they are few and usually only accessible by boat.

How to get the Best Seat on the Plane.

Whenever i fly long-haul, which is at least once or twice a year (from Australia to the UK and back) I am always keen to get the best seat I can. In the past, this process was always fraught with anxiety and apprehension and on a few occasions I’ve ended up very disappointed.

However, now with the introduction of online ticket purchasing with the option to choose your seat in advance, the process has become a great deal easier and a lot less stressful. Not all airlines provide this service but it is gradually becoming usual practice for all the major airlines, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are two which do provide this service.

A friend recently told me about a website called Seat Guru, which provides seating plans and configuration for all the major airlines. This website also provides reviews of all the seats on the plane allowing you to make a more informed decision about which seat to choose.

I recently booked a flight to London on Singapore Airlines and went online to select my seats, using Seat Guru i was able to see the configuration of each plane (one of which is the new Airbus A380) and selected the best seat (for me) on the plane, although a lot of seats had already gone. Anyone who waits until check-in at the Airport to ask for their preferred seat is living in the past and will probably end up disappointed.

19th May 2008 – Furthermore, I was at the Airport the other night and the queue for people who had checked in On-Line was only two deep. Whereas the queue for regular check-in at the desk was at least 60 people deep. Another reason for using the On-line services now provided by many airlines. Also, if you check in On-line you only have to be at the airport 2 hrs before departure instead of 3 hrs.

Click here to read a Review of Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 economy class.

Byron Bay Coast, NSW

The Northern Rivers region of Australia is located on the far North coast of NSW and runs from Grafton, Lismore and Ballina in the South, to the Tweed Shire in the North and includes Byron Bay, Suffolk Park, Broken Head and Lennox Head.

I’ve just returned from a weeks holiday in this region and wanted to share some of the great coastal views I experience during the stay. We stayed at the Tallow Beach Houses in Suffolk Park near Byron Bay.

Satellite image of the Byron Coast

Lennox Head

Cape Byron and Broken Head

The Beach at Lennox Head

Lennox Head and Broken Head from The Cape Byron Lighthouse

Byron Bay from the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse Lens

The Cape Byron Lighthouse.

Fethiye, Turkey

Luckily for me I have a father who decided to move to Fethiye in Turkey a number of years ago. During my trip to England this July and August I will be visiting him for a short period of approx 5 days. I managed to get the flights through flythomascook.com who are apparently an airline now, as well as a travel agency, i will be flying from London Gatwick to Dalaman. I have been there once before, but it was 21 years ago when I was 10 yrs old, I have a very limited memory of the place. However, I do remember Oludeniz; a place I am keen to revisit:

Select Link for more detail: Returning to Oludeniz