Singapore A350 Regional Business Class: Perth To Singapore

In my quest to fly all Singapore Airlines (SQ) Business Class products in all aircraft variants, this flight on Singapore A350 Regional Business Class would complete it. I flew out to Perth on a short night flight on the 787-10 I have already reviewed last year on a day flight. The outbound sleeper express was so short, I decided to sleep straight after the midnight take-off and requested to be woken up 45 minutes before landing for a coffee. 

Flight Details

Route: Perth – Singapore
Flight No: SQ226
Date: 12.01.2020
Departure Time: 14:05
Aircraft: A350-900 Regional
Seat: 11K (Bulkhead Business Class)

Check-In & Security

Perth Airport is located just 20 minute drive from city centre. For a rather compact airport, it does however handle a sizeable amount of traffic. I arrived at 11am, more 3 hours before scheduled departure.

To my relief it was just past peak holiday season so no crowds at all.

Check-in desks opened just minutes after I arrived. The agents were super friendly and courteous. After, I headed straight through to departures upstairs.

As far as I was are, there was no separate fast track security. I passed through in just a few minutes still.

Lounge in Perth

As a business class passenger, you have access to Singapore’s own outstation SilverKris lounge in Perth.

There were just a handful of people using the lounge on this day flight.

Much like the airport, it’s a small but perfectly functional lounge. As far as any comparisons go, it was the smallest SilverKris lounge I have been in.

What I did like about it was how personal the service seemed. Staff were always at hand taking any requests I had for food and beverage or otherwise!

Boarding

Boarding was very well organised and on time. I started making my way down to the gates 40 minutes before scheduled departure.

Singapore A350 Regional Business Class Cabin

Upon being greeted at door number 2, I was shown to my seat by one of the Singapore girls.

There are 40 Business Class seats split between two cabins in a standard 1-2-1 layout.

The 2018 Regional Business Class seats and cabin here is exactly the same as the 787-10 first launched with. Which I flew for the second time just days before. This is despite the A350 cabin being much wider. You would expect the aisles therefore to be much wider, but I honestly did not notice it at all.

Already on the seat you will find the standard business class slippers, flights socks and eye-shades.

A welcome drink choice of champagne or juice was offered as soon as I took my seat.

As other aircraft, the bulkhead seats to have much more leg space to move around in, whether lounging or trying to sleep.

Singapore usually blocks these bulkhead seats, but occasionally they open up the week before the departure.

You will find the usual noise cancelling headphones wrapped in the unit by the side console. I do not find them to be the most comfortable. But not enough for me to carry my own around.

The inflight entertainment screen and usability is excellent. With the touchscreen controller being able to function independently to the main screen.

On this flight, Business Class passengers were handed out complementary 50MB WiFi Internet vouchers.

As we were about to take off, I noted the business class cabin was only about half occupied.

Singapore A350 Regional Business Class Service

Moments after take-off the lovely Singapore girls sprang into action.

First the drinks service with warm nuts. I stuck with the Taittinger prelude grand crus.

Meanwhile I decided to check what was on the menu. I was glad I had opted for the Book The Cook service, as most of the meal options were the same or similar to what I had in the previous weeks flying SQ. You can see the menu’s from my other trip reports as all beverage options were near identical on this service as was on other long haul flights. This included the Seared Lamb Loin with Natural Jus I previously reviewed on my Wellington – Singapore flight.

The meal started with an appetiser of Prosciutto with Melon, Green Olives & Lemon Dressing…

Once again, I do not eat any pork based products so I left most of that dish. It’s a shame SQ do not provide any alternatives here unless you specifically request special meal types. In the greater scheme of things, SQ Business Class has enough meal course to somewhat negate this problem.

Then came my pre-ordered book the cook main: The Lobster Thermidor…

That was a sizeable lobster for a Business Class mid haul flight!

Once I tucked in, I found the dish to be on the bland side however. It just needed something to give it a kick. And as I write this, I am wondering why I did not request any additional condiments for it?! The staff would have been happy to do so with whatever they had in the galley.

About 40 minutes later, I was asked if I would like the cheese plate.

As far as cheese plates go, this one hit the spot. The blue cheese well complemented by tarago triple cream.

Later for dessert, I had a choc chip cookie dough ice cream followed by a coffee.

In all, the meal service stretched out 2.5 hours of this 5 hour daytime flight.

Additional refreshments were still available on request after the formal meal service.

A350 Regional Business Class Restrooms

There are two dedicated business class restrooms available inbetween the larger and small business cabins. The long haul configured A350 has an additional one at the front of the main cabin.

Inside they were very similar to what you would see in the dreamliners too. The usual amenities were also provided.

I like that SQ provides proper hand towels and mouthwash, which is always a welcome amenity after enjoying some cheese!

Overall Thoughts

Once again, this was another smooth, enjoyable flight with SQ. Cementing a record of impeccable standard of services over a few weeks.  This was a rather spontaneous last minute trip that I booked for just $1834 dollars, which was less than half the regular price. Good opportunity to check out Western Australia and top up those miles!

On a side note, as can be expected with many airlines where you fly very frequently, the food menu is likely to be the same or similar for the entire month. Make use of SQs Book The Cook Service to select exactly what you want!

If you would like to fly Singapore Airlines without the usual lofty price tag, do checkout the monthly Spontaneous Escape Redemption Offers!