Not So New Singapore A380 Business Class to Auckland
SQ 2006 Business Class
This Singapore A380 Business class product review is part of a bigger, multi-flight trip on Singapore Airlines. I had planned to go to New Zealand from early in 2019. I’d already been Australia twice prior to this but never crossed over. My other plans meant I would already be in Asia in November/December as I had booked a Turkish Business class ticket to position for my crazy Cathay Pacific First class flight. So instead of coming back to U.K, I figured it makes sense to combine it all and head to N.Z from Asia.
I started exploring a separate fare from Asia to New Zealand for a couple of months after Spring. Looking at flights connecting directly from Vietnam, there was nothing that interested me at a good enough price point. After doing a google search of all of Asia to NZ I found Singapore flights, which I tweaked into a open jaw from Brunei to Auckland and returning from Wellington for just over £2k.
Badar Seri Begawan is quite a small, efficient airport.
SQ Check in Bandar Seri Begawan
It happened that I arrived a little too early for my flight to SIN. Singapore counters do not open till 3 hours before departure at Brunei Airport.
There was about a 20 minute wait for me to be able to check-in. Once it started, it was very easy and quick.
Lounges
Singapore Airlines provides invitation to the Sky Lounge (also used by Royal Brunei Airlines) there, which I will try to review separately. It,s a very peaceful place with several rooms and central eating area with various hot and cold buffets.
Skylounge BSB AirportSkyLounge Games Room
In Singapore, you can use the SilverKris Business Class Lounge in Terminal 3, which again, I will review separately but its not too dissimilar to the Terminal 2 lounge I’ve already reviewed.
Boarding
Despite having a long layover, in which my plans for visiting the Jewel failed * I proceeded to board just before 10pm for my 10.25pm flight.
SQ285 Business Class Boarding
There were already several lanes for boarding with Business Class using the first lane.
SQ285 getting ready to boardSQ285 Upper Deck boarding
And off we went to the upper deck boarding bridge.
This aircraft also has some economy seats in the back of the upper deck!
Impression of the A380 Business Cabin
There are two cabins in the Singapore A380 Business Class, 18 seats in the forward smaller cabin, and 42 in the main cabin, where I chose to be in the first row. All seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Singapore A380 2006 Business ClassSQ 2006 Business Class CabinSQ 2006 Business Class CabinSQ 2006 Business Class centre bulkhead seats
My immediate impressions, and this one never gets old, was damn these seats are wide! Alas its looking rather sad and warn now. These are 14 year old seats that look like it missed out on a mid-life spruce up. However, the cabin was still very clean and well kept in that regard.
I should note, I also specifically booked this flight over a daytime 777 so I can sleep.
As boarding completed, Business Class was only about 60% full, with plenty of seats free, including windows ones, which I could have moved to later.
Already in the seat were some slippers, flight socks, eyeshades, and noise cancelling headphones.
Singapore does not provide proper amenity kits for business class.
SQ 2006 Business Class Seat
SQ 2006 Business Class Seat ControlsSQ 2006 Business Class ConnectivitySQ 2006 Business Class Aisle Side with darker seats
There was no one else adjacent to me in the centre, and just 1 other person in the same row.
The flight deported just past 10:30pm.
Singapore A380 Business Class Service
I’m unsure if due to me boarding at the last moment, but there was no pre-departure drink or hot towels. Which is usual for business class, SQ or otherwise.
The service started fairly promptly after take off with champagne, Taittinger Prelude Grand Crus (retails around $50 a bottle) and nuts.
SQ Business Class Champagne and Nuts
I had already selected my main meal via the Book the Cook service, the week before.
The meal started with the appetiser, the Chilled Poached Prawns, which was fresh and succulent.
SQ Business Class Poached Prawn Appetizer
Followed by the Chirashi Sushi, that I had pre-booked.
SQ Business Class Book the Cook Chirashi Sushi
The sushi was exactly what I had expected it would be. I should note, that this being a Christmas Eve flight, they did have a seasonal dish, the roasted stuffed turkey. I would have ordered otherwise. The roast turkey did look fantastic when I saw it being served to the other passenger in my row 🙂
In keeping with the festive spirit however, I opted for the Christmas Delight Fruit Cake for dessert as well as some viennetta ice cream.
SQ Business Class Christmas Cake and Vienetta Ice Cream
The cake was good, and helped by the ice-cream, as I imagine it might have been a tad dry otherwise.
What was notable after that though was I was neither offered the cheese course or asked if I wanted any hot drinks. It was only when the crew came by to collect the plates, that I asked for some herbal tea!
Entertainment system
As noted this product is many years old, and the IFE was no different here. The IFE screen are small by today’s business class standards. This is more notable in bulkhead seats as the screens are further away from the seat.
The remote control was also abit clunky, especially when you get used to smartphone like touchscreen controls from the more fancier aircraft.
The selection and variety of content was however decent as all Singapore flights.
Singapore A380 Business Class Bathrooms
There are several bathrooms in the upper deck, some bigger than others.
SQ 2006 Business Class Bathroom
They are stocked with the usual products, toothbrushes, products, hand lotion etc
The ones towards the front of the plane in the smaller cabin are much bigger, with plenty space to change into pyjamas etc
SQ 2006 Business Class Bathroom
Singapore A380 Business Class Bed
I did not order the cheese plate as I was keen to get to sleep. After finishing my tea, I still didn’t feel sleepy enough though. Anyway about another half hour later I decided to turn down the bed.
Singapore Airlines does not proactively offer turn down service in Business Class, but as I was attempting to do so, a crew member passing by asked if she could help. Like many Singapore and other airlines (Virgin’s old Upper Class), the seat does not turn flat from a seating position. Instead you have to get up and flip the bed over from the back, where the bedding and additional pillow is already conveniently placed.
SQ 2006 Business Class Bed
The plus side of this approach is it literally took 30 seconds to make the bed!
These 2006 business class seats having tight chubby holes for the feet means having to sleep at an angle. (Unfortunately this has not changed in the new Business Class of the newer/refurbished A380) Hence the precise reason I had chosen a bulkhead seat which mitigates some of issue around the tight space for your feet.
However, this also presents a different problem for bulkhead seats. Following the contours of other seats, a gap that widens towards the feet area from one side, despite there being no physical restrictions for this on the bulkheads. You can see the gap in the picture above. It isn’t ideal and somehow I still ended up sleeping in an angle anyway, because I did not like the idea that part of my leg (even if it was only a few inches) being exposed.
SQ 2006 Business Class Turn Down
It took me a while to get comfortable. Otherwise the bedding and pillows provided were excellent.
Breakfast Service
I was woken for breakfast 2 hours 25 minutes before landing. This was far from a pleasant wake up since I probably only fell asleep not more than 2 hours before this :/
Anyway, it would have been hard to fall back asleep, so I got up for breakfast.
While breakfast choice was taken, I felt like trying someone different. So ordered the Nasi Lemak!
Breakfast started with some fruits first and followed by an appetiser, so I felt I would be ok to have something more exotic after the appetiser.
SQ285 Business Class Breakfast fruit plate
When I finished the fruit, the main was bought over…
SQ285 Breakfast Nasi Lemak
I was somewhat confused why I wasn’t offered or asked about the appetiser or if they had got it mixed up, but I didn’t want it to go cold while I wait for it so I dug in. I love a Nasi Lemak, and this was no different. Perhaps it was somewhat spicy for a breakfast though.
After the main, I was not really hungry to still have the appetiser after.
As my plates were being cleared away, we still had 1 hour 50 minutes to landing!
Not long after, the crew started the duty free service.
Overall thoughts
I had an enjoyable flight but I have to confess, this was far from being one of my favourite SQ Business class flights. While I could understand the dinner service being speedy for an overnight flight, the breakfast service was not on par. Not only was I awakened for breakfast way too early, but the fact that this was then rushed made no sense. Also the cabin was not even full to explain the crew mixing up/forgetting to serve the appetiser before the main.
All be told, the crew were still lovely and cheerful. They were proactive with offering to take photos of me, when they noticed I was taking pictures of the cabin, and helping me with the bed. Overall it was still a good flight and probably better than most Business Class experiences out there.
I had no idea you had to go out of immigration for the Jewel, which wasn’t a problem in itself, since I could make the time. Rather a little problem of my passport running out of space for stamps! Given my itinerary I needed to save all the space I could and I was already stopping by Singapore on the way back.
Faze, founder of Wander Up Front and Elevate Your Stay, is a London-based travel specialist with a deep passion for aviation. With over 2 million miles flown, he has spent the last 7 years focusing on First and Business class experiences.
Faze provides straightforward, no-frills insights into premium airline products and services, sharing what matters to help travellers make informed choices.
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