West to the Middle East: SIN-AUH-SIN on Singapore Airlines

[9V-SPL]

04 October 2010
Singapore(SIN)<T2> – Abu Dhabi(AUH)<T1>
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ 456
Aircraft: A330-300
Registration: 9V-STD
Seat: 50K (Economy)
Gate: E12
ETD: 1250
ATD: 1300
ETA: 1550
ATA: 1605

Having had the plan to visit Abu Dhabi in the 'To-Do' List for quite long, it was time to take action.

So, we got ourselves tickets for SQ456 on the 4th of October. The flight's final destination was Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, but we will be getting off at AUH.



We arrived at the airport at 1030, and proceeded to the check-in desk. We had already checked in online and printed our boarding passes.
So, fast forward to the gate>>>



Our aircraft for today, 9V-STD.

Boarding commenced slightly after 1200. Thankfully, the loads were very light in Economy. I would estimate it to be at 40% full in Y. So I had the seat next to me empty. The seating configuration for the A333 is 2-4-2. So that was nice.

Take-Off
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Flight time to Abu Dhabi is estimated to be 7 hours 15 minutes, but I think we made it slightly less than 7 hours.


"A light snack for you sir?"


I feel like drinking AJ right now.


The appetiser(on the top left) was nice. Overall, the meal was delicious and I ate everything.


Flight Path


Playing Bookworm on KrisWorld. I also watched Cats & Dogs and episodes of "The Golden Girls".


In-Flight.

Since the flight was relatively empty, people moved to occupy the 4 seats in the middle to act as beds, by moving the arm-rests up. I did'nt sleep throughout the flight though.


Refreshments served as we approached the coast of Oman.


The coast of Oman can be seen! From here on, it was mostly vast sandy deserts and mountains, which were amazing to look at from 39,000ft.

[9V-SPL]

CONTINUED:

Pretty soon, our flight was coming to a close. It was the longest I have ever flown :oops:, but time flew by with relative ease, and the fact that the cabin was rather empty added to the fun.


Slowing down over the UAE.

Landing
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That was one of the most smoothest landings I've ever experienced. The temperature was expected to be around 38 degrees(Hot! Hot!) 8) According to the stewardess, we landed at 1550, but we actually landed at 1605. Time difference between Singapore and Abu Dhabi is 4 hours.

We taxiied for quite long, and docked at one of the gates in Terminal 1.


The terminal building. It's so dusty.

Passengers who were going onwards to Jeddah, were requested to stay on board during the 1 hour turn-around time, while the aircraft was being serviced.

We disembarked the plane and headed towards Immigration, where the people at the counter(dressed in Arabic clothes) were so cold and unpleasant. But putting that behind, we waited for our uncle who lives in Abu Dhabi to pick us up to begin our 5 day adventure in this desert city.

I hope you enjoyed my trip report. Do stay tuned for Part II, where places we visited can be seen and return journey back to SIN. Thank you.

[Pinkfloyd]

Good start, cheers for the TR!

[Kyo]

Thanks, would love to see more of Abu Dhabi!

[9V-SPL]

09 October 2010
Abu Dhabi(AUH)<T1> – Singapore(SIN)<T2>
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ 455
Aircraft: A330-300
Registration: 9V-STO
Seat: 53A (Economy)
Gate: 08
ETD: 0050
ATD: 0052
ETA: 1230
ATA: 1222

5 days just seemed to have whizzed by, and it was time to head back home. We left our uncle's home at around 2230 and it took us 30 minutes to arrive at Abu Dhabi International Airport.


The flight information board. SQ455 as scheduled.


Our crew for tonight's flight.


The terminal building. It was quite cramped, partly because there was renovation going on at T1.


Our aircraft for the return flight, 9V-STO.


A6-EHE at the gate beside us.


The Y cabin. This flight was more full than the inbound flight. Loads in Y I would estimate to be 60%.


Sun-rise over India.


More episodes of "The Golden Girls"


Breakfast was served around two hours prior to arrival. Before that, it was drinks, as most passengers were sleeping.


Almost reaching


City of Kuala Lumpur.

[9V-SPL]

CONTINUED:


I believe this is the KLIA.

The pilot informed us we would be landing from on the Southern most runway 20R(the Changi Beach one). My left ear was hurting so bad as we descended.

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I was hoping some planespotters captured us landing from the beach.


We docked at Gate E12 which also happened to be the gate we departed from as SQ456 from days earlier. So it was nice to end our adventure from where it all began.
The A330 parked at Gate E8 was headed to Kuwait via Abu Dhabi too.

This concludes my flight portion of the Trip Report. Hope you enjoyed it. As promised, I would show some pictures from UAE as soon as possible. Thank you.

[9V-SPL]

Some of the places we visited in the UAE:



The Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world.




World Records:

The carpet laid out on the vast expanse is the "World's Largest Carpet"
This mosque also holds the largest chandelier.



and of course, no trip to the UAE is complete without visiting Dubai and the World's Tallest Tower - Burj Khalifa, formerly known as Burj Dubai.





Burj Al-Arab, as seen from the Observation Deck of the Burj Khalifa.


The Observation Deck on the 124th floor.

At a height of 828m, this massive structure is a prominent feature in the skyline of Dubai.

[9V-SPL]

CONTINUED:

Other places:

Part of our hotel room.


Entrance to the President's Palace.




A Dubai taxi.


Scenes of Old Dubai.


It's a wrap!

Thank you.

[soarbeyond]

Thank You for the nice pictorial report!
I must put AUH on my list of places to visit !

[StarG]

Nice TR, 9V-SPL!

[Kyo]

Thank you very much for all the photos! Nice and readable TR!

[SilverChris]

Nice TR ! Great to see you got a shot of KUL from the skies. Everytime I overfly KUL it's always cloudy

[SQflyergirl]

Nice TR Thanks for sharing this with us

[SQ All The Way]

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

[inix]

Funny that I'm reading a SIN - AUH - SIN trip report at the AUH lounge awaiting my connecting flight to LHE....