SIA's New A350 XWB: SQ337 DUS-SIN in Economy

[yflyer]

I spent the remainder of the flight resting and/or sleeping, although an equally feasible strategy would be to stay awake on this flight, and then only go to bed after arrival in the morning in Singapore.

I did watch the map view closely as we approached the Pakistan-India border though. Regulars on SQTalk will know that one thing I try to do on Europe-Singapore flights is to look out of the window to spot the fence, which runs along the much of the India-Pakistan border.



At night, this is usually clearly visible to the naked eye, but is hard to catch on camera, not least with an iPhone.

On this occasion, I got lucky...this is best photo I have taken so far of this border, with the distinctive blended winglet of the A350 in the frame as a bonus!

[yflyer]

Mid-way through the flight, the cabin crew came round with snacks, including this sesame encrusted ham bun...



This wasn't enough for me, so a few minutes later I asked if they had instant cup noodles onboard, and they did. Note that this was not listed on the menu, and sometimes on previous flights they either did not have them or ran out, so if you think you will need a substantial mid-flight snack, it is best to bring your own cup noodles onboard.

[yflyer]

I watched the movie Jason Bourne...



Video and audio quality were both excellent (I used my own Shure earbud headphones, with an airline adapter)...



The Fast Forward, Rewind and Pause functions for the VOD functions were very responsive.



Overall, a great onboard movie viewing experience.

A couple of additional features to round off a well thought out system:

There is a function to switch between 16:9 and 4:3 screen aspect ratios. This would come in handy in case there were any old 4:3 format programs available.



There is also a very useful search function, with an onscreen keyboard, to search for entertainment content.



There is also integrated messaging where the cabin crew can send you messages, and ask for your feedback through a screen-based survey.

[yflyer]

I also browsed the arcade game menu.



This was something I normally did not have much interest in, buy I spotted that "retro" arcade classic, Asteroids on the menu...now that was more my generation's game. That I would try!



However when I started the game, I realized that the game's creators had tried to update the game, from it's perfectly good black-n-white version, to a new-fangled colour version, which just did not have the addictive quality of the original, where all you did was blast asteroids into smaller rocks. This new version, while in full colour and with lots of onscreen action, just missed the elegance and simplicity of the original Asteroids game. In some cases, new is better, but in this case, it most definitely was not!

[yflyer]

The new Krisworld IFE system onboard is very impressive.

The first page you see is "Spotlight", with highlights of the different entertainment options available.



From this page, you could use the touchscreen to click and swipe through to the different entertainment options.



The user interface on this edition of Krisworld is very intuitive and easy to use, unlike the previous Krisworld iteration, which could be a little confusing initially.

There was a massive selection of movies and television programmes to choose from...



Music playlists which served a similar function to radio channels...



As well as CDs on demand...

[yflyer]

The cabin ambience in the A350 Y cabin was good. Although this was a completely full flight in Economy, the cabin did not feel overcrowded. It felt bright and airy. I would have no reservations flying the A350 on long haul flights in Y.



The first half of this flight was flown in daylight hours, and there was quite a bit to see out the window...

We overflew the Romanian port city of Constanta, which is the largest port on the Black Sea, and a harbour which has seen use since at least the 6th century BC...



Stunning views of the harbour, and the Black Sea coastline...



...which corresponded well with the inflight map view...



We also had great views of snow-capped hills and mountains as we flew Eastwards over Turkey.



The map viewer was great in terms of locations and views. One enhancement I would want to see on the map view is more place names listed. The major cities and landmarks are there, but we passed many towns, cities and geological features on the ground which were shown on the map as well, but which had no names or tags attached to them.



We flew over a pair of imposing mountains near the Eastern border of Turkey...





I could see these features on the map viewer, but there was no name identifying what peaks these were.



It was only after I landed that I went to Google Maps to explore the map of the area, that I learned that this was Mount Ararat, which consists of two dormant volcanoes, Greater Ararat and Little Ararat, a mountain range with great historical and religious significance.

[yflyer]

It was soon time for meal service. The new IFE allows the cabin crew to broadcast text messages to passengers on their IFE screens...



Today's menu...



Beverages...



A choice of 3 main courses...



Mid-flight snacks...



...and breakfast prior to our 6.15am scheduled arrival.



For my lunch, I chose the pan fried chicken with spaetzle...



Special mention must go to the breadroll, which was a brown bread that was quite tasty.



A pretty decent Nicoise salad, with small, tender shrimp...



The main course was very good as well, with a generious portion of chicken and an equally generous portion of spaetzle...



...which I accompanied with a glass of Chardonnay, poured from a full size bottle.



Dessert was apple pie. The portion size for dessert was on the small side, but it was tasty.

[yflyer]

Cabin service began with peanuts...



...and a full drink service...



I asked for a Bloody Mary...



I also took the opportunity to sign up for inflight wifi...



On this flight, it was time-based internet, which is my preferred charging model because you don't have to worry about how many megabytes of data you have transferred. This can be used on one device at a time. I had no problem switching form my iPhone to my MacBook and back again, although I could not connect to both simultaneously.



Later, just before meal service, I also asked for a Singapore Sling...

[yflyer]

A very hot towel prior to take-off...



And an amenity kit consisting of a toothbrush and socks...



Our cabin crew, who were superb on this flight, strapping themselves into the pair of emex row crew seats for take-off...



Push-back and taxi...



...for a take-off to the southwest...



...and climbing over the River Rhine, with the Altstadt (Old Town) and Rheinturm Tower just visible in the distance....



...before breaking through the clouds into clear blue sky...

[yflyer]

The bathrooms are done in cream and grey tones, with a splash of colourful trim.

The tap is sensor operated, and so is the dustbin lid!



The drawers are a new design, which you push inwards in order to open...



Amenities, such as toothbrushes, in the drawer...

[yflyer]

On this flight, I was seated at 48A.

The row 48 window seats, A and K, just behind the emex, have no seat in front of them. This gives you the best of both worlds: direct aisle access, as well as a large window.



That said, on SQ's A350, these window seats come with a strange protrusion for the IFE box that extends far out of one side of the seat, and I found that this got slightly in the way of my legs.



Not a showstopper, but I wonder how other airlines like Finnair have a similar seat on their A350 without such a large protruding IFE. For comparison, this is how the equivalent seat on Finnair looks. The IFE protrusion on the Finnair seat is much smaller, and didn't intrude into my legroom.

The tray table for 48A folds out of the armrest.



This feels like quite a sturdy table, which doesn't droop to one side the way some tables on older equipment do...

[yflyer]

IFE was the brand new Krisworld system that looks different from the 77WN Krisworld. Even some of the earlier A350's (Like 9V-SMB) had the previous Krisworld system. I'm not sure if the earlier A350's have been upgraded to this new system, or if the new system will only be installed on new frames moving forward. In any case, the new Krisworld IFE is excellent. More on the IFE later in this TR.



I did not bother opening the white plastic packet containing the complimentary earbud headphones that SQ provided. The SQ earbuds sound terrible. I used my own headphones with a 2-pin aircraft adapter, which sounded much better.

Apart from the main screen, which is a touchscreen, each seat also comes with a touchscreen controller with hi-res display.



Each seat has 2 USB ports. There is also A/C power in Y, using a universal socket that will fit most plugs, including 3-pin UK, 2-pin US/Europe / Australia etc.

For bulkhead and emex seats, the A/C and USB sockets are under the seat.



There is a white reading light above the seats, but no individual air vents (SQ doesn't have individual air vents on other aircraft types either).



A view of the rear of the A350, where there is a large galley.

[yflyer]

The Economy cabin is laid out in a comfortable 3-3-3, which looks to be standard for the A350.



While not as airy and open as SQ's 77W/77WN Y cabins or the cavernous A380 main deck, the A350 Y cabin has decent ambience.



Lots of legroom in the emergency row...



The bulkhead seats (Row 47 D,E,G) are great too. Note that the armrest between D and E seats is a movable armrest, whereas the armrest between E and G is a fixed armrest with a folding tray table, so a D bulkhead seat might be be preferable to G.



The seats themselves are very comfortable contoured seats.



Recline is good...



...with the front of the seat pivoting forward slightly when reclined.



All seats except emex and bulkhead rows have a paddle shaped footrest. The slimline armrests can be raised all the way up.

How do these seats compare with those on the 2006 Y on the A380 or 2013 Y on the 77WN?

The A350 seats are quite comfortable. In terms of perceived seat width, the A350 Y seats appear to be fractionally narrower than the A380 or 77WN.

Just as an illustration, I laid out two Krisworld guides on the A350 seat base...



This next picture shows an A380 main deck Y seat with the same two magazines laid on it. As you can see, the A380 Y seat has just a little more width.



All that said, the difference was not huge, and the A350 9-abreast Y layout feels quite comfortable. The seat definitely feels more spacious than a 10-abreast 777 or 9-abreast 787.

[yflyer]

Next, the Premium Economy Cabin, which is a separate cabin in between J and Y, configured 2-4-2.



Note that while these seats share similar design elements to SQ's PEY on the A380 and 77WR, the actual seat frames are different, and appear to be slightly narrower than A380 or 77WR PEY, although they are still wider than regular Y, and have very good recline.

[yflyer]

Boarding began on time, with Business Class and PPS members boarding first, followed by Krisflyer/Star Gold and Premium Y.



This was a 3 class aircraft, configured with J, PEY and Y cabins.

First, the business class cabin, equipped with a version of SQ's latest 2013 J seat, that has been tweaked to fit the A350 cabin, which is slightly narrower than the 77WN cabin.



The J cabin is laid out 1-2-1. The J seat can recline into lounging position. To go fully flat, you fold the seat down, and this gives you a flat sleeping surface, which includes this cubby hole in the front of your seat.



For those who want even more space in J, the bulkhead J seats offer more space.



Note that the window side bulkhead seat (above) has a slightly different design from the middle bulkhead seats (below).