A Return to Travel: To Barcelona on Singapore Airlines SQ378/377 SIN-BCN-SIN (Y)

[yflyer]

SQ's Airbus A350-900WXB rego 9V-SMN was already at the gate when I arrived at the boarding area...



What a beautiful sight! As an added bonus, the gate area had wonderful views of one of El Prat's 3 runways, and it was being used for take-offs that morning...



The seating area at the gate wasn't too crowded. There were workstations with power sockets at the gate area too, in case one needed to dash off one final email or document before boarding...



Our flight that day was delayed by about 30 min, but I was fine with that because I spent much of that extra time exploring the lounge, before getting to the gate.

Finally boarding was called, starting with J pax, then PEY and PPS/KFEG/Star Gold...



I headed down the aerobridge...



As I walked towards the aircraft entrance, I snapped a picture of the A350's gracefully curved blended winglet...

[yflyer]

By the aircraft door, there were earbud headphones (best ignored, in favour of your own pair, with an aircraft adapter), and care kits, containing sanitizing wipes, a facemask, as well as printed QR codes to access wifi and the online inflight menu...



The camera-shy Chief Steward at door saw me about to take a picture, and quickly stepped back behind the door...



"Why so shy?" I asked...he laughed and welcomed me onboard...

This aircraft was fitted with the same cabin product as my earlier outbound flight...this was the slightly tweaked version of the 2013 J product first seen on SQ's 77WN's, laid out 1-2-1.



These were luxurious J seats that folded down into fully flat beds...



Then the PEY cabin, in 2-4-2...



Prior to my flight, I received an email offer to upgrade from Y to PEY for around $750...I declined to do so as I didn't think that PEY on the A350 was sufficiently differentiated from Y to justify the price. If this was an SQ 77WR or A380, I might have considered the upgrade, as those equipment types had a larger PEY seat. However SQ PEY catering was too similar to Y, so even in that case, I would had to think very hard to weigh pros and cons.

On the other hand, if I had received the same offer to upgrade from Y to PEY on a Qantas A380, accepting the upgrade would have been a no-brainer, as PEY on Qantas is almost Business Lite (See TR here), with a superior seat and amazing catering.

While SQ A350 PEY seats reclined a little more than Y seats, and were just slightly wider than Y, the difference was not dramatic.

[yflyer]

I continued through the Y cabin to my seat...



As on my outbound flight, the Y cabin was equipped with the A350 version of SQ's 2013 Y seat. This was an excellent seat, with very comfortable cushioning and good seat recline.



Note that this is not the latest Y cabin product that SQ has on their A359's. Many of SQ's A359 now have the 2017 Y seat (An example can be found here).

I personally find 2013 Y and 2017 Y to be quite comparable, and don't prefer one to the other. In fact, I might even have a slight preference for 2013 Y, which somehow feels sturdier and better cushioned. IFE on both are also quite similar.

The only difference of note between SQ's A359's with 2013 Y and 2017 Y applies only if you are sitting in one of the 2 preferred window seats A / K, just behind the emex row i.e. these window seats have no seat in front of them.



For thosee window seats, just behind the emex row, these seats have a lot of legroom, but the IFE box is very large on A359 aircraft with 2013 Y, and protrudes out a little, impacting comfort (See example here), whereas on A359's with the 2017 Y cabin product, that same seat has a much more foldout slimline IFE (An example is here).

[yflyer]

I settled into my seat, towards the rear of the aircraft, for the 1 hr 15 minute hop from Barcelona to Milan.



Take-off on Runway 25L on a beautiful sunny morning, followed immediately by a long left turn towards the north-east.



We were soon over the Mediterranean sea, enroute to Milan...

Cabin service began shortly after.



There were two choices of snack: I picked the creamy egg mayo sandwich...



It wasn't bad, although the egg filling wasn't particularly generous...



For my beverage, I felt like a Singapore Sling, and asked for one, which was brought to my seat moments later. It was nice to know that even for this short sector, the full beverage selection was still available...



There were great views of the French and Italian coast to be had on this flight...



I spied the beautiful beaches and coastline of Spotorno, a municipality of Liguria in Northern Italy, just southwest of Genoa.



Not that I knew it was Spotorno as I flew overhead...this was knowledge after the fact: as I wrote up this TR, I spent a few minutes matching the coastline in the picture with the Google Map view of the French and Italian coastline and voila a match was found . I find it very satisfying to take a window seat photo of the landscape below, and try to locate the exact spot in Google Maps later.

In the next picture, the port of Savona, just a little further north, and in the far distance, the French and Italian Alps could be seen peeking over the clouds...

[yflyer]

A northerly approach to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP)...



Another glimpse of the Italian Alps...



Banking low over farmland close to MXP...



On the ground in MXP.



A short taxi to the gate...



Past row after row of short LCC aircraft from the likes of easyJet...



Once again there was a crew change, and some pax disembarked, while transit pax were required to remain onboard.



This time, there would be pax boarding at MXP.

Prior to that, ground staff came onboard to clean the aircraft. On the short BCN-MXP sector, each seat had blankets but no pillows. Now, ground staff came onboard to meticulously tidy the aircraft...



...and place pillows on each and every seat...

[yflyer]

Soon cleaning was completed, and boarding began for pax joining us at MXP.

On the BCN-MXP sector, there were pax seated right up to the rear of the cabin. Towards the end of the boarding process, in MXP, I noticed that the last few rows of the aircraft were now empty.

What a great opportunity to get more comfortable by shifting to an empty row. Evidently other pax seated in the rear also noticed this and had the same idea.

But when to make my move? I would normally wait till they announced over the PA that doors were closed, but given the competition around me, I decided not to wait.

I gathered my things, got up, headed a few rows back and found an empty row of 3.



I plonked myself in the middle seat like I belonged there. Not long after, other pax did the same, and before long the last few rows all had a at least one pax in each bank of 3 seats.

Great! Now this flight would be even more comfortable than I thought it would be, with three seats to myself. The armrests could, of course, also be raised, and that would give me a very comfortable Y-flat bed to rest during the next 11+ hour sector.



No regrets about not paying to upgrade to PEY. I now had more space than I would have had in the premium economy cabin! And in the era of COVID-19, the added social distancing would be priceless!

Soon afterwards, we took off.

11 hours 30 min flight time from Milan to Singapore today...

[yflyer]

Meal service began soon after take-off. As on my outbound sector, there was no pre-meal drink service. Cabin service started immediately with the meal carts and tray service...



I browsed the online menu on my phone...



The choices were Asian style chicken with rice, or Western-style pan fried fish with pasta...



I picked the fish.

At this point, I really felt that I needed to start with a drink first, before eating, so I asked for a Gin & Tonic to accompany my meal. This is a cocktail traditionally served with a slice of lemon or lime as a garnish, but on my outbound sector on SQ, there was no lemon.

This time I was very specific...

"Could I have a G&T with a lemon slice please?", I asked.

A few moments later, a G&T with lemon was brought to my seat. Wonderful! So the moral of the story is: Ask and you will receive!



Meanwhile, my meal tray bad also been served.



With covers off...



When giving me my tray, the wonderfully thoughtful cabin crew had also asked me if I wanted another beverage while waiting for my G&T to be prepared, so I also had a Frontera Chilean Chardonnay to pair with my fish.



This was a wonderful meal...while there was no starter, my main course of fish fillet in a spicy hollandaise sauce was really delicious, and so was the Tagliatelle pasta...



Yum!

Before dessert, I ate cream cheese on crackers...



...paired with a glass of Vina Borgia red wine...

[yflyer]

After lunch, I claimed 3 hours of free wifi internet...



...using WhatsApp and Facebook as the aircraft flew down the length of Italy before turning eastwards over the Ionian and Mediterranean sea...



Cabin ambience on this flight was very good, despite it being fairly full...



The next meal service would be breakfast 2.5 hours before landing, but inevitably I felt peckish long before that, and I headed to the galley in search of snacks at several points during the flight...

A wide range of snacks and small bites were available.



There was a snack basket in the rear galley...



I munched on Dorito's along with another G&T...



We were flying into the night, with more than half of the flight flown in darkness...



Next, I had a Bloody Mary along with a pack of nuts...



I was a regular visitor to the galley in search of refreshments. On my next sojourn I was pleasantly surprised to see bread rolls with ham on offer as a snack...



Our routing had earlier taken us over Egypt...



...and now we were enroute to India...



I had anticipated I would get hungry, and had actually brought onboard my own cup noodles, but SQ also had Koka cup noodles onboard, so I opted for that instead, along with another Singapore Sling...



By then I was getting very sleepy, and lay down to rest...

[yflyer]

There was fairly heavy turbulence over some parts of India and the Indian Ocean, but this wasn't too disruptive, as by now everyone in the cabin was either watching the IFE or resting/sleeping...

[yflyer]

2 and a half hours before arrival, the lights came on and breakfast service began...



Two choices were: mushroom crepe and pork sausage with herb saurce, or Asian noodles with prawn...



I picked the mushroom crepe with pork sausage...



This was really good...



The mushroom crepe and pork sausage were accompanied by tomato, spinach and hash brown potatoes...



A delicious breakfast!

[yflyer]

Soon it was time to prepare the cabin for arrival...



Very cloudy skies over Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore...



We flew down the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and turned east towards Singapore...



Great views of Singapore and the coastline out of the left side windows...



A bit of a bump on landing -- this seems to be the case for most A359 landings, quite unlike the silky smooth landings we get as a matter of routine on the 77W, but nothing too alarming.

We were at the gate after a short taxi, and deplaned soon after.



Overall, I thought the flight was great. No doubt having 3 Y seats to myself played a big part in this, but I thought the cabin crew on both BCN-MXP and MXP-SIN sectors were wonderful -- they were very happy to indulge me in my requests for all manner of F&B (And I did eat and drink a lot ), and needless to say the IFE and cabin product were excellent as well.

I did find that by the end of the flight, the A350 toilets were slightly prone to sink clogging, but on the whole the toilets were in fairly good condition throughout the flight.

Compared to the pre-COVID travel experience, what did strike me was how quiet the cabin was most of the time, with little socialising among pax, fewer crying babies somehow, and much less use of the flight attendant call button...

Based on my travel experience flying to and from BCN on SQ, I would have no hesitation flying SQ long haul Y for work or pleasure, even if the flights were fairly full.

[yflyer]

Arriving at the airport felt no different from pre-COVID days...



It was a quiet morning, with almost no queues at the immigration counters...





I had to fill out an online electronic health declaration card prior to arrival (I did this while still in BCN)...



I would now have to do an on-arrival ART test within 24 hours, and this was bookable on a website accessible via QR code at the airport arrival hall.



I scanned this while in the arrival hall, and booked my appointment using this website while still at the airport.

There were many places to do this supervised self-administered ART. I would recommend going through the available test centre options and booking any one that was in a convenient location. I scrolled through the list till I found one close to where I lived, and booked an appointment for later that morning. In my case, I booked an appointment at 10.30am at a clinic in Marine Parade.



I was all prepared to spend time in isolation at a residential address before the appointed time for my test, but as it turned out, the timing of my test was such that I could head straight to the clinic from Changi Aiport for my arrival ART.



At the clinic, the supervised self-administered ART was quick and efficient, and I received email notification of a negative test result soon after. The test cost $15. The clinic would also upload the results of my test to the required govt registry so that the ICA would be able to verify that my test had been done. I also received an ICA SMS later reminding me to go for my on-arrival ART within 24 hours of arrival, so clearly they are monitoring compliance with this protocol very closely.

And that was all there was to it. The arrival experience was also as straightforward as my departure experience a week prior.

[yflyer]

Final thoughts...

I had a great week in Barcelona. If I had known things were going to be so normal, I would have extended my trip for a day or two to see more of the sights in Barcelona, and might even have spent a couple of days in Milan on the way back to Singapore.

At Changi Airport prior to my trip, the T3 SKL was packed to the gills with travellers. Both my outbound and inbound flights were quite full in all classes. It is clear that air travel is picking up again. The economy class travel experience on SQ was great. My flights were all full in business class, otherwise I would have definitely wanted to use points (or even cash) to upgrade to J.

Just prior to my trip, on 24 February, Singapore Airlines also announced their first quarterly profit since the start of the pandemic. If that's not good news, I don't know what is.

It's so wonderful to see SQ's planes in the air again, and their pilots and cabin crew back in action!

While the pandemic is not over, I am hopeful that we are at least seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Measures and travel restrictions are being progressively relaxed for more and more countries, and I am optimistic that things will get better over the next few months. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading!

[MEL-World]

Great TR. Many thanks for all the work, especially the excellent photos.

[KC*]

I was off travelling (ie no travelling - hahaha) and was so busy that I did not even have time to visit SQTalk for almost 2yrs.

Finally decided to pop in and what a wonderful welcome back for me - reading this TR that re-stimulated my appetite for travel.

An excellent trip report as always. Lots of nice photos and info that matters.

Thank you so much, yflyer!!!