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Yesterday I took my first EK Y flight from BLR to DXB - here are some of my comparisons of EK with SQ
Check in
Arrived 3 hours before flight (first in queue). Guy sitting at desk said check-in would open in 6 minutes. He then went away & 50 minutes later check-in finally opened.
Cabin
Walking through the 1st and business cabins, one thing I noticed was the mini-bar in 1st. You could select your own drinks when you wanted – good idea.
The first thing I noticed in Y was the 3-4-3 seating on the 777. It certainly makes the cabin feel much more crowded and the aisle is very narrow. Luckily this was only a 4 hour flight!
Seat
First impressions the seat is comfortable, but as the flight goes on I discovered there was no footrest. Also the front of the seat cushion was very high, which means your legs dangle off the ground slightly. On a long flight it would limit circulation to the legs. Not as comfortable as the SQ seats.
IFE
The ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) system is quite good – took me a few mins to discover it was touch screen (I was trying to navigate it using the handset & reading the manuals – nowhere does it mention that its touchscreen!). The movie selection was not as current as Krisworld, but still had a good selection of movies & TV.
Where EK beats SQ is two areas:
1) Headsets are on the seat when you board the plane. You can start watching your movies straight away
2) The front and under cameras are a great feature. I watched the takeoff and landing – seeing how the plane manoeuvred for our crosswind landing was excellent!
Safety
I noticed several minor differences in the sequence of cabin events – for example on EK the pilot said “Cabin crew to your take-off stations” as we were on the runway & engines powering up! Very late by SQ standards
As already mentioned, headsets can be used at anytime during takeoff and landing
Cabin crew walking about the cabin before the captains indication that it’s safe to do so (very rarely see this on SQ)
And again, before landing, the “Cabin crew prepare aircraft for arrival” was 2 minutes before we were to land. On SQ standard is 30 mins before.
Overall if something were to go wrong, I would rather be on a SQ flight than EK, but I'm sure there are others much worse out there!
Service
For a 4 hour flight, SQ beats EK hands down.
Hot towel was very thin & hot, which soon turned into a cold dripping piece of cloth (but it didn’t disintegrate)
Drinks – small cans of drink (enough for 1 mouthful) and they had run out of sprite! (I was only 3 rows from the front into drinks service too). Only 1 round of drinks service and no snack (e.g. peanuts )
Food – choice was curry or curry, and I’d had enough curry the previous week for a lifetime! IIRC SQ offers three choices on India flights - curry, curry or international selection… no surprises for what I would have chosen.
And even though the desert was mentioned on the menu, the crew didn’t bring it around (maybe it wasn’t loaded).
Finally, after meal service, the crew sat in the galley for the last 2 hours chatting. As you all know the SQ crew are always walking about the cabin, but EK take it easy up the back.
Cabin crew
They really are a mixed bunch on EK – European, Middle Eastern, Australian, Asian etc… I suspect a couple of ex-SQ girls were on my flight – they must have been loving the change, getting to sit around after meal service & not having to wear those kebayas!
Overall in my view, SQ is still the leader, better seating and in-flight service. Looking forward to my flight home on SQ this week!
Check in
Arrived 3 hours before flight (first in queue). Guy sitting at desk said check-in would open in 6 minutes. He then went away & 50 minutes later check-in finally opened.
Cabin
Walking through the 1st and business cabins, one thing I noticed was the mini-bar in 1st. You could select your own drinks when you wanted – good idea.
The first thing I noticed in Y was the 3-4-3 seating on the 777. It certainly makes the cabin feel much more crowded and the aisle is very narrow. Luckily this was only a 4 hour flight!
Seat
First impressions the seat is comfortable, but as the flight goes on I discovered there was no footrest. Also the front of the seat cushion was very high, which means your legs dangle off the ground slightly. On a long flight it would limit circulation to the legs. Not as comfortable as the SQ seats.
IFE
The ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) system is quite good – took me a few mins to discover it was touch screen (I was trying to navigate it using the handset & reading the manuals – nowhere does it mention that its touchscreen!). The movie selection was not as current as Krisworld, but still had a good selection of movies & TV.
Where EK beats SQ is two areas:
1) Headsets are on the seat when you board the plane. You can start watching your movies straight away
2) The front and under cameras are a great feature. I watched the takeoff and landing – seeing how the plane manoeuvred for our crosswind landing was excellent!
Safety
I noticed several minor differences in the sequence of cabin events – for example on EK the pilot said “Cabin crew to your take-off stations” as we were on the runway & engines powering up! Very late by SQ standards
As already mentioned, headsets can be used at anytime during takeoff and landing
Cabin crew walking about the cabin before the captains indication that it’s safe to do so (very rarely see this on SQ)
And again, before landing, the “Cabin crew prepare aircraft for arrival” was 2 minutes before we were to land. On SQ standard is 30 mins before.
Overall if something were to go wrong, I would rather be on a SQ flight than EK, but I'm sure there are others much worse out there!
Service
For a 4 hour flight, SQ beats EK hands down.
Hot towel was very thin & hot, which soon turned into a cold dripping piece of cloth (but it didn’t disintegrate)
Drinks – small cans of drink (enough for 1 mouthful) and they had run out of sprite! (I was only 3 rows from the front into drinks service too). Only 1 round of drinks service and no snack (e.g. peanuts )
Food – choice was curry or curry, and I’d had enough curry the previous week for a lifetime! IIRC SQ offers three choices on India flights - curry, curry or international selection… no surprises for what I would have chosen.
And even though the desert was mentioned on the menu, the crew didn’t bring it around (maybe it wasn’t loaded).
Finally, after meal service, the crew sat in the galley for the last 2 hours chatting. As you all know the SQ crew are always walking about the cabin, but EK take it easy up the back.
Cabin crew
They really are a mixed bunch on EK – European, Middle Eastern, Australian, Asian etc… I suspect a couple of ex-SQ girls were on my flight – they must have been loving the change, getting to sit around after meal service & not having to wear those kebayas!
Overall in my view, SQ is still the leader, better seating and in-flight service. Looking forward to my flight home on SQ this week!