Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Qantas A330 to MEL - Yarra Run, Tapas with Friends, and Steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Qantas A330 to MEL - Yarra Run, Tapas with Friends, and Steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill

    Five years after Qantas abandoned Singapore as a hub in favour of Dubai, QF's A380 will return to Singapore as a stopover on the Kangaroo Route to London. From March next year, QF's flagship service, QF1/2 from Sydney to London, will stop over in Singapore on the way to and from LHR.

    And one of QF's services to MEL will also be upgauged from an A330 to an A380.

    These will be happy times for aviation enthusiasts in SIN, and Changi Airport too. It was quite a coup for DXB and Emirates, when QF decided to switch hubs from SIN to DXB 5 years ago. But many were unhappy with the switch. For whatever reason, passengers at both ends of the Kangaroo route were quite fond of Singapore as a stopover. After QF stopped using Singapore as a hub, BA's LHR-SIN-SYD service was one of BA's sectors highlighted as having one of the "most improved" load factors.

    With the latest announcement, we will see QF's A380 in Singapore once again from March 2018. While QF (And EK) management may spin it differently, I personally see it as an admission that moving away from SIN to DXB was a mistake. Unless you have lounge access, the transit experience in DXB pales in comparison to SIN. And at least one friend of mine told me horror stories of delays and cancellations in DXB when sandstorms hit. You don't get a lot of those at Changi!

    I for one am happy: this gives me a few more choices to get from SIN to MEL, SYD and LHR. I have been a fan of QF for a long time, and see them as a top notch, innovative airline, not to mention one with a superb safety record.

    If I were SQ, I would be very wary of the competition that Qantas poses. While SQ has a wonderful offering across all classes, and a very loyal customer base, the reality of the matter, having flown both QF and SQ a lot over the years, is that Qantas has a very strong offering, particularly in Y and PEY. In particular, I have found that QF have been quite innovative in upgrading their hard product, to the point where the difference between SQ and QF is a lot smaller than what it used to be in the past.

    Qantas' current flights from SIN to MEL and SYD are operated by Airbus A330's. While A330's are no longer the newest types around, these aircraft, configured for international flights, have been refreshed with a new business class product, and an economy class product which is either a brand new Y seat from Recaro, or a refurbished Y seat with updated upholstery and IFE.

    I recently flew to Melbourne in Economy on Qantas for a week long work trip, where I stayed at the Westin Melbourne.

    While this was a hectic business trip, I managed to take a little time off to have dinner at a small Spanish tapas/wine bar in Melbourne with SQTalk regulars Kyo and SQ228, go for a long run along the Yarra River, and also revisit one of my favourite restaurants, Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar and Grill, for a very memorable steak dinner.

    Interested? Read on!
    Last edited by yflyer; 23 October 2017, 03:12 PM.

  • #2
    My outbound flight was QF36. This was a 7.55pm departure out of Changi T1 that would get me into MEL at 6.20am.

    There was a later flight to Melbourne that evening: QF38, departing at 11.50pm, but this would only get me into MEL at 10.30am. My meetings were scheduled to start at 9am. QF38 would not get me in early enough. It would have to be QF36.

    After a redeye in economy class where I would try to catch as much sleep as possible, it would be a ride from the airport into the city, and a hurried change of clothes before a strong cup of coffee to start the business day. Would I be able to check into my hotel first? It would all depend on the immigration queues at MEL.

    Changi T1 was bustling as usual, and Y pax were busy checking in at the automated check-in kiosks. As a QF Gold member, I was able to check in quickly at the manned counter, where there was no queue.



    "Is this a full flight?", I asked the lady at check-in.

    "Yes! Very full", was the reply.

    The airside area at T1 was pleasant, as always, with lots of shops and eating options. At this time of year, there were also lanterns up as it was Mid-Autumn Festival Season.

    Last edited by yflyer; 23 October 2017, 12:56 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      I headed to the Qantas Singapore Lounge.



      This is a combined First/Business Lounge, and one of the nicest lounges in Changi Airport. I prefer this lounge to the J section of SQ's SilverKris Lounges at Changi T2/T3.

      Unlike the nearby BA Lounge (Also accessible to Oneworld FF's), there isn't a separate segregated F section. In the QF lounge, all facilities and F&B are accessible to lounge guests.

      A long manned bar just past the entrance, where the staff will pour/mix your choice of wine, liquor or cocktail.



      No bar menu, though, so you need to know what you want. The liquor selection is on display, and they will happily mix you a cocktail of your choice if the ingredients are available.

      I needed to sleep in economy class that evening: a great excuse to start the evening with a vodka martini...



      Some of the wines available...



      ..white wine selections, including Seppelt Fleur de Lys sparkling Chardonnay / Pinot Noir (In lieu of champagne)...

      Last edited by yflyer; 23 October 2017, 01:12 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        There are several seating areas, with different types of seating...it was busy in the early evening, but not overly so.



        The QF lounge has a proper sit down dining area.



        There is a very good selection of salads...



        ...and Asian/International mains...

        Comment


        • #5
          Two made-to-order daily specials...



          The pork sang choi bao with rice...



          and laksa...



          I could not resist ordering a bowl of laksa, which was really quite impressive.



          This was better than the laksa in SQ's outstation lounges...

          Imagine that...a hot, steaming, bowl of delicious nyonya laksa in the QF lounge in Changi...SQ better take note of the competition right at their doorstep!

          Sago with mango -- just one of several Western/Asian desserts on offer...



          Overall, a very impressive lounge, with good seating, excellent catering and a full bar. Thumbs up!

          I could not resist gulping down a final G&T at the bar before rushing to the gate...

          Last edited by yflyer; 23 October 2017, 03:13 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            At the gate holding room, there was no separate premium line for security checks. All pax had to queue in the same line for the metal detector and X-ray.

            Qantas A330 VH-EBS, named "Swan Valley", was operating today's flight...



            This was a fairly new A330-200, six years old (First flight in 2011), which was first delivered to Jetstar, but which moved over to QF in 2013.

            Boarding took place more or less on time...





            This flight had the new QF Business Class seats: staggered fully flat seats in a 1-2-1 layout.



            As this was a red-eye, the leather seats already had soft grey duvet/mattress covers on them.



            A window-side seat.



            More pics of the J seat on my return leg...
            Last edited by yflyer; 23 October 2017, 12:57 PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              The economy cabin was laid out in a conventional and spacious 2-4-2. On the A330, this layout provides for wider seats than a 9-abreast Dreamliner, or a 10-abreast 777.



              QF has two types of new A330 Y cabin: a completely new Recaro slimline Y seat, or a refreshed Y seat, quite similar to SQ's 2006 Y, which was the case on this flight. The headrest is black leather, while the seat itself is upholstered in maroon fabric.



              Decent seat pitch, with almost no underseat obstructions...





              This is the seat fully reclined. The seat base pivots forward slightly when reclining.



              Seat rests go all the way up.



              White light reading lights and individual air vents...



              Spacious emex row seating...



              Like most/all A330's, the rear of the Y cabin tapers from 2-4-2 to 2-3-2.

              Comment


              • #8
                Widescreen IFE touchscreen...



                Favourable tailwinds meant that flight time tonight was an amazingly quick 6 hours 35 minutes!

                IFE was full AVOD, which a touchscreen interface...



                I am a fan of touchscreens, but this was the older pressure-sensitive type, which wasn't particularly responsive -- UI response was a little sluggish and imprecise.

                That said, the selection of programmes -- movies, TV, music and radio channels, was very impressive.

                Comment


                • #9
                  USB port for charging your devices...



                  ...and universal A/C power socket as well...



                  There was no wifi internet on this flight.

                  Seat controls (Which you could use alongside the touchscreen.)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Two pin airline headphone socket...



                    Headband style headphones were provided with each seat. These not only sounded ok (Better than SQ's muffled earbuds), but they came with a very innovative plug: a combined 3.5mm headphone plug, and airline adapter.



                    This meant that you could use the provided headphones, but could also use your own personal headphones via the attached adapter. A brilliant idea!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Destination-themed Safety Video...



                      ...and cabin checks followed by taxi and powerful take-off into night sky.

                      After take-off, cabin crew came round the Y cabin to serve lemonade.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I browsed the IFE before dinner...apart from a wide selection of movies, there was a very good selection of TV programs as well, including HBO selections...



                        ...and a full music...



                        ...and radio channel selection...



                        Video and audio quality were good, although video quality had less brightness and contrast, and more muted colours, than the newest IFE screens.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Today's menu...



                          Three choices of main course (Which you could pre-select online prior to the flight), and a good selection of soft / alcoholic beverages.

                          Qantas Y meal service format is quite different from other airlines. Rather than a tray, you are just served a large casserole.



                          Although there is no starter/salad, the main course portion size is very large.



                          I took a bite of the bread roll. To my surprise, this was herb/butter roll, which to me tasted a lot like the garlic bread served on SQ! On SQ only J/F pax get garlic bread. Every Y passenger on QF gets a herb roll...



                          For my main, I chose the fish with potatoes, accompanied by white wine.



                          This was quite tasty.

                          Weiss mango ice cream for dessert.



                          This is an old favourite which QF has been serving onboard for years...



                          A post dinner whisky on the rocks...



                          We flew over Indonesia and Denpasar...



                          ...keeping well clear of Mt Agung, an active volcano at risk of erupting at some point in the near future...



                          After dinner service, just a few precious hours to try and get some sleep. After all those drinks during the course of the evening, I did manage to sleep a little onboard, although this flight was really too short to get a good night's rest.
                          Last edited by yflyer; 29 October 2017, 06:33 PM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Cabin ambience on this 2-4-2 configured A330 was good, and as mentioned earlier, superior to the ambience on 10-abreast 777's and 9-abreast 787's.



                            The maroon/black colour scheme did give the cabin a darker look, compared to the bright and cheery A330 cabin's on other airlines, such as SQ or Finnair. A matter of personal preference of course, but I thought that SQ's A330 cabin just felt brighter and more airy on account of the lighter colour palette.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              All too soon, it was time for breakfast service, which began about 1+ hours prior to landing.

                              Two choices of breakfast meal: a ham and cheese wrap, or a sour cherry danish.

                              I opted for the danish...



                              Very good!



                              Coffee and tea were offered in bright red paper cups...

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X