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Recently, I did a 5 days sightseeing trip to Cape Town with my mum and sis over the Deepavali holidays + a few days of vacation leave. It is my second trip to Cape Town (I had loved the place on my previous trip 3+yrs ago) but my mum's and sis's first. And with the Rand having fallen rather significantly, it has became a very affordable destination to visit!
With SQ having a monopoly on flights from Singapore to South Africa, tickets on SQ there are definitely not cheap. Our tickets costs the same as SQ fares to Europe! Also, with the not-so-good catering I had on the SIN-CPT flight previously (and even feedbacked to SQ about it), I had mentally prepared myself for the flight, but did not expect that the catering standards in economy on the outbound flight had turned for the worse and really reached the pits! Not only comparing to SQ-standards, but any long-haul full-service carrier standards! I predict SQ's SIN-JNB-CPT route easily takes the "award" of the Worst Long-haul Economy Inflight Catering in the world! Now, please read on...
Performed online check-in prior to the flight and turned out that the flight would be half-empty. We snagged 6 seats for the 3 of us (I had a 3-seater bed!). Boarding passes printed at Terminal 2, which was very quiet in the evening, and bags were sent on the way.
Mainly LCC flight departing in the late evening, with only SQ flights to JED, CPT and DEL departing from T2 in the wee hours.
Plane-spotting is not too exciting, mainly with MIs and TRs retiring for the night, and the Scoots preparing for their midnight departures.
Our departure gate E12 right at the end of the pier. Security checks had just started shortly before, hence the queue. However, it moved fast.
Holding area before boarding.
Out the window, I could see that SVE would be operating the flight. I just flew on her less than a couple of months ago back from Istanbul!
21 October 2014
Singapore Airlines
SQ 478
Singapore (SIN) - Johannesburg (JNB) - Cape Town (CPT)
B777-200ER
9V-SVE
Economy Class
Boarding was announced on schedule and was orderly. Stepped onboard the retrofitted B772ER aircraft and proceeded towards the rear to my seat at 57H/J/K (all mine! Haha) while my mum and sis were seated at 56 H/J/K. This aircraft was retrofitted with a mega-galley right at the rear by removing 2 rows of 14 seats, while the mid-galley was removed to make room for the long-haul business class seats. An economy toilet was also removed for an additional 4 economy seats, thus making the capacity of the aircraft as 26/245, down from the previous 30/255. Seats were basically similar to the non-retrofitted aircraft, with the seat covers updated to the new colour scheme, IFE screens changed to bigger ones and IFE system slightly updated as well.
During boarding, crew were again on the aisles welcoming passengers, but they did not felt very warm. Unfortunately, that set the tone for the flight.
Large galley at the rear.
Boarding in progress.
Luckily, the retrofitted B772ERs retained its 34" pitch in economy, with 57A/K having 1-2" more due to the curvature of the cabin. Hence my choice of row 57!
It would be a long 10.5hrs flight to Johannesburg.
View out the window.
The seat pocket magazines.
With SQ having a monopoly on flights from Singapore to South Africa, tickets on SQ there are definitely not cheap. Our tickets costs the same as SQ fares to Europe! Also, with the not-so-good catering I had on the SIN-CPT flight previously (and even feedbacked to SQ about it), I had mentally prepared myself for the flight, but did not expect that the catering standards in economy on the outbound flight had turned for the worse and really reached the pits! Not only comparing to SQ-standards, but any long-haul full-service carrier standards! I predict SQ's SIN-JNB-CPT route easily takes the "award" of the Worst Long-haul Economy Inflight Catering in the world! Now, please read on...
Performed online check-in prior to the flight and turned out that the flight would be half-empty. We snagged 6 seats for the 3 of us (I had a 3-seater bed!). Boarding passes printed at Terminal 2, which was very quiet in the evening, and bags were sent on the way.
Mainly LCC flight departing in the late evening, with only SQ flights to JED, CPT and DEL departing from T2 in the wee hours.
Plane-spotting is not too exciting, mainly with MIs and TRs retiring for the night, and the Scoots preparing for their midnight departures.
Our departure gate E12 right at the end of the pier. Security checks had just started shortly before, hence the queue. However, it moved fast.
Holding area before boarding.
Out the window, I could see that SVE would be operating the flight. I just flew on her less than a couple of months ago back from Istanbul!
21 October 2014
Singapore Airlines
SQ 478
Singapore (SIN) - Johannesburg (JNB) - Cape Town (CPT)
B777-200ER
9V-SVE
Economy Class
Boarding was announced on schedule and was orderly. Stepped onboard the retrofitted B772ER aircraft and proceeded towards the rear to my seat at 57H/J/K (all mine! Haha) while my mum and sis were seated at 56 H/J/K. This aircraft was retrofitted with a mega-galley right at the rear by removing 2 rows of 14 seats, while the mid-galley was removed to make room for the long-haul business class seats. An economy toilet was also removed for an additional 4 economy seats, thus making the capacity of the aircraft as 26/245, down from the previous 30/255. Seats were basically similar to the non-retrofitted aircraft, with the seat covers updated to the new colour scheme, IFE screens changed to bigger ones and IFE system slightly updated as well.
During boarding, crew were again on the aisles welcoming passengers, but they did not felt very warm. Unfortunately, that set the tone for the flight.
Large galley at the rear.
Boarding in progress.
Luckily, the retrofitted B772ERs retained its 34" pitch in economy, with 57A/K having 1-2" more due to the curvature of the cabin. Hence my choice of row 57!
It would be a long 10.5hrs flight to Johannesburg.
View out the window.
The seat pocket magazines.
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