How is Singapore Airlines’ Shortest Business Class?

This might come across as weird but I am very curious to see what a flight on Singapore Airlines on its shortest route feels like. A little background on this, the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur route is one of the busiest routes in the world with a high of 84 daily flights in 2018, covering the 300 KM distance. SQ block off around 1 hour and 10 minutes or so for this route but in reality, it takes less time than that and it can even be a sub-1-hour flight. I plan to take the longest flight ever on SQ to NYC later this year so figure that it will be cool to try out the shortest flight too. This is a perfectly fine flight on budget airlines and of course on Economy. Of course, there is no need to splash on Singapore Airlines. For a flight of this duration, you have like 30 minutes of cruising time before the pilot announces to start the descent. I want to take the opportunity of my upcoming China flight to tag on this sector and try the world’s shortest flight in SQ Business Class. Despite the short duration, you still get the full package. You get the standard lounge access, baggage allowance and perks. SQ uses a mixture of aircraft for this route. There are single-aisle 737s as well as a 350-wide body. I will not be doing a typical flight review for this but rather share how things go on a chronological basis on the flight. For a full A350 aircraft flight review, you can check out this post.

Checking In

I arrive at the airport at around 8.30am for my 10.30am flight. I got the KL Express train which works well. This is my preferred way of travelling. You can book it via  This flight is to the airport at about 830 for my 1030 flight I took the express. This is always my way of booking to do this. You can book a ticket via KKday too. It is very fuss-free with the QR code tickets. SQ departs from KLIA terminal 1 and you can find the check-in counters at row L. I was immediately helped to at the Business Class counters. I soon had my boarding pass in hand and my bags were checked through to Chongqing.

I was also informed that my flight departs from the satellite terminal and to allow some additional time to make my way over. Security is also at the gate. Currently, you have to take a transit bus to the Satellite Terminal and business class passengers can take the exclusive bus at gate G1. Immigration was a breeze as well since we could use the e-gates. My flight ended up being slightly delayed due to the late arrival of the aircraft.

Singapore Airlines Shortest Business Class Flight Timeline

1020 – Boarding

1024 – Welcome Drinks Served (Double Brasile Espresso)

1031 – Hot Towels Offered

1100 – Takeoff

1105 – Seat belt Sign-off

1113 – Meal Service (Prawn Salad)

1120 – Clearing Trays

1123 – Seat belt Sign On

1127 – Crew to Landing Stations

1137 – Land

Difference from other Business Class Route

No Champagne and Slippers. Headsets are only available upon request.

Conclusion

Kudos to Singapore Airlines for this quality and offering even on such a short flight. It is impressive how you even get a meal service when you have some flights in the world without a meal for 4 to 5 hours. The crew working my aisle was lovely. We even had the whole mini cabin all to ourselves. The IFM though was a no-show! Not even at boarding. Flying business class for this route is too much of an overkill. It felt like 10 minutes! I had fun on board but feel like they should just go without the meal and offer a drinks service. Just bring back the champagne and go without food. It is way too short. Barely 5 minutes after they served the meal, the crew were already peeking to see if they could clear the dishes. My dressing wasn’t even thawed enough to pour on the salad. We spent more time on the ground than the actual cruising. Flight time was 35  minutes airborne.

SQ Shortest Ever Business Class ✔️