It is hard to get bored of Singapore Airlines! I still feel the same excitement about flying SQ Business Class or First / Suites! I am back again once again with another review of Singapore Airlines Business Class. They are always so reliable and with me being so well-versed in the program, I can always count on getting a flight back that suits my plan. This is still my first time flying back from the UK and on one of Singapore Airlines’ most unique flagship routes. The London-Singapore route is one of the airline’s most premium and longest flights. I wasn’t too flexible with my plans as I got to get back in town to attend my good friend’s wedding straight after the flight. If given a choice, I would try to get the Istanbul route or even some other European cities to avoid the hefty UK taxes and fees. It’s 3 times more expensive than perhaps Frankfurt. It will be so interesting to see how SQ compares up after my spectacular Qatar experience. Besides this, check out my Book The Cook wiki too! There is a huge collection of SQ Premium Cabin meals. I paid 103,500 miles and 456.47 SGD in taxes and fees. I even tag along on a business class flight to Bangkok. That makes it slightly more worth it. I have done a thorough review of these seats. You can check out my collection of reviews here. Let me share the soft product.

Checking In

I got to Heathrow shortly after 6.45am. SQ 305 timing is harsh for travellers. You have to get up at such an ungodly time. I move closer to Paddington Station because of the timing. In the end, I got a Bolt which cost around 46 pounds. It is slightly more than what I would love to pay but probably worth given the timing and baggage. It is not marginally more than what the Elizabeth line would cost. I wish the departure timing could be pushed back. 9.10am is a hassle for Heathrow given the distance. We had a smooth journey. Check-in opens up 4 hours ahead. I am not coming here at 5am. Surprisingly the business and first class check-in counters are separated from the economy ones. The business class counters are located at the back. They have a huge number of counters here with dedicated ones for suites / first class and business class. It took a long time for them to check me in with an incompetent agent who did not know how to do it with my bags. She is also unsure of the rules and has to call and check. The lines for security and immigrants were smooth despite the lack of priority lines. Weirdly, London also didn’t have the usual colour-coded boarding pass. It seems so weird. I spend most of my time in the SilverKris Lounge in London.

Boarding Process

I was assigned gate B38. It is all over in the satellite B gates area. This is quite a walk and could take almost 15 minutes even on a brisk. Thankfully it is near the SKL where I was earlier. Boarding is assigned for 8.40am to those needing assistance, first class, business class, and PPS members. The lines are segregated and assigned over here. It is a very fuss-free boarding process. I was warmly welcomed by Calissa and Claire who were working my aisle. They showed me over to my seat and helped me with my jacket. This time around I will be seated in 15F, the bulkhead seat in the second cabin. 

The bulkhead seats are my favourite and these are rows 11 and 15. 15 is slightly inferior as the rest of the plane board thru the second door which might lead to some chaotic scene during boarding. Calissa came over to introduce herself and to take meal orders. Welcome drinks were also offered with a choice of juices and champagne. I was also provided with an amenity kit, it is now in the green shade. This ended up being the last Penhaligon’s kit that I got. The airline has now switched to Le Labo kits are now being offered. I am keen to snag one of these on my next flight.

Somehow, the crew didn’t offer hot towel service onboard this flight. I only realised it as breakfast was served. After a chat with the crew, it turned out that the caterer had forgotten to load it. We pushed back shortly around 9.10am and were airborne soon. The boarding process does pales in comparison to Qatar. I wish that the IFM or purser could come over to extend a personal welcome. 

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class

I shall not dwell too much on the hardware and the seats since I have reviewed this product countless times. You can find some of my recent reviews of this cabin here. The hardware is also very similar to the one onboard the A350. I will just include some pictures of my seats here. The bulkhead seats are amazing and the best onboard. I do not mind not having a window over these bulkhead seats. These are as good as or superior to some First Class out there.

These seats might be outdated but they are still a pleasure to fly on. Together with the consistently outstanding service. This is definitely on par with a majority of the airlines around the world. It is easily in the top 10. I am looking forward to seeing what the next-gen long-haul business-class product of Singapore Airlines will be.  

Meal Service

The meals on this flight are rather weird considering that the flight departs at 9am. They are offering a breakfast service as well as a supper service. I feel that lunch and breakfast is much better. Two lacklustre meals meant that this is rather bad if you want to get the full experience. I am also surprised by the lack of after-take-off drinks. This is such a long flight! I am sure that they could do some drinks and nuts! You can find the menu for the flight here. Book The Cook is also available for London Heathrow departures. The actual meal service comes roughly an hour after take off. Breakfast service starts with the fruit plate. I got some champagne and OJ to go with it. I really miss the way the crew pour the wine right in front of you. There are potentially two Champagne being poured on this flight and I have no idea what they are pouring as the crew never mentioned it. Every time they will just bring out a glass from the galley. 

Muesli and yoghurt were also offered. Soon the crew came by with the pastry basket and I got a croissant. For my main course, I pre-ordered the Wanton Tong from the Book The Cook menu. This comes with prawn-pork wantons, shiitake mushroom and pak choy. The inflight menu choices look boring. The wanton soup was right. It came with a mushroom and 4 jumbo wantons. They are plump and juicy. The broth was flavourful too! 

I got some snacks after the meal and they had the salted egg fish skin from IRVINS now. I woke up after a little nap and was feeling famished. It is after all a very light meal earlier. I first got the Chicken with Semi Dried Tomatoes and Pork Loin Cheddar Cheese Sandwich. It was really bad. 

I ended up ordering the Egg Noodle Soup with Chicken and I mopped it off. Instant noodles just taste differently in the air. Some Champagne with Maggie?

The second meal service started about 3 hours out of Singapore as we are off the edge of Thailand. Everything was done via a tray service but they did also put out white table cloth. This is another odd aspect. I am unsure why they can’t do a full proper table service when there are still 3 hours to go. That’s like a flight to HK! This is also the main meal of this flight! Qatar recently did a full table service with 1.5 hours to go with three courses! Come on! For this meal, they had a special collab menu with Chef Monica Galetti. For appetisers, they had a Yellow Fin Tuna Oka, Ikura, Coconut Cream and Shiso. I just had some as I wasn’t too much of a tuna fan. I got some Chablis to go with it which was delicious. 

The crew soon came by with a pastry basket and I got some garlic bread. For my main, I got the special Pan Roasted Cornish Cod Fillet too. This came with a bed of sea purslane, sea fennel, and cucumber seasoned with lemon salt, pepper and dill oil. It is topped with smoked paprika batter crumb. I enjoyed it. The fish was nicely cooked and I love the flavours. 

I also had a chance to try out the Chicken Biryani from the Book The Cook selection. This is one of the signature dishes from London station. I highly recommend it! 

The crew came by to refill drinks throughout the meal, pretty much on point on this aspect. I was then offered a dessert and I went for the chocolate cremeaux. It was decent but nothing wow. It feels like the second meal service started way too early! There were still like 2 hours to go and we were just over Yangon. 

Conclusion

It is an absolute delight to fly back to Singapore on my favourite business class seats across the fleet. This is an absolutely lovely flight. The Singapore-London route is also one of the longest which gives you more than enough time to properly enjoy both the hardware and software. It never gets boring on Singapore Airlines Premium Cabin! I luck out with an above-average set of crew on my flight. Yanyi was outstanding! While SQ service is generally consistent, they are slightly under par as compared to the past. The crew these days are too inexperienced and are working in premium cabins too early! The only complaint I had here was the high UK departure taxes which are a whopping 450 SGD. That is almost 3 times the fees you pay for flying out of other Europe destinations! This sure hurts! Comparing this to Qatar Qsuite, the crew here is nicer, warmer and friendly. While it is gimmicky to have a door and all, the seats are on bar. There is a lot of privacy on Qsuite and a super comfortable bed but the seats are a lot more cramped as compared to this. SQ can adopt some SOPs of Qatar. Having the IFM go around to greet and bid goodbye should be adopted, especially on long-haul flights. If only there is a way to combine both SQ and Qatar!