Memories of Kai Tak - SIA A380 Economy to Hong Kong and a Run to Checkerboard Hill

[yflyer]

Introduction

Earlier this month, I flew to Hong Kong to attend a business event. The event was held at the Dorsett Kai Tak, a new hotel at Kai Tak Sports Park, a multi-venue sports complex located where the old Kai Tak Airport used to be.

I flew to Hong Kong (Chek Lap Kok, of course) on SQ, and was in for a treat, as this short 4 hour sector had an Airbus A380 scheduled on one of its daily flights. I flew SQ892 to Hong Kong in A380 economy, and returned on SQ895, operated by an A350, a few days later.

HKIA is one of my favourite airports, but those of us in SQTalk who were travelling in the 90's and earlier would have deeply etched memories of the old Kai Tak Airport, and the incredible turning approach towards the runway, skimming over buildings before landing.

At this point in time, not much trace of the airport remains, apart from the shape of the land jutting out into the water. It is now a built up area comprising residential buildings and a sprawling multi-venue sports park, with an amazing new stadium as its centerpiece.

This trip was almost all work, but I did have a couple of nice meals, and managed to squeeze in a last minute, unplanned run, from the Dorsett Hotel to Checkerboard Hill, which will forever be associated with the hair-raising landings at the old Kai Tak Airport.

[yflyer]

SQ892 SIN-HKG operates out of Changi T3. I printed my boarding pass at one of the self service kiosks in the Departure area.



A preview of T3 decor for the end of the year: Hello Kitty, of all things. What that has to do with Christmas is anybody's guess...

[yflyer]

I headed through the automated passport checks (which at that point still required a scan of the passport, apart from the camera-based facial recognition), and entered the airside area...

[yflyer]

Just a brief stop in the Krisflyer Gold Lounge for a quick breakfast.



I've covered the lounge in other TR's so just a few pics here. The ambience was quite pleasant, and the lounge was not crowded in the morning, when I was there.



No Champagne or sparkling wine in this lounge, not even Prosecco, so I poured myself a beer...



First stop, some delicious chwee kueh and har gao...



...and a bowl of their signature Laksa, which really hit the spot!



And then it was time to head to the gate.

[yflyer]

My flight was boarding from Gate A2, located in one of the large holding rooms in T3.



They have a new display above the boarding gate, which shows which boarding group is boarding at any given time.

At the gate, Airbus A380 rego 9V-SKM...



This was a 14 year old aircraft, which had been refitted with the 2nd generation A380 cabin products 4 years ago, in 2020.



As of now, all of SQ's A380's have the new cabin product, which is great. However that also means that there is no longer a small Y cabin on the upper deck of any A380 (That used to be my favourite Y seating zone on the A380).

[yflyer]

A very wam welcome at the door of the main deck. I asked them to smile for the camera...and they did!



The Y cabin was laid out 3-4-3.



The sheer size of the A380 made the cabin feel very spacious.



I felt very fortunate to be on an A380 for a relatively short sector.

[yflyer]

My seat was 42H, an aisle seat in the 2nd row of the Y cabin.



This was a very comfortable seat, with excellent width and recline.



IFE was a modern, state of the art touchscreen, with a wide range of movies, TV and music. There was no live TV though, which was available on even newer aircract such as the A350.



USB charging, and 2-pronged airline headphone socket (Bring your own earphones/headphones with an airline adapter).



A/C power.



Foldable tray table with built-in vanity mirror.



Some of the new movie releases this month...



Seat pocket contents: Safety card, wifi guide and Krisshop Catalog. I miss the SilverKris inflight magazine, I really do!



The bathroom...



Unlike the newest SQ A350's and 787's, the bathroom taps were not sensor operated. I placed my hands under the tap and waited and waited, before realizing I had to push the button for water flow...

[yflyer]

Prior to take off, the cabin crew came round with hot towels...wonderful...



Pushback, taxi, and a very gentle take-off roll...



Quite a different take-off experience from most other modern jets...smooth as silk and so quiet...



3 hours 21 minutes flight time to Hong Kong today...

[yflyer]

On the main deck, just ahead of where I was sitting, was the Premium Economy (PEY) cabin, laid out 2-4-2.



This is the best PEY cabin in the SQ fleet right now, far superior to PEY on the A359. The PEY seat frame on the A380 is slightly larger than that on the A350, and the location right in the front of the main deck also meant that one could use the restrooms directly behind PEY, without having to cross into the Y cabin.

[yflyer]

A quick stroll through the Y cabin before meal service.



Complimentary unlimited wifi for all Krisflyer members -- priceless.



The wifi bandwidth was sufficient for me to get some work done on productivity apps on my web browser.

[yflyer]

It was time for breakfast. 2 choices of meal: omelette with sausage or noodles with chicken. I chose the omelette.

Unlike recent short haul SQ flights I took to Bali and Bangkok, which served meals in disposable cardboard containers and bamboo cutlery, the meal service on the SIN-HKG sector was their standard meal tray, with plastic casserole and bowls, and metal cutlery.



With covers off...



Cardboard cups were used for both juices and coffee/tea. I miss the days when SQ used real glasses in Y, along with plastic coffee cups.

The metal cutlery was of very high quality...



The omelette and sausage were decent...



...although I have often felt that airlines such as QF, BA or LH, and even JL, offer a tastier omelette and sausage in Y than SQ does.

No pepper on the tray, but sachets were available from the cabin crew if you asked them.

[yflyer]

After meal service, I could not resist taking another walk through the cabin...



...to check out the stairs at the rear of the main deck.



"Business Class Only" said the sign...



I headed up anyway to take a look. As expected, it was gated.



What a wonderfully spacious cabin.


Whatever anyone says about the economics of a 4-engined jet, or the commercial success of the A380, from a passenger perspective, it has always been one of my favourite aircraft to fly.

[yflyer]

Approaching Hong Kong...



...with just 38 minutes left to run...



Lining up for landing...



Out the window, a view of the East Artificial island, which is where the undersea tunnel part of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge emerges back onto sea level, connecting to the bridge portion of the tunnel towards Hong Kong.



A smooth landing at 1.38pm, 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time of 1.55pm.

Hong Kong Airport was quite busy when we landed, but the immigration queue (still using manual counters) was fairly quick. I had only hand luggage, and was out into the terminal within 30 minutes of deplaning.



In the arrival area, a full size diorama of a traditional HK restaurant-- a popular spot for photos!



Overall, this was yet another wonderful flight on SQ. The cabin product was excellent, and so were the cabin crew. The inflight internet worked well, and I had a good meal onboard. We landed a few minutes early.

If I were to nitpick, I wish there was live TV on the IFE, plastic cups or glasses in Y and not just cardboard cups, and the sausage and omelette could have been a just a little tastier, but these were very minor things.

The best part of the experience, for me, was the fact that this was an A380. There aren't that many opportunities to fly the A380 these days, especially for a short or medium haul sector.

[yflyer]

Unlike previous trips to Hong Kong, where I usually took the airport express train to the city, on this occasion, I took an Uber to the Dorsett Kai Tak. The Uber app, and airport signage, offered clear walking directions to the pickup point. This was a bit of a walk way from the baggage claim, but fairly easy to find.



The designated pick up area for ride-share (Carpark 4 2/F) is right next to the Regal Airport Hotel.



My Uber arrived within a few minutes, and it was a smooth 40 minute drive to the Dorsett Kai Tak, in Kowloon Bay.

[yflyer]

The Dorsett Kai Tak is a new hotel in Kowloon Bay.



It is situated at the new Kai Tak Sports Park, where Kai Tak Airport used to be.



Right next to the Dorsett was stunning new Kai Tak Stadium.



The stadium was still under construction, but when open next year, promises to transform the sports and concert scene in Hong Kong, with its state of the art features, and striking design...



The lobby...



My room was smallish...



...but very elegant and stylish.



The King size bed...



Small work table and lounger. Great views of the new stadium.



The bathroom...