SQ SIN-LHR/CDG-SIN in Y: Concorde Spotting, Ibis Hotels, and Runs in Reading and CDG

[yflyer]

In July last year, I flew to London for a short work trip. I spent the week in Reading, near London, before returning to Singapore via Paris CDG.

I flew SQ318 to London on SQ's 77WN (3-class 777-300ER with 2013 Y) and returned to Singapore on SQ335 operated by an A380 (With the 2006 Y product).

Although this was a work trip, I had my Olympus E-P2 with me, with a telephoto lens, which meant I was better equipped to take pictures out the window on the daylight segments of these flights.

I stayed at Ibis hotels in Reading and Paris CDG. While Ibis is a value/budget brand, I had very satisfactory stays at both properties which met and even exceeded my expectations.

On this hectic trip, I managed only two runs. An excellent one in Reading, and one of the least satisfying ones ever in Paris CDG, although even that run had one redeeming feature.

I encountered a couple of Concordes on this trip -- not in the air (I regret that I never had the opportunity to fly in one), but on the ground.

As rumours swirl around of impending cost cuts affecting SQ's Y product, this TR hopefully provides a point-in-time snapshot of what the SQ economy class experience was in mid 2016.

[yflyer]

SQ318 is a 12.35pm departure. This 13+ hour flight operates entirely in daylight hours, and gets you into London at around 7.15pm in the evening.

This flight is usually operated by a 77WN, and this was the case on the day of my flight, which would be flown by 9V-SWU, a 3+ year old aircraft which I believe was the first fitted with the 2013 cabin products.



I boarded and passed through the J cabin, with the wonderful 2013 J products...



...and settled into the Y cabin, with the 2013 Y seats and IFE.



These are very comfortable economy class seats, configured in 9-abreast 3-3-3 configuration, with decent seat pitch and all seats equipped with footrests.



No underseat IFE obstructions. These seats have superb recline (By Y standards), and the seat base pivots forward slightly for a more comfortable recline angle.



This is currently my favourite Y seat (Although the EK second gen A380 Y seat is equally good, and the QF A380 Y seat is a close 2nd place runner up).

You have full AVOD IFE, with USB charging ports and A/C power.



Note that since my flight in July 2016, a new version of the Krisworld IFE has been released, with a more user-friendly interface.

[yflyer]

A Y amenity kit was handed out.



I wonder how much longer SQ will give out these amenity kits. I do use the toothbrush and socks provided on many of my flights, but the zipper bag seems like a bit of overkill in this day and age.

A steaming hot towel was handed out at the start of the flight too, although on this flight I did not take a picture of it. I would really miss the hot towels if these were dropped in the name of cost cutting. I really do look forward to the hot towels on a flight, especially when they come round with towels after the lights come on for breakfast after a long overnight sector.

[yflyer]

A taxi to the northern end of runway 20C...



...and a powerful take-off to the southwest, with great views of the East Coast of Singapore, the East Coast Lagoon and Bedok Jetty as we climbed out...

[yflyer]

Today's menu...



A full, detailed, beverage list, unlike the truncated one which has just made an appearance on SQ flights (Anyone know if the new truncated beverage list is used on long haul flights, or just short/medium haul?)...



On this long flight to London, a full lunch and dinner were served, along with mid-flight snacks...

Lunch...



Snacks...



Dinner...

[yflyer]

For lunch, I chose the assam ikan manis (Malay-style fish)...

The tray as served, along with my choice of beverage: white wine...



...and with covers off...




The cold starter of glass noodles and prawn had a nice bounce to it...



The main course of fish with rice was very tasty too.



White wine to go with the fish. Note the real glass (And metal cutlery)....



Judging from the angle of the wine in the glass in the picture above, the aircraft must have been banking when the picture was taken!

Dessert was a chocolate ice cream cone. A foolproof dessert that I enjoyed...

[yflyer]

After lunch, I watched "Embrace of the Snake", a beautiful B&W art movie set in South America...







A very atmospheric and thought-provoking movie, worth seeking out whether or not it is still playing on Krisworld.

There was also a very nice selection of music available on Krisworld...



Including a very listenable album of classical clarinet by Martin Frost....

[yflyer]

About 3 hours into the flight, we crossed into the Indian subcontinent, close to the port city of Visakhapatnam, east of Hyderabad, and almost 800 of km up the coast from Chennai.





We overflew India, Pakistan, and then Afghanistan...



The scenery over Afghanistan was spectacular...









We flew over Helmand province in Afghanistan, just south of the town of Marjah. This is a very fertile part of the country, which was very obvious from the air: a large swathe of green, compared to the dry and brown landscape elsewhere over Afghanistan...







Of course if you google Helmand province and the town of Marjah in Afghanistan, you'll find that this part of the country has seen more than its fair share of armed conflict over the years, although thankfully the airspace is still open to (And by implication, safe for) commercial air traffic.

[yflyer]

Cabin ambience during the flight was great.



Mid-flight snacks laid out in the galley...



The crew also game round mid-flight to pass round fruits and drinks.



I asked if there were cup noodles (This was not listed on the menu) and to my delight the crew said there were...a cup was prepared for me in the galley and brought to my seat...



I washed it all down with a Bailey's White Russian cocktail...



To be continued!

[yflyer]

For the SIN-LHR sector, the overnight flights are great if you are one of those who can sleep onboard, but the daytime flights are great if you want to explore the IFE and catch up on movies/TV or do work on your computer (Time based wifi is available).



On the day that I flew, the flight was not full: the 2nd Y cabin had ample space for passengers to stretch out across multiple seats.



Two hours prior to arrival, while cruising over Eastern Europe, dinner was served...



The Asian option was braised fish with noodles. I chose the international option: chicken fricasee with turmeric rice...



Beef pastrami salad with quinoa...a fairly creative starter...



The very generous portion of chicken fricasee was both pretty to look at, and quite delicious, with the rice and vegetables still moist and not dried out.



The cherry cheese cake was tasty as well.

[yflyer]

I spent the rest of the flight looking out the window and taking pictures.



On today's flight, we flew just south of the beautiful city of Budapest...



...easily recognizable from the air because of the Danube River and Margaret Island located in the middle of the river itself.



Further west, we flew almost directly over Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and the city of Frankfurt.

Although we were at cruising altitude, it was almost possible to make out the aircraft parked at the gates of this busy airline hub.



As we crossed over the North Sea from the Netherlands towards England, large wind farms -- formations of wind turbines generating electricity -- could be seen in the sea...





There are quite a number of these wind farms in the North Sea, owned by the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Belgium. In recent years, there has been a huge boom in the construction of these wind farms, an increasingly popular source of renewable energy, although there are detractors as well.

[yflyer]

And then we were over English farm land...



...a beautiful patchwork of fields to the east of London...it always amazes me to see how much of the UK countryside is still beautifully green and free of concrete jungle.



As we approached Heathrow from the northeast, our flight took a very scenic route along the Thames (At least for those on the right side of the cabin)...we first flew eastwards, north of the Thames...



Before making a low-level clockwise turn to the south, over the London Stadium and Aquatic Centre (Where the London Olympics were held)...



...also looping round the distinctively shaped O2 Arena and Canary Wharf (Just under the right wingtip in the photo below)...



...before proceeding westwards, this time south of the Thames, passing the Tower Bridge and The Shard...



...as well as the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster...





It seems that if you are landing at Heathrow during daylight hours and want a nice view of London on final approach, a seat on the right hand side of the plane offers you the best view, at least if your aircraft is on a west-bound approach onto runway 27L.

[yflyer]

We passed low over Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park on a bright summer evening...



...before coming in to land on Heathrow's Runway 27L...



...where BA's Concorde G-BOAB could be seen on that day.



I say "on that day" because according to this Concorde Heritage website the aircraft is not on "official" display, and is sometimes moved. And when I checked Google maps' satellite photo of LHR on the day I posted this TR, the Concorde was inexplicably missing from that spot.

What a sleek aircraft, and one which I wish I had managed to fly on before Concorde services ceased in 2003.

A smooth landing, and as we taxied to T2, I caught a glimpse of the aircraft stacked behind us on approach into LHR...



Just another busy evening at Heathrow!

[yflyer]

After arrival formalities in LHR T2, I took the Heathrow Express to London Paddington station.

At the time of my trip, the Heathrow Express was running a promotion with Star Alliance, which gave Star Gold members a free upgrade to the BusinessFirst carriages of the Heathrow Express train.

The BusinessFirst carriage had a roomy 1-1 configuration.



These had very comfortable seats, not to mention a work top as well.



A very comfortable way to get from LHR to Paddington.

That said, the journey takes just 15-20 minutes, and the standard carriages are perfectly comfortable for such a short journey.

From Paddington, I bought a commuter train ticket for the 35-40 minute train journey to Reading, about 60km west of London.

I arrived in Reading late in the evening, and walked to my hotel, the Ibis Reading Centre, just 200 meters from Reading Station.

[yflyer]

Ibis is not a fancy hotel brand, but this property had new, modern decor, and met all expectations.

The hotel itself was in an excellent location in central Reading, with many shops and eating options close by.

A pleasant lobby...



Smallish, but very new, clean and comfortable rooms...



Open closet...



Small bathroom, which looked like a prefab affair...





Just a shower stall...but I didn't expect to have time to luxuriate in a bubble bath on this work trip anyway...



Overall, I thought the Ibis was a very pleasant hotel to stay in, especially if the rate was right. I was so encouraged by this stay, that I booked another Ibis for a night's transit near Paris CDG Airport before my flight out of CDG at the end of the trip.