Qantas A330 to MEL - Yarra Run, Tapas with Friends, and Steak at Rockpool Bar & Grill

[yflyer]

At the gate: Qantas A330-200 rego VH-EBN "Clare Valley", a 7 year old aircraft first delivered in 2010 with a domestic interior config, before the cabin was refurbished in 2016 with the new J product and refreshed Y seats (Although the Y is still not the newest Recaro seats).

[yflyer]

Inside, a very nice new business class cabin, laid out in staggered 1-2-1.



This is a very nice J seat. I did not fly in J on this occasion, but at least looking at the seat, it looked very stylish, not to mention roomy and comfortable.



The seat, done in black leather, is not particularly wide, but it reclines flat, and has a lot of side storage.











The whole design looks very elegant, with a very coherent style and design concept, as well as superb build quality and finishing.

This A330 J seat design is very similar to, if not almost identical to, the J seats on QF's recently delivered 787-9.

My first impression was that QF's new A330 J seat looks superior to SQ's current A330 regional seat (Configured 2-2-2), but not as roomy as the SQ long haul J on A380's and 77W/77WR/77WN's.

Airlines are continually playing leap-frog as they upgrade their cabins. At this point in time, this QF A330 J seat tops SQ regional J. But I would love to see what SQ unveils as their new regional J product for the 787-10. I am expecting great things from team SQ!

[yflyer]

The Y cabin, laid out 2-4-2, was similar to my outbound SIN-MEL flight.



Window-side 2-seater...



Center block bulkhead/emex row seats in row 44...



Very roomy seats, with a lot of space in front, but on this plane at least, this first row of bulkhead/emex seats did not recline. Not a big issue on this day-time flight, but something pax should be aware of.



On a more positive note, the bulkhead seats did not suffer the usual drawback of being used as a walkway by pax crossing over, because just ahead of the bulkhead, just behind the restrooms, was a passageway.

[yflyer]

Fold out IFE screen for the bulkhead/emex row.



Once again, headphones with both the standard 3.5" miniplug, and an airline adapter, which enabled you to use your own headphones.



A/C power and USB (1 USB per passenger)...

[yflyer]

More than 7 and a half hours to Singapore today...





Bottle of water for each pax...



Lemonade after take-off...

[yflyer]

The menu for today's flight, with 3 choices of main for lunch...



In another example illustrating QF's ability to innovate, economy class passenger could pre-select their choice of main online up to 24 hours before the flight...



Lunch as served, along with my choice of beverage. I asked for both a vodka ginger beer and a bottle of wine...the wine and ginger beer were served first, while the friendly cabin crew member told me that she would bring me the vodka later...





I quite like Qantas's economy class meal concept, with just a large main course casserole and no starter...the beef with polenta was quite delicious.



This service format looked very modern and practical, and just made Y trays look so old fashioned. SQ should give this a try...rather than a tray with tiny starter and main, just provide a substantial main course. I suspect this would work especially well for dishes like chicken rice, hor fun or char kway teow...or nasi briyani / nasi lemak for that matter.



As promised, and without requiring additional prompting on my part, my mini bottle of vodka was brought to my seat as some point during meal service...



Of course ideally the vodka ginger beer would have been served as part of a pre-dinner drink run...may I should have just asked before meal service began.

After dinner, coffee/tea, served with a piece chocolate...



Ice cream bar for dessert...

[yflyer]

Much of today's flight was over Australia's central desert regions...



As we flew a good distance away from Ayers Rock on this occasion, there wasn't anything particularly interesting to try and spot out the window enroute.





Cabin ambience was fine...the A330 remains a very comfortable plane to fly in economy.

[yflyer]

Quite a few interesting programs on the IFE system, including a whole season of TV programs with Qantas as a subject.



This was quite a watchable show, done documentary/reality TV style. Each episode had several segments on different aspects of ground and flight ops including dealing with difficult pax...



...as well as flight operations, maintenance, and QF's launch of their new uniforms...



A mix of professional models and actual Qantas pilots were used as models for the new uniforms at this event. Wonder if the tech crew logged these as "catwalk hours" in their logbooks...



And QF must be one of the few airlines around, who still have audio-on demand comedy programs...



...and a full dedicated radio channel for comedy!

[yflyer]

Prior to arrival, a hot noodle snack was served...





This was quite a nice alternative to the wraps and sandwiches more commonly served as a 2nd meal on this sector.

[yflyer]

We landed on time in Singapore on a cloudy, humid afternoon...



Overall, this was a very good flight.

I was quite impressed by how Qantas has continued to refresh and innovate its economy class offering. What stood out was the catering format (Both the meal, and the ability to pre-order online), and also small touches like the combined headphone/airline plug adapter.

Cabin crew on both outbound and inbound flights were very good -- professional and very helpful.

On the aircraft I flew, the economy seat was a refreshed product roughly comparable to SQ 2006 Y. There is a newer Y product being fitted on QF A330's as well as their 787-9's that I would also want to try, but this refreshed Y product was ok too, even if it lags a little behind the very latest Y products, including SQ 2013 Y.

The new QF J product also looks like a very competitive offering as well: the staggered 1-2-1 layout with aisle access for every pax, and fully flat seats that recline without you having to stand up to flip the seat. To some pax, QF's latest A330 J might even be preferable to the current QF A380 J layout, not upgraded since the A380 launch, which has very long flat beds laid out 2-2-2 on the upper deck. QF's A380 J could also use an update, especially as SQ rolls out their new A380 products.

As I said at the start of this TR, competition on flights between Singapore and Australia, and on the Kangaroo route, is going to get more intense when QF shifts its hub back to Singapore next year, and I see both QF and SQ as top airlines with strong products vying for a larger slice of the pie on these routes.

At this point in time, the ball is in SQ's court, with new product launches on the horizon. Interesting times, and all good for travellers and frequent flyers!

Thanks for reading!

[orionmiz]

I was quite impressed by how Qantas has continued to refresh and innovate its economy class offering. What stood out was the catering format (Both the meal, and the ability to pre-order online), and also small touches like the combined headphone/airline plug adapter.

Oh ya, the current SQ Y earphone is now a earphone with a 1-pin jack (you can use it for your own personal devices), with a separate airline 2-pin jack adapter pack inside the bag. So if you forgot to bring the airline adapter, or if you don't have one, you can take the earphone bag and use their free (and complimentary) airline adapter.

Note: You might need to push it a bit harder for first time use of that airline adapter.

[zilchster]

Oh ya, the current SQ Y earphone is now a earphone with a 1-pin jack (you can use it for your own personal devices), with a separate airline 2-pin jack adapter pack inside the bag. So if you forgot to bring the airline adapter, or if you don't have one, you can take the earphone bag and use their free (and complimentary) airline adapter.

Note: You might need to push it a bit harder for first time use of that airline adapter.

That's good news. Saves me money on buying earphones when I can use them.

[zilchster]

On a side note, I heard the Pho in Sprngvale, Melbourne is really good. Can anyone attest to that?

[SQ218]

Will PM you next time we get together, SQ218!

cool thanks

[SQ218]

On a side note, I heard the Pho in Sprngvale, Melbourne is really good. Can anyone attest to that?

Where the Vietnamese communities are. you'll find them. Springvale, Footscray and Richmond.