QF A380 SIN-MEL-SIN in Y

[yflyer]

A last minute request to attend a business meeting in Melbourne immediately after the Lunar New Year holidays in Singapore gave me a great opportunity, possibly my last opportunity, to fly Qantas on their A380 from Singapore to Melbourne and back.

In the other TR's I have posted, I have remarked that I consider the Qantas A380 Y seat to the most comfortable Y seat I have tried so far. This TR will explore what makes this seat so special, and also describes several quirks of the QF A380 seating plan which can make the Y journey even more comfortable.

The star of this TR is of course the QF A380, but EK and SQ A380's also make cameo appearances.

For my MEL-SIN return flight, QF and SQ A380's to Singapore were parked next to each other.



On that day, I boarded the QF flight to SIN, but it is highly likely that the next time I am in Melbourne, that QF A380 will be heading to DXB rather than SIN, and I will likely be boarding the SQ A380 instead, to savour the SQ inflight experience, but that is a story for another TR.

[yflyer]

Going back to the start of my trip, this began with QF10, from Singapore to Melbourne, departing at 8.50pm. This is quite a convenient time for a flight, as it allows you to have a late dinner/supper onboard and perhaps watch a movie before taking a nap (to the extent possible within the confines of a Y seat) and waking up to an early morning approach into Tullamarine Airport. Flight time today would be an incredibly short six and a half hours.





After boarding, I turn right and move right to the back of the bus. For some reason, as I write this I recall the countless times I have boarded an SBS Transit double decker and also move to the back of that bus...

My seat today would be 80A, my favourite Y seat when travelling alone, and a look at the seating plan will tell you why. It is set a row back from the row 79 emergency row, but there is no window seat in front of it. This gives you the best of both worlds: A window view, as well as unrestricted aisle access and legroom. There is no additional fee for reserving this seat. The emergency row seats at row 79 are good too, but you would have to pay an additional fee to reserve those, and you don’t get a window view either.





When you sit at this spot, you tend to get a lot of envious glances from passengers who are boarding. Especially from the folks who had to pay extra for their emex seats at row 79!

[yflyer]

I looked out the window and saw an Emirates A380 parked close by. Emirates only recently started flying the A380 to Singapore in December 2012, joining AF, LH, QF and of course SQ in flying the A380 into Changi.



I don’t carry a measuring tape with me when I fly (Maybe I should start…), but the seat pitch in Y appears to be similar to SQ. Seat recline appears to be slightly better than SQ Y.

The seat is slim, with a carbon fibre-like shell and soft, comfortable cushioning. It reclines in a similar way to SQ's latest Y seat: as it reclines, the front of the seat moves forward and angles upward for greater comfort. But that is about all they have in common. The SQ cushioning on the A380 Y seat is too hard, in my opinion. The QF seat is softer and far more comfortable. If you need to travel the Kangaroo route in Y, this is a superb seat that will keep you well supported and well coddled.



Overall Y cabin ambience is comfortable and spacious, despite the dark colour scheme.

[yflyer]

Your headphones, blanket and pillow are already on your seat when you board. They also go round giving out toothbrushes and eyeshades to anyone who needs them. No socks were provided on this flight.

The crew came round with printed menus. Bottles of water were also handed out to each passenger.

The IFE is a modern, advanced AVOD system with a wide selection of movies, television music and Skycam tail-mounted camera.



On my seat, the IFE is a flip-up unit at the armrest, with the controller on the side.





Movies this month include Argo, Lincoln and Seven Psychopaths.



I watched Argo, a gripping movie based on a true story about how several embassy staff at the US embassy in Iran during the embassy hostage crisis in 1979, managed to elude capture and escape to the Canadian embassy in Teheran, and how they were smuggled out of the country.



The movie and TV selection is wide, but is not as stupendous as SQ Krisworld’s selection. That said, the programmes were well selected, and would appeal to a wide range of tastes, and the video and audio quality were very good. Most folks would have no problem keeping themselves well entertained on this flight.

[yflyer]

Preparation for meal service began fairly quickly after the seatbelt signs went off.



You had two choices of main, an Asian beef selection, or a Western fish selection.



The drink menu was also fairly extensive. The only downside was the fact that there was no pre-meal drink service.



For my meal, I chose the fish option, which was delicious.



I chose to accompany my meal with a glass of white wine, which came in a little plastic bottle. On this flight, you had a selection of two Australian red wines and two white wines, a dry Riesling and a Chardonnay. I have always been a fan of Australian wines, and have generally found the QF wine selections to be pretty good, even in Y.



The dessert was an Asian-Western fusion creation, a sort of Asian-flavoured pudding which didn’t particularly appeal to me. The pudding was fine, but the aroma of lemongrass was just too strong.

At the rear of the lower deck, there is a self-service snack area with soft beverages and a selection of snacks, including chocolate chip cookies and biscotti, but nothing more substantial than that (no sandwiches or chips, for example).





About an hour and a half before landing, a simple breakfast was served, consisting of yogurt and a pastry.



By then, it was morning over Australia, and for passengers who were awake, you were treated to spectacular sunrise views.



Overall, a very pleasant and comfortable flight, which set the stage for a productive visit to Melbourne.

More coming up!

[yflyer]

The weather in Melbourne was warm, but not uncomfortably so.

After a series of hectic business meetings, it was time to relax and unwind.

I stayed at the Langham Melbourne, which is ideally located close to the city and right on the banks of the Yarra River. Rather than use the hotel gym, I went for a relaxing evening jog along the river.



Then it was dinner at Movida Next Door, which as the name implies, is next to Movida, one of my favourite Spanish restaurants/tapas bars in Melbourne.



While the food is in many ways authentic and Spanish, there is definitely an Australian spin to the creations on the menu, which is not a bad thing, since the Australian restaurant scene is one of the most exciting around.

Permit me the indulgence of sharing a few food pics from my dinner there before getting back to the topic at hand(i.e. the TR proper).

[yflyer]

My return flight was QF9, from Melbourne to Singapore. This flight leaves at 4.40pm in the afternoon and gets you back to Singapore just before 10pm.

Before boarding my flight, I spent a few minutes at the Qantas Business Lounge, situated one level below the main departure level, and close to the boarding gate for the flight.



The location of this lounge cannot match the superb QF Business and First Class lounge in Sydney, with its spectacular tarmac views, but in terms of facilities, the QF Melbourne business lounge has a lot to offer.



The lounge has several seating areas, including comfortable lounge seating, a work/business area, and separate dining and bar areas. It is not a particularly large lounge, but it was not very full when I was there. It did not look like a lounge which would take crowds well though.



There was a also a stock ticker near the front of the lounge area, which may be convenient for business people, but which I thought detracted from the lounge ambience. Hey, you are there to relax right?

The bar area looks to be a very comfortable spot to chill while waiting for a flight. There is a selection of snacks and desserts, as well as a choice of three Australian red and white wines.

[yflyer]

A nice selection of wines offered. Here are the reds they had available today. The Penfolds Bin 8 was on sale at AUD50 for two bottles in the duty free shopping area outside the lounge.

I then moved on to the dining area, with a selection of international buffet dishes. Not the most comprehensive buffet spread I have seen in business class lounges, but the food was prepared to a high standard.









The scones were a nice touch.



It didn't seem like there was a signature Australian local dish on offer (is there such a thing?), but they did showcase several brands of Australian beer.



I passed by the work area on the way out, with a selection of Macs available.





Wireless internet connectivity was also available, and worked fairly well.

[yflyer]

It was a short walk from the lounge to the boarding gate.



Once again, my seat was at the back of the bus, but in row 86 this time, right in the back.

The QF Y cabin is divided into three sections, with red, green then red upholstery. The middle cabin has green upholstery.

The picture below shows the emergency row 66, where the emergency door has no protrusion.



The other quirk in the Qantas A380 layout is seat 71D, which has no seat in front of it. Obviously this is a very popular seat!



My seat is at row 86, which is the last row on the window side. SeatGuru marks this as a "red" i.e. undesirable, seat, which "may have limited recline...proximity to lavatories may be bothersome". This is rubbish. Recline is perfectly fine and the lavs doors are right in the rear, so they present no problem at all. The seats are fine, and even preferable as there is no-one behind you and no need to put your seat back upright during mealtime.



The controller for the inseat video is under the armest.





That said, you don't actually use the controller much as the screen is a touch screen.

The C seats by the aisle have a protrusion under the seat for the IFE box, and that takes up about a third of your available space. There is unobstructed legroom in the space under seats A and B.

[yflyer]

My flight pushed back on time, and after a short taxi we were on our way.



The Skycam on the IFE gives you a great view of the entire flight from pushback to landing.



Although the flight was fairly full, the cabin ambience was relaxed and comfortable. One thing I do notice about QF flights compared to SQ flights (and this may have more to do with the passenger profile than the airline) is that the cabin crew call light/bell was almost never used. This is unlike SQ where the cabin crew are often kept busy answering one trivial request after another.

Another difference between SQ and QF is that the QF A380's still have those individually adjustable air vents.



I didn't touch mine, but it is nice to know it is there.

On this flight, they also go straight to the meal service without a pre-meal drink service. I was a little thirsty, so I went up to the galley while the crew were preparing for meal service, and asked for a beer -- the young flight attendant there cheerfully obliged, and I returned to my seat, Heineken in hand.

Then it was time for dinner.

[yflyer]

I was intrigued by the option on the IFE marked "Inflight Menu" and clicked on it.



Oh well...maybe they will implement this in future. But one thing you will notice about the IFE is that on most screens (except when you are in the middle of a movie), you will see the flight time remaining on the top of the display. That is a really handy feature.

The printed menu had two choices: Western style Lamb or Asian style Fish.



I chose the lamb today, and was not disappointed.





Apart from the dark chocolate mousse dessert served during the meal, the crew also came round with a mango/cream ice cream bar during the flight, and there was also a basket of apples available.



There was very little turbulence on this flight. The seatbelt sign remained off throughout the flight. I do notice that QF pilots generally are not as trigger-happy as SQ when it comes to the seatbelt sign. Even when there was a little turbulence over Indonesia, the seatbelt sign remained off.



An hour and a half before landing, a snack, consisting of a reheated pizza slice, was served.



It tasted of...well...a reheated pizza slice. Nothing interesting here.

We landed on time and those on the left enjoyed views of the night time Singapore skyline where the Singapore flyer was clearly visible, and if you knew where to look, you could also make out the Marina Bay Sands complex with its distinctive rooftop sky garden.

The landing was unusually smooth by A380 standards. One thing I like about QF is the fact you can turn on your phone immediately after the aircraft has landed and has cleared the runway. Also, your IFE and headset can be used from the moment you board till the the time the aircraft arrives at the gate.

As usual, immigration and baggage collection through Changi T1 were smooth and quick.

[yflyer]

To sum up, both my outbound and inbound flights were great. I remain very impressed with the Qantas longhaul Y product on their A380.

I will miss flying the QF A380's after they move their hub from SIN to DXB. And it will take a lot of persuading to get me to fly on QF's antique A330's which are likely to be deployed on QF's routes to Singapore.



On the other hand, I am looking forward to flying more SQ, and potentially more EK as well. Maybe one day soon, I will finally have the opportunity to post an SQ TR on SQTalk :-)

[ycp81]

Nice one!! Similar to my QF experience a couple of months back! QF A380s do have one of the most comfortable seats in Economy!

[FN-GM]

wow i am impressed with QF. Its a shame it ways seems expensive!

[yflyer]

ycp81: Yes agreed! I believe they are in the process of retrofitting some of their 747's to the new seats (including the carbon fibre Y seats) as well.

FN-GM: Ex-SIN, QF fares are usually cheaper than SQ, although the saver fares do come with some restrictions. And with the strong A$, everything in Australia seems expensive these days!