SQ117 KUL-SIN in SIA's Regional A350 Y

[yflyer]

I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore yesterday on SQ117, operated by an Airbus A350-900 configured in SIA's new 2-class regional configuration, with 40 Business Class (J) seats and 263 Economy Class (Y) Seats.

In this short TR, I'll share my brief impressions of the Y cabin product on this regional A359, which has the latest generation Y seat (Similar to SQ's 787-10 Y, and new A380 Y). This configuration is different from SQ's long haul A359s, which have the 2013 J and Y cabin products, as well as a PEY cabin. A TR covering the SQ's long haul A359 cabin products can be found here.

The aircraft operating the flight was 9V-SHA, first delivered in December 2018.

[yflyer]

Boarding commenced on time.

The J cabin was configured in staggered forward facing 1-2-1, with a fully flat J seat and configuration similar to the J seat on SQ's 787-10. (More pics of the 787-10 J seat in a TR here.)



The Y cabin, whose seat numbers went up to a whopping row 70, was configured in a spacious 9-abreast 3-3-3.



Cabin seating layout in the Y cabin was similar to SQ's long haul A359's, which were also configured 9-abreast. By contrast, SQ's 787-10 Y was 9-abreast in a slightly narrower Dreamliner cabin.



The seats themselves were almost identical to the Y seats in SQ's new A380 Y and 787-10 Y, although there were a few small differences in the IFE and seat back layout, which I will go into later in this TR.

Seat pitch was decent, with no underseat obstructions...



As on other regional SQ aircraft, there were no footrests under the seats, although it could be argued that these were unnecessary for regional routes, and omitting them would result in weight, and therefore cost, savings.

[yflyer]

Generous legroom in the bulkhead seats, with a small passageway in between the first and second Y cabins, which meant bulkhead pax in the middle section didn't have to contend with pax using their foot space as an aisle...



Wall-mounted IFE for bulkhead seats, with a small storage compartment below each wall-mounted screen.



Emex row seating at row 55...



Note the missing window seat in emex row 55, which gave 56A/K window seats aisle access and unrestricted legroom to the front...



The good news about 56A/K was that not only did these seats have window and aisle access (via the forward space), but the humonguous IFE box that marred the similar seat on SQ's long haul A359's was now regular sized, and so would no longer eat into pax legroom.

There were 2 rows of window-side couple seats in the rear, rows 69-70, that looked very desirable...



These seats had extra space on the window side...

[yflyer]

Seat recline was good...about similar to SQ Y seats on other aircraft (Long haul or otherwise), with the seat base pivoting forward slightly upon recline to cradle the passenger...





A note about last row seat recline in the middle block (70 D,E,G): the seats reclined a good distance, but at max recline the seat back did touch the wall, so I wasn't sure if it was full recline or if there was a little less recline than other seats. In any case, it wasn't a huge difference that I could detect.

[yflyer]

In terms of seat width, this was a great opportunity to do the SQTalk seat magazine measurement (tm)...

The SQ regional A359 Y aisle seat...



The SQ regional A359 Y middle seat...



For comparison, here is the SQ long haul A359 Y seat...



And the SQ 787-10 Y seat...



Based on the pictures, there did not appear to be a lot difference in seat width between SQ's regional and long haul A359 Y seats.

More intriguingly, the SQ 787-10 Y seats also did not appear to be too different, although the Dreamliner's cabin was slightly narrower. I haven't had the opportunity to fly Y on SQ's 787-10 yet (I had a SIN-MNL flight earlier this month that was originally scheduled for the 787-10, but it was substituted for a 777) so opinions on the contentious topic of 787 Y seat width would have to wait...

[yflyer]

The Krisworld IFE system has been subtlely enhanced from previous versions. This was a hi-def widescreen touch screen, with a very responsive UI, and bright, beautiful picture and audio quality (As long as you used your own headphones).



There were personalisation options if you sign in with your Krisflyer details (Not available on this flight)...



The main menu, with a huge number of movie, TV, music and game options...



There was now a row of icons for common functions like light, call, and volume up/down below the screen -- this was very convenient.



There was a USB charging port, and a 2-prong airline headphone socket. If you want to use your own headphones, this will require an airline headphone adapter.



[Edit: When I first wrote this TR, I had wrongly assumed that the 2-prong airlne headphone socket on this Thales IFE installed on SQ's regional A350 was similar to the Panasonic IFE on SQ's long haul A350. On the latest Panasonic IFE on the 2017 Y seat that is installed on SQ's long haul A350's, you get stereo if you plug your regular 3.5" headphone miniplug into any one of the 2 sockets -- no airline headphone adapter is required. While SQ's regional A350 uses the same 2017 Y seat, the IFE is Thales, not Panasonic. For the Thales IFE installed on SQ's regional A350, you still need an airline headphone adapter if you wish to use your own headphones onboard.]

Universal A/C power socket located between the seats...

[yflyer]

There was a handy cup holder...



The tray table was foldable tray, and had a covered vanity mirror...

[yflyer]

Armrests went all the way up...



...including aisle-side arm rests, which could be raised by pressing a small lever under the base of the armrest...

[yflyer]

Bathrooms in light-toned countertop and dark faux-wood panelling...

[yflyer]

A very quiet take-off to the north...



...before a slow left turn towards a heading to Singapore along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia...





Pleasant cabin ambience onboard despite the flight being 100% full in Y...



As this was just a short 43 minute flight, cabin service comprised just one run of the cabin with the beverage cart, with coffee/tea and juice on offer.



Choice of either orange or pineapple juice, in a small sealed plastic cup...



Coffee or tea was served in a plastic cup with small tray...



A middle-aged lady across the aisle from me asked for a glass of wine, and looked a little disappointed when the cabin crew member explained, apologetically, that none was loaded on this short sector. (Interestingly, when I flew KLM on the 1 hour 10 minute block time LHR-AMS sector (My actual flight time 45 min) in late 2015, they offered soft drinks, wine and beer, as well as a small snack...)

[yflyer]

Although this was a short sector, I spent most of the flight exploring the new Krisworld IFE...



Picture and sound quality were superb. As an example, the opening minutes of the movie "First Man", a movie about Neil Armstrong and the first lunar landing, was full of dark, low-light scenes which were rendered very well on the display.



No earphones were handed out on this short flight, but many pax had their own headphones/earbuds with them and were also using the IFE...

There was a new IFE feature where you could see flight details on a sidebar left of the screen while a movie or TV show was playing...you could slide this sidebar in or out simply by touching an icon on the screen...very convenient.



There were also music CDs on demand, as well as playlists, but sadly no longer radio channels with commentary -- just curated playlists.



Wifi was also available...

Some wifi data was available on a complimentary basis for First/Business and PPS club members...



Other pax had to pay for access...

[yflyer]

Final approach to Changi Airport towards the north...



...with great views out the left windows on a very clear evening...



A smooth landing on Runway 02L...

Overall impressions...

The new SQ regional economy class on the A359 is a very strong Y product, as good as any in the SQ fleet, and in fact as good as any I have tried on other airlines.

Seat comfort, cabin ambience and features are all top notch, and IFE is great as well.

The only minor quibble would be the lack of a foot rest, but otherwise this is an economy class seat that I would look forward to flying to any destination, whether medium or long haul.

Thanks for reading!

[yuuka_miya]

I seem to recall reading from Milelion or something that they managed to squeeze 2017Y as is into the 787, by taking space from the aisles, or something...

[yflyer]

I seem to recall reading from Milelion or something that they managed to squeeze 2017Y as is into the 787, by taking space from the aisles, or something...

It would be amazing if they were able to do that.

The other 9-abreast 787's I have flown (UA, NH, AI, QR, TR...) had relatively narrow seats which did affect my level of comfort. The only times I really had a good flight on 9-abreast Y on a Dreamliner was when the next seat was empty, or when the person I was rubbing elbows with was Mrs yflyer. Otherwise 9-abreast Y on a 787 pales in comparison with 9-abreast on a 777 or even an A350.

I am also not a fan of 10-abreast 777's by the way -- a horrible, horrible layout which regrettably has become standard on many airlines (But not SQ, which remains a very comfortable 3-3-3 on their 77WR Y ).

Hope to try SQ 787-10 Y soon to see if they have really managed to solve the problem of how to make 9-abreast 787 Y as comfortable as 9-abreast on the A350 or 777.

[yuuka_miya]

Ah yes here it is.

Singapore Airlines has gone for 3-3-3 in economy, the same configuration they have on the A350. The B787 is more narrow than the A350, so one concern I had was that the economy seats would be more cramped. The SQ rep told me that they were the same width as on other aircraft, and the space had come from narrowing the aisles (see the above photo: those are indeed very narrow aisles). The internal joke among the crew is that they’re going to get more blue blacks from bumping into the armrests all the time.