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Airbus330Captain SG

Well, this is mine. Hope you guys enjoy the report.

Date: 29th January 2004
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Origin: Bangkok
Destination: Singapore
Aircraft type: A340-541
Flight number: SQ511
Time of departure: 2000 (BKK time)
Departure Gate: 52
Arrival Gate: F60
Seat: 32A (9V-SVC), 47A (Mr.BA)
Class: Economy
Registration number: 9V-SGA
Departing runway: 21R
Load factor: 5-6 passengers, 65% full in economy
Assigned FL: FL390
Arrival runway: 02R
Duration : 2 hrs 5 minutes

Our flight is 2000 hrs and the check out time of our hotel is at 12noon, we decided to take our lunch before heading to the airport to spot planes. It was around 1300 hrs after our Thais meal at the hotel, we paid 700 bahts for the hotel taxi to the airport, pretty expensive right? Well, since its a holiday and its a Volvo car, we went for it. The journey to the airport took around 40 minutes with traffic jam in the business district area. We reached to the airport around quarter to 2. As we could not do an early check-in, Mr.BA and I decide to find a spotting area, we had a good walk along the airlines office and shops before finding ourselves at Terminal 2s observation deck. Since both of us were hungry, there was this restaurant just in front of NaNa NaNa restaurant, we went there to grab some light snacks and spot planes for a while there.

Soon the check-in time came, we left the observation deck for row 10, there were not many people at SQ counter as the earlier flights SQ 67 check in counter has just closed SQ511s counter just opened and Mr.BA and myself booked our seats and got our boarding pass. We paid 500 bahts for airports tax before heading to the departure hall. Luckily for us, the queues for the immigration were short and It took less then three minutes to get our passport checked and done. We tried to look for an airplane model shop at BKK but we asked some airport staff but sadly there wasnt one so we decided to head towards our gate. Our gate 52, was at the end of terminal 2, we had a fifteen minutes walk. Along our way, Mr.BA took a number of shots at the airport, usually the airport staffs would have stopped us but they were not bothered at all. We walked towards our gate, 52. The earlier SQ flight, SQ 67 which was operated by a Boeing 747-412, 9V-SPH was at the gate parking beside a Thai Orient B747-100 which was heading towards Hong Kong.

Time flew fast and soon our aircraft landed and parked at our boarding gate. We thought our aircraft will probably be 9V-SGC or 9V-SGB.To our surprise, the aircraft was 9V-SGA. I was told that the aircraft was out of service for preparations for the SIN-LAX flight. About 40 minutes later, it was time to board. This time they boarded the raffles class first before the rest of the passengers were called to board. Mr.BA who was looking through the windows saw 2 pilots and he thought he saw the chief pilot which he hopes he was not because the chief pilot will never let anyone visit the cockpit or filled up any technical forms due to past experiences with other plane spotters. Sorry for being long winded in this part of my trip report.

Here comes the real trip report J

As soon as we entered the plane, a couple of cabin crews greeted us and one of them called me by my name, this was the first time I was being called by my name. I sat at 32A and Mr.BA who loves sitting at the back, sat at the last row, 47A. Push back and start of safety video demo starts. I forgot to add this to my last trip report; the screen of the demo is pretty grainy. As I was sitting near the Raffles class, I had a quick peep, there were only 5-6 passengers. The flight deck crews were once again Singaporeans, the captain was pretty straight-forward and not much flight details, he told us that we will be departing soon and tell us that the A340-500 is SQs newest plane which will fly SIN-LAX route.

The engines were quickly started and flaps were set. We taxied to runway 21R and took off immediately. The take off was powerful and smooth and we turned immediately heading to our assigned FL390. This time there was not much turbulence, so the seat belt was off about 15-20 minutes after take off. As usual, I decided to walk around, I went to Mr.BAs seat and had a little chat with him before heading back and played some games and watch a movie. There was a problem with the IFE system. I wanted to watch movie A but they showed me movie B. The cabin crews knew about the problem but they cant do much about it after resetting the system, which took around 10 minutes. Since they shut down the system and there was nothing much to do, I went back to Mr.BAs seat and chatted with him who was also talking to the chief steward, Jason. He told us that he likes this plane but preferred working in the 747 or something like that; he was quite surprised about our passion for planes through. If I was not wrong, Mr.BA asked him to pass the technical forms to the Captain fill up and hopefully get a cockpit visit end of the flight.

Dinner was about to serve, I went back to my seat quickly and this time the meals were slightly different. A choice of beef and fish, the thought of fish freaked me out (see my last trip report), so I had no hesitation to choose beef, the meal was pretty alright, nothing special about it, well at least its much better then the fish I ate during my SQ510 trip to BKK. After the meals were cleared, the system was back but again the same problem occurred, the announcement from the first officer told us that they apologized for this problem. According to the chief steward, he told us (Mr.BA and I) that SGA would be out of service the next day for IFE testing and last minute preparation for the SQ 19 flight to LAX. Even the PA system was not working well; well I guess new plane will tend to have all these minor problems.

Later on, the first officer went towards Mr.BAs seat. How do I know? I saw him holding Mr.BAs technical form, I went to find Mr.BA and he told me that there was a possibility of a cockpit visit and also filled up some questions from Mr.BA but didnt fill up the technical form.

Soon, the IFE system was shut down and descending started as we were approaching Changi Airport. The seatbelt sign was on early because of expected bumps during the descent. Surprisingly, the descend was pretty smooth and the landing was almost perfect. The reverse thrust was pretty strong as such powerful braking woke up those who were sleeping . We landed on runway 02R, I suppose Mr.BA must be feeling disappointed because he was hoping to land at runway 02L so that the aircraft can do a south cross. Anyway, our plane taxi passed some ex-SQs A310 and some 777s at the remote parking bay before reaching our gate,F60.

I waited for everyone to alight from the plane, Mr.BA and I took some quick shots of the economy seats and there was announcement from the captain calling Mr.BA to the cockpit. Both of us were grinning away. We waited for a while for the captain and first officer to finish off their paperwork before we entered the cockpit. The cockpit was pretty small, just like the 777. Pretty much like the A330/A340-300s cockpit except that the screens are LCDs. We met Jason, and he helped us took a photo of Mr.BA and I in the business classs area. We chatted for a while more before alighting and heading towards immigration.

Photo of my plane

9V-SGC

Excellent plane.

Check in: 8/10 (The lady was quite nice)

Service on board: 9/10 (Very helpful crews and another good service on SQ)

Food on board: 6/10 (Better then the SQ 510s food, pretty average still.)

PTVS : 6/10 ( Not working well, have to sort out the problems)
Overall: Another great flight on SQ, I will fly them again in the future. Those who are thinking of flying SIN-LAX, you will enjoy your flight especially with the 2-3-2 spacious configuration.

Thanks for reading my trip report. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Cheers to all

Airbus330Captain SG

Date: 27th Jan 2004
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Origin: Changi Airport
Flight number: SQ510
Destination: Bangkok
Flight departure time: 1750
Gate : F58
Seat : 41A ( 9V-SVC) and 42A ( Mr.BA)
Class : Economy
Registration number: 9V-SGC
Runway used : 02R
Load factor: 3-4 passengers in Raffles, 70% full in economy
Assigned FL: FL400
Arrival runway: 21R
Arrival Gate: 52

Mr.BA and I have decided on this trip 3 weeks before the departure date. The reason why we chose BKK is because of cheaper airfare compared to Bali. At that time there wasnt this $199 offer otherwise we would have booked ourselves on that discounted airfare.

The day came and I met up with Mr.BA at airport around 1.45 pm. We went to the airport early so that we can walked around in the departure area as we dont get to go in there often. Mr.BA and I did an early check-in, I asked the counter staff regarding the aircraft and he told us that we will be flying on 9V-SGC, he was quite envious of us because he wanted to fly on one himself! Anyway, Benny met us around 3 and we had lunch and discussion about the A345 Leadership. There had been a few cancellation SQ A345s flights because of technical problem and Mr.BA called up to check whether the plane has landed from Jakarta. Thanks goodness, the plane was due to land 10-20 minutes later at that time.

The time ticked pass quickly while exploring both T1 and T2 departure lounges, we went to our gate, F58 around half an hour before departure time. There were a lot of passengers at the lounge and it looked like a load of 80%. Announcement was made for boarding and surprisingly, they announced all to board at their own time which was quite unusual because usually they board the raffles class and family with kids first. Anyway, Mr.BA and I were one of the first few to board the A340-500 Leadership. The cabin crews greeted us with smiles, which was a nice feeling. The last time I flew on SQ was before the first arrival of 777 (SQA), but I was glad to fly on SQ this time and on their newest plane.

The plane smelt very new (delivered 4 days ago) and the executive economy seats look very different from other airlines I flew on. Let me describe more about the seats. The seats are wider and more ample legroom space then the standard economy class. The comfortable cabin layout of 2-3-2 for this executive economy class. The seat pitch is at 37 inches and seat width is about 20 inches and with adjustable legrest and footrest.

Anyway, push back was on time, the captain introduced himself, I cant remember his name but I knew that the flight crews were Singaporeans the captain making the usual welcome announcement and the first officer telling us to buckle up for take off. We were told that initial climb up to our assigned FL400 will be very bumpy because of windy conditions. The plane has its quiet RR trent 552 engines started and soon taxing to our assigned runway, 02R. The flaps were set to 3 which was quite a surprise for a short flight and we were the 2nd or 3rd plane in line for departure. The plane took off very powerful and I almost grasp because I wasnt expecting such a powerful take off but I enjoyed it. Take off was bumping as it was raining at that time but caught a great view of Changi airport Terminal 1 and 2 before the plane turned to the right heading towards Bangkok. Turbulence got worse while climbing to our attitude, I got a bit nervous when the plane started shaking quite violently , up down and then left right. I must say that this plane cant really handle turbulence very well but I felt secured on this new plane. J

Because of the turbulence, the seatbelt sign was on for about more then half an hour and even the cabin crews were not allowed to get up from their seats. That goes half an hour of my flying because I wanted to walk around and explore the plane. Luckily for us, turbulence subsided and the seat belts signed was turned off, the cabin crews immediately started their work immediately to make up for loss time.

I decided to walk around to have a look at the snack counter and the toilets. Well, my first impression of the snack counter area is pretty small and luckily its only 100 + passengers in the economy area, so imagine if half of them decides to go to the back gallery for chats and eating snacks, going to be pretty cramp there.

I managed to chat with one of the cabin crews asking his opinion on this newest plane in SQs fleet. He finds this plane pretty nice to work on and enjoyed the less capacity 2-3-2 configuration, less work to do for him and his crews. Like me, he agreed that the cabin noise was quieter then the 772/3 and 744. At that time, Mr.BA decided to ask one of the crews to hand a technical form plus a request to visit the cockpit after flight to the Captain. We kept our fingers cross on this one.

Anyway, I went back to my seat because food was going to serve. I had a big regret choosing fish. We had a choice of fish and chicken, I took the fish and it tasted horrible. I didnt finish off my food and to top it out, my stomach felt weird after the cabin crew took my tray away. Luckily for me, after going to the toilet, I felt better.

Now that I have finished my food, I decide to play with my IFE. This was my first time using the Wisemen3000 system. I noticed that whenever I changed channel, it was lagging quite badly. The english movie entertainment shows were not much of an interest except for a movie that caught my eye, that was My bosss daughter but I decided to watch a HK comedy movie Good Times Bed Times with Sammy Cheng , Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wan in action. I tried playing the games after the movie but I played for only 10 minutes before the announcement told us to prepare for arrival and fasten seat belt sign was on. They shut down the IFE system about few minutes after the announcement. Anyway, the male steward approached to Mr.BA and handed him back the forms but to our disappointed, the captain didnt fill up the form and rejected our request to visit the cockpit but I am pretty sure we can try again on our returning flight.

Approaching to Bangkok airport was very smooth, we touched down on runway 21R about 5 minutes before schedule, the landing was pretty good by the Captain and we taxied past the remote parking bay, this is what I saw : TGs A300, B737-400, B777-200, A330-300 and B747-400 (one of them is the royal barge) , JALs 744, Phuket Air hybrid liverys 747-300, Bangkok Airs 717-200 and Cathays 777.
After the passengers deplaned, I asked one of the cabin crews whether we can take some shots of the interior. She agreed and Mr.BA took some shots of the interior of economy and raffles class seats. I guess this was the consolation to make up the disappointment of not able to visit the cockpit. Perhaps it was the quick turnaround which was why the captain was not able to grant cockpit visit.

Anyway, we got out of the plane and made our way to the immigrations. Well, I enjoyed SQs service must say that I had a good flight with them on this trip. Whatever I asked for, they served me with a smile on their faces.

This is my ratings for this flight.

Check in: 9/10 (Great service from the check-in staff)

Service on board: 8/10 (Service was quite good, I rate them as highly as Emirates, my favorite airline)

Seat comfort : 8/10 (Ample leg room space, nice colors combination of red and white economy seats , comfortable head rest )

Food on board: 3/10 ( Never tasted worse fish then this, probably one of the worst food I have ever eaten on board )

PTVs : 8/10 ( You can't get bored with so many programmes but they have to fix a few bugs or two,like the changing of channels which is quite slow)

Aircraft : 8/10 ( Very powerful plane and quiet during take off and cruising , definitely inside one of my favorite planes list.

Overall: I enjoyed flying on SQ and will not hesitate to fly on them again. I remember having bad flights with SQ long time ago,but service on board on this flight has impressed me.

Thanks for reading my report, I have the return trip report coming up shortly. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. Please, No Airbus vs Boeing war please.
Cheers !!

SQ22 SG

Very good report! But sometimes I wonder how posters know the registration number of the planes they're on. If the plane's already parked at the gate or for some other reason you're not able to see the tail clearly, how do you tell? Ask the cabin crew?

SQ22

Airbus330Captain SG

I asked the working stuff at the check in counter and also saw the registration of the aircraft parking at the gate.