Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class between Singapore and Denpasar, B787-10

Continuation of my Asian journey with a flight on Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Bali on a Boeing 787-10.

Check-in and ground course in Singapore

Early arrival at Changi but the airport is already full of activity. I go to the business class check-in counters: it is much calmer.

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The staff is friendly and efficient and everything will be taken care of in 2 minutes. By the way, the “Macbook Ban” is clearly specified.

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Heading for immigration control. I pass in front of the lounge dedicated to the First Class check-in. Maybe one day…

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In Singapore, immigration controls at the border are very simple. Everything is biometric: you insert your passport, a fingerprint and you are done. It took me less than 2 minutes to get airside.

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Maybe one day at Roissy…I have the right to dream after all!

I walk through this lovely mall to the Singapore Airlines Silverkris Business lounge in Terminal 2.

After having enjoyed its superb buffet, I headed for the boarding gate. A good 10 minute walk but the airport is nice.

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In Singapore the security checks are done at the gate so you have to anticipate a little and arrive at the gate in advance.

Here I am.

Boarding in Singapore

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I easily pass the control and they check my boarding pass. Here I am in the waiting area which is filling up little by little.

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The bird of the day is waiting for us outside under this typical weather of a December in Singapore.

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The boarding is finally announced and the priority passengers are invited to board the aircraft. I am a little surprised to see no boarding pass control before the jetway. Okay, they were checked when they entered the waiting area, but there is nothing to stop someone from boarding without waiting their turn. But this is Singapore and free riding is not in the local DNA.

The Business class cabin of the Singapore Airlines 787-10

I enter the aircraft and discover the cabin.

My seat, 12A.

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A view of the cabin.

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It’s almost Christmas and the decorations are up.

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In the small storage box the menu is already arranged. There are the headphones with noise reducer, the electric and USB plugs. A mirror unfolds for those who want to make themselves more presentable. However, no comfort kit.

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Remote control and state-of-the-art large screen.

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The touch screen is very bright and its interface very responsive which makes it a pleasure to use. The offer of movies, series, games and music is substantial.

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The various seat controls are touch-sensitive.

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The (large) tablet unfolds at the touch of a button.

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The LED lights are controlled by 3 buttons.

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On the 787s, there are no window blinds but “dimmable” windows that can be darkened by pressing a button and that the purser can control from a central panel to force darkness in the entire cabin.

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But for some windows the button is not very accessible.

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All materials and fabrics are of very good quality. The touch is both premium and very solid.

A perfect seat? Not quite.

As you can see on this picture the “foot box” is really not big which is not very pleasant for a long flight.

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This impression was confirmed when I tilted the seat to the bed position. With my 1m88 I touch the bottom:

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Same remark for the width of the seat. As far as the seat is concerned, it’s fine but on the side it’s uncomfortable: I kept bumping my elbows in it during the whole flight and it was quite unpleasant during the meal to maneuver the cutlery.

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Surprising for Singapore Airlines which is used to very wide seats on its long-haul routes? Actually, not so much.

The 787’s cabin is much narrower than that of the A380, B777 or A350, so logically the seat must undergo a slimming treatment. We saw this at Air France, which had to cut down the cabin of its 777s to make it fit into a 787, with a noticeable loss of quality and a more “cheap” impression.

Here the quality is there but no miracle at the level of the width.

On the other hand, if it’s embarrassing, I don’t think it’s particularly serious. Indeed Singapore Airlines uses its 787 only on “regional” flights of 3h30 maximum so I don’t think many passengers put their seat in bed position. For the elbows, on the other hand, tall people will appreciate little.

This specificity of the 787’s use also explains the absence of amenity kits, even if we can find that a bit stingy from an airline like Singapore Airlines

On the other hand, when lying down the feeling of “privacy” is excellent.

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During the boarding phase I will be served a fruit juice and brought a hot oshibori. As in the lounge, no alcohol at this early hour.

We are finally ready to take off. The weather will prevent me to make beautiful shots during the takeoff.

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The flight and the service in Singapore Airlines Business Class

While we take altitude and not to lose time the dishes are already put to heat. The smell of cooking is rather present in the cabin and at the limit of the inconvenience. If I hadn’t seen on the menu that there was a dish with shrimp my nose would have told me.

The service starts quickly and the smell gets stronger but I get used to it.

Here is the menu that was already placed on the seat before boarding.

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For my part I will choose the chicken.

The flight attendant brings the tray to me.

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It is well presented and appetizing. The tableware is of high quality.

The chicken is very well cooked even if at first I found it a little rubbery at the ends. Very good cooking for the vegetables too.

On the other hand it is a little bland but the sauce will spice it up beautifully.

The brioche is excellent and the butter is a salted butter from Denmark. On the other hand, the croissant that I will take at the end of the service will be much too dry.

Anyway, a very nice service for a breakfast on a 2h30 flight…that we would like to see in Europe.

A little trip to the bathroom to finish. Nothing to report, it’s clean but not big.

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The Singapore Airlines crew

From a previous experience on Singapore Airlines, I had the memory of an excellent service but maybe a little cold. Not here.

The crew was very warm and friendly. And very professional, that goes without saying.

A steward even tried to mumble two words in French to me!

A special mention for the outfits. The traditional flight attendant outfits are very nice but the stewartds wearing “normal” suits that look nothing like airline uniforms but more like hotel outfits are the best.

Arrival and disembarkation in Denpasar

The end of the flight was uneventful in this very quiet aircraft and we arrived in Denpasar alongside a Singapore Airlines A330 and a few Garudas playing at home.

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I say goodbye to our 787.

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And at the exit of the bridge even before the immigration controls I am waited by an agent of my hotel charged to carry out my transfer. But that’s another story and a future article.

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My opinion

An excellent flight in spite of the few reproaches about the seat. But on a 2h30 flight it’s ok, I would have had a harder time on a long haul flight.

Singapore Airlines justifies here its 5 Skytrax stars with a very solid and excellent quality service.

But a very nice experience that Singapore Airlines makes you pay a high price (700 euros return) which weighs in the balance at the time of the final verdict.

For the record, my routing :

Bertrand Duperrin
Bertrand Duperrinhttp://www.duperrin.com
Compulsive traveler, present in the French #avgeek community since the late 2000s and passionate about (long) travel since his youth, Bertrand Duperrin co-founded Travel Guys with Olivier Delestre in March 2015.
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