On to Singapore!

The new A380 of Singapore Airlines

Yes, I'll be off to Heathrow bright and early tomorrow morning to catch my flight to Singapore and it will be my first time on the new A380 - kind of exciting.

This is a very, very old Singapore Airlines playing card from the 1980s. Then, one can be confident that the Singapore Girl is truly from Singapore. These days, the SIA has recruited stewardesses from various parts of Asia so the Singapore Girl now means simply that the stewardess works for Singapore Airlines, she is not necessarily a girl from Singapore. I still prefer that the Singapore Girl is also a girl from Singapore. I think the Singapore Girl from the 70s and 80s are much prettier. In the last ten or more years, SIA has increased their recruitment of stewardesses from neighboring Asian countries to service the routes to those countries for e.g. there will be a certain number of Japanese stewardess on the Singapore-Japan route and China girls for the Singapore-China routes etc. Interesting that this policy extends only to Asian countries. Can you imagine a French girl or German girl being recruited for the Singapore-France or Singapore-Germany routes? A white Singapore Girl??? Not likely!!!! Instead, they opt to ensure that some of the cabin staff are fluent in European languages for the European routes.

Economy seating in the new A 380

I am looking forward to flying on the new A380. I'll be traveling economy class. It would be interesting to get to actually see the interior. It is supposed to be pretty comfortable according to some. I hope it will be relatively comfortable as leg room is extremely important for long flights. I believe the flight is about 13 hours long - not the most fun if there is no improvement in leg room. SIA has the opportunity to design more leg room into their new A380 than SQ's other planes - but that would be expecting too much from Singapore Airlines : ) : ).

Business class in the new A380

The new A380 has pride itself in new innovations for its extra-wide business class seats and First Class Suites as well. Above are some pictures of what one who has extra money to throw away can expect.

Executive economy seaing in the A345 that flew direct from Singapore to Los Angeles

I like very much the long range plane Singapore Airlines flew direct from Singapore to Los Angeles. The interior was designed by the French. It was very airy and bright. Seats were business and economy plus. It used to have two classes only - business and executive economy. The executive economy plus had plenty of leg room and you do not get the feeling of the seat in front of you being in your face when it is reclined. It is too bad they have decided to convert that plane to only business class. It is strange that while many airlines see value in adding an intermediate economy plus to their planes, Singapore Airlines seems averse to the idea.

Quantas' A380 that serves Sydney-Los Angeles and Sydney-Singapore

Quantas has launched their new A380 which flies to Los Angeles and Singapore and it has economy plus seating. I would like to try flying on Quantas' A380 to Singapore on my next trip perhaps. It would make sense as Quantas and British Airways are part of the OneWorld network so I earn frequent flyer miles and could also get upgrades.

Singapore Airlines is known for its service but since most of my flights are at least 10 hours long, seat comfort, leg room and the ability to rest well is more important than service. So, I look forward to the day when the airline industry self-regulates the seat width and leg room for long flights in the interests of the health of passengers, regardless of class of travel. Until then, I will have to stick with British Airways because of their friendly frequent flyer program.