Page 6 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2018 Online Magazine

from Canyon Ranch, one of the leaders in
healthy living and wellness. But there were
also the traditional favourites from SIA’s own
creations from its International Culinary Panel
of chefs. Our Pacific track took us across the
South China Sea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and
Taiwan and onwards toward Japan. Cabin
mood lighting was soothing and quickly the
passengers settled down for slumber. The
A350 was stable as promised and the flight
smooth and the occasional bump hardly
noticed. The business class seating on this
aircraft is not the latest that was unveiled
early this year for the A380 but nonetheless
very comfortable and still up there with the
best. The airline, however, has made modi-
fications for this ULR aircraft adding more
padding to the “sleep mode” of the seat.
Singapore Airlines opted for only business
and premium economy on this aircraft fig-
uring —correctly — that 18 to 19 hours was
simple too much for typical economy seating.
The 94 premium economy seats are set
2-4-2 and are 38 inches (96.5cm) apart — 6
inches (15.24cm) more than economy. After departure, options from the Book the Cook, which appear to be
Japan, the sun rose, and our aircraft tracked almost endless. Night fell over Fairbanks and many passengers
towards Alaska. A few hours later a full lunch returned to slumber or a good movie. For this service, Singapore
was on offer. Singapore Airlines’ described Airlines has added another 200 hours of content and you would
it as an “epicurean journey” and gave pas- have to do 31 return trips to watch it all. Passengers can also
sengers a small book of selections just to stay in touch with high-speed in-flight wi-fi service. The A350
prove the point. The starter was the famous is equipped with Panasonic Avionics’ new satellite modem that
Singapore chicken and beef satay and it operates with its third-generation satellite network that deliver
hasn’t lost any of its shine. The signature dish higher-speed internet to passengers.
was followed by a crab salad and for the main
course there were six selections. Of course, Before we knew it, Capt. Leong was advising that Newark was
you could have selected, in the days before only 48 minutes away. Where had all those 17 hours gone? The
world’s longest flight was shorter than we all thought! Actual
gate-to-gate time was 17 hours 52 minutes. The overall con-
sensus was the flight truly was effortless, quite probably due
to the very different cabin environment that didn’t leave you
dehydrated.

Singapore Airlines has three routes to New York and return.
For the outbound journey, there is the due north option over
the North Pole or the eastward route over the North Pacific,
Canada and the US. For the return journey, again the North Pole
route or eastwards over the Atlantic and Europe. It is all in the
winds. Jet streams to be precise that can shave hours off the
flight time. And this is all good news for the business traveler.
And if Qantas’s experience with its Perth to London nonstop is
any guide, this Singapore to New York non-stop flight will be a
big hit with the top end of town. The Perth to London nonstop
route, launched just over six months ago is proving a bonanza for
Qantas and passengers alike. The flights are full, and reliability is
exceptional, with only one major mechanical glitch that threw the

6 | November/December 2018 www.GBP.com.sg/AAA