Review of Fiji Airways flight from Singapore to Nadi in Economy

Hello! Bula! Fiji Airways had recently started a twice a week route between Nadi and Singapore. The flight from Singapore leaves on Wednesday and Saturday and around 10.40, while the flight from Nadi leaves on Tuesday and Friday at 23.00.
I am really excited to write the flight reports on my recent trip to Fiji. Not only this is my first flight report, but i will also be reviewing my first paid business class flight! So without further ado, here it goes.
In the morning of departure from Singapore, I took Uber to get to Changi and arrived just before 8.00. There was quite a significant queue during check-in and took me around 20-25 minutes to get my boarding pass, another 5-10 minutes to get through passport control and make my way to the Dnata lounge (Thank you, Priority Pass).

I have visited this Dnata lounge at T1 a few times and I personally think that they have the best interior, drinks, and reading materials selection when compared to the other three Changi T1 Priority Pass lounges. The other lounge that I really like at Changi T1 is the Plaza Premium where it has tarmac view, more comfortable restroom and shower facility, and serves several made-to-order meals (breakfast, chicken rice, laksa, udon).
Back to the Dnata lounge, one particular amenity that I value very highly is the coffee. I can’t really call myself a coffee aficionado, but I really like to drink a good cup of cappuccino, one that has a strong taste, but not so sour. Hudson Coffee served at Dnata lounge meets those two criterias.

After spending an hour in the lounge, I started my walk to the boarding area. I did not take any pictures of the boarding area, but the boarding process was orderly. Business Class and Tabua Club members were called first, followed by general boarding, starting from the back of the airplane. Upon entering the aircraft, I was greeted “Bula!” by one of the male flight attendants who then asked for my seat assignment. He showed me across the DR2 galley and soon found my seat.

The Seat and other amenities
As I was seated on the 2nd row of Zone 2, I found my seat fairly quickly. My first impression of the economy cabin was quite good and the cabin appears rather clean. I also quite like the grey fabric seat cover with the white head rest sheet.

Upon sitting on my seat, I take some time to get a closer look at my seat for this 9 hours 45 minutes flight. I didn’t do any measurement, but I am guessing that the seat pitch is at around 32”. Right in front of me, I have a monitor, IFE handset, tray table, and literature pocket. I’ll discuss the monitor a bit later when I talk about the IFE system.

The pillow and blanket had been pre-placed on my seat. The pillow was the right size for a lumbar support. The blanket was also quite nice and did the job, soft and kept me warm.

The Fijitime magazine had some pretty interesting articles, mainly promoting the new Singapore route and what to do in Singapore. It also had several articles of things to do in Fiji. For an avgeek, the duty free could be quite tempting as Fiji Airways sells several aircraft models, both diecast and plastic.

One nice gesture from Fiji Airways that I really appreciated was the dental hygiene kit, although I didn’t use it since I used the one that I brought.

The lavatory is pretty standard in terms of size and offerings, but most importantly, it is kept clean.

The Service and Meal
To summarize, the service provided by Fiji crews was pleasant. Service was warm and didn’t feel rushed, and quality of the meals was excellent. For lunch, I had the fish curry which came with a side of pickled cucumber of sort.

About 1.5 hours prior to landing, dinner was served. This time, I picked the chicken marsala with pasta. This dish is a bit more mediocre compared to the fish curry I had for lunch. The sauce was quite tasty, but the pasta was a bit too soft. Completely edible, though.

The IFE
Judging from the IFE equipment, Fiji Airways A330-200 appears to be flying Panasonic eX2 system. Each passenger in economy has an 11 (or maybe 9) inch Smart monitor. The monitor itself is not particularly responsive as it is a resistive touch monitor. Control of the monitor can be done by touching the monitor directly, or by using the handset located just below the monitor. One comment on the handset, the control buttons were a bit hard to press when I was playing some games and called it quit after my thumb got a little sore. I have nothing to comment on the headset since I didn’t try it.

The entertainment options are quite reasonable, in my opinion. Fiji Airways provides 44 movies, of which I could easily select 3 or 4 movies. Selections of TV shows were also available.

As an avgeek, I particularly like airlines which provide short videos about the airlines and/or the destination, to name a couple: Air France and Fiji Airways.

On the bulkhead, there are monitors which are only operational during boarding, showing the moving map, and safety video presentation. The moving map on the seatback monitor is the slideshow type, meaning the map and flight information scrolls continuously after about 10-20 seconds. There was no zoom in capability on the map.

I found it a bit surprising, although it makes some sense, that there were only 4 languages available: English, Japanese, Chinese (traditional and simplified).

To Summarize
Flying Fiji Airways was a pleasant experience. Seat was relatively comfortable, service was pleasant and warm, meals were tasty, and entertainment was sufficient. It was an absolute pleasure to have experienced Fiji hospitality in this 9.5 hours flight. Thank you! Vinaka Vakalevu!