This was my first time getting on a dreamliner, albeit the time slot for SQ872 is not pretty nice for me to maximise my stay in Singapore, still I would rather like to hop on this relatively new plane model, instead taking a 777-200ER for the last SQ flight heading to HKG.
I guess the Boeing 787-10s of SQ may be a rare plane to get on for most of the readers here, as SQ used to fly them with regional routes like HKG/ICN, and it is also configured as a regional settings. Also, SQ is the launch customer of the -10 variant, so I find interesting to write this FR, hope you enjoy it.
the sin airport & boarding
Singapore Changi Airport is indeed a nice airport, equipped with different green elements and a shopping mall-like terminal. Also, for aviation enthusiasts, I dare the SIN airport will be a perfect place for plane spotting, I stood in the terminal facing the runway for hours simply for plane spotting and even skipped my lunch there. Here are some of my photos.
The boarding started on-time in the Singapore Changi Airport, the gate for my flight was A14.
The aircraft carrying me was there when I arrived the gate, it's registration is 9V-SCH, which was one of the 787-10 demonstrators from the Boeing company, but delivered to SQ soon after the tests. I got those informations after searching from the web and I found it interesting to share with.
interior cabin
The loading of this flight was quite full, most of their were transit passengers from Jakarta, Indonesia to HKG. Though the economy class cabin was packed with people, the seat was still comfortable with enough space and legroom.
The economy class is configured in a 3-3-3 layout, which is typical to the Boeing 787s. I love the colour chosen by SQ, which makes the cabin looks more decent.
As you all know, although passengers have control on their individual windows, there is always cabin crews overriding the window control, it might be a convenient design for crews, but it sometimes made me feel uncomfortable with the dark-blue window color. It is obvious that the window was fixed before the take-off, it was unlocked until it reach the cruising altitude.
The IFE was great. Lot's of movie and music choices with different language preferences. I could find latest movies and it was really difficult to choose one from them, as my flight was rather short that only allowing me to finish one of those movies,..
catering
The main dish was pork in Chinese style, you may treat the sauce as a mixture of tomato and pineapple favor (?). It tasted similar to what I used to eat in Chinese restaurants, without surprise, but still it will be a good choice for every non-Chinese travelers.
The coconut favored ice-cream was fantastic! I always enjoy eating coconut products :)
other things to share with
Final Approach to HKG, below me were some outer islands of Hong Kong.
I always love the wings of the dreamliner
One of the best elements for the HKG airport is that I could always see a great variety of aircrafts and airlines. In my evening approach, I could spot two Emirates A380-800s, a Lufthansa A340-600, an Air Canada 777-200LR and an EI AI B787-9 near my port, that was fantastic!
Say goodbye to 9V-SCH
Finally reached by home airport.
While SQ always seem to be excellent at the products they offer, I still think that their 787 product is the worst (yet pretty good) in their fleet due to their 3-3-3 configuration, which is used by any airliner but is simply too narrow to be comfortable in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your excellent report and keep reporting :)
I think packed in the 3-3-3 seats of their 787 for just a 3 hrs flight was still fine for me....but probably not getting the same experience with a long-haul flight, still their 777-300ER/A380-800 will be my first choice for me when travelling over 4 hrs.
New Seat colors looks awesome!!! SQ never disappoints :)