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A day after my trip to oz, I am once again on a trip to Kuala Lumpur with my family.
Date : 10/12/2003
Sector : Singapore – Kuala Lumpur
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 106
Aircraft : B777-200 (9V-SRQ)
STD: 0845
STA: 0940
Scheduled Flight Time : 0H55M
Actual Flight time : 0H55M
Departure Gate : F56
Arrival Gate : C2
Arrived at Changi airport 1.5H before the shuttle flight. Today, the airport is not as crowded as the week before when I departed for oz. Check-in very swiftly and proceeded through immigration. After some duty-free shopping where my mum bought some cosmetics, we proceeded to the gate. The aircraft has just started boarding when we reached the gate. Most of the passengers on this short flight are business men and women in suits and coats on business day trips. The plane I am traveling on (9V-SRQ) is spanking new as it was only delivered about 2 months ago. Boarding went very smoothly and all the overhead bins were filled with briefcases instead of the carry-on luggage that we normally see. Went to my window seat in the mid-section of the plane. There were Christmas decorations in the cabin, sending out a holiday feeling. One thing I realized on SQ flights is that even when if you are traveling in economy, the cabin crew will still be willing to hang up your coats. The seats on the B777 has a larger seat pitch than the 747. It also offers adjustable lumbar support, inflatable seat cushions and a small storage space beside the PTV. The PTV is also equipped with touch-screen feature, but it can only be used for adjusting the resolution of the screen. Pushed back at 0850, showed the safety video and taxied to runway 2R for takeoff. The captain gave a very detailed commentary on our flight path, including runways used and routing. The flight time announced was 40min. Took off at about 0900 after a very short run of about slightly more than 1km down the runway (very light plane as it is a very short flight). While we were holding on the runway, the handphone of the person sitting in front of me rang!! He immediately scrambled to switch off his phone and was obviously embarrassed as other passengers looked his way. We made a left turn after departure and headed towards Johor. Our short flight will take us over Johor, to Malacca and finally reaching Kuala Lumpur. One interesting thing is that the cabin lights are not dimmed for takeoff, both on this flight and on the return flight, and also on my previous flight back from Melbourne. I thought that it is SQ’s regulations to dim the lights for takeoff. However the lights are dimmed for landing. Our cruising altitude is a low 22000ft. As soon as the seatbelt sign is off, the drinks trolley are out with the cabin crew offering a beverage of either coffee, tea, orange or apple juice. The toilets are also not stocked with any amenities and there are also no magazines in the magazine racks as this is a short flight. However newspapers are still offered. The Wiseman3000 entertainment system is switched on. However no movies are played and the airshow is absent (even though the captain said to track our flight path on the airshow). Can only play games on it. As the crew were collecting used cups, I feel that the plane was flying in a holding pattern. My thoughts were confirmed when the captain came on an said that we are in a holding pattern over southern Malacca due to airspace congestion in KL (when is KL ever congested??). We were in the holding pattern for more than 15min!! This resulted in a 15min delay in our arrival. Arrival was on runway 14R with a long taxi to the gate. Overall this flight just provided the standard SQ service, but then is was just a very short one. However I was disappointed that the airshow was not on.
Date : 14/12/2003
Sector : Kuala Lumpur - Singapore
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 107
Aircraft : B777-200 (9V-SRQ)
STD: 1030
STA: 1125
Scheduled Flight Time : 0H55M
Actual Flight time : 0H50M
Departure Gate : C15
Arrival Gate : F60
Arrived at KLIA about 1.5h before departure. Check-in very quickly as there were no queues. Got a window seat right at the very last row of the plane (64A). Passed through immigration rather quickly and was soon on the train to the satellite terminal. Went straight to the gate as we decided to leave the shopping for changi. In KL, SQ uses its own ground staff and so the service provided is better than at other airports which have contracted staff (the check-in staff in Paris for SQ didn’t even know what I was talking about whan I requested for window seats and was babbling away in French). Was surprised when I saw that it was the same aircraft that brought me to KL. What are the odds of this when SQ has 51 B777s? Boarding commenced soon after. While boarding, there was a stewardess at the door who actually made an attempt to greet all passengers by their names (in economy!!) after checking at their boarding passes. “ Good morning Mr b777er, your seat is down this aisle. Thanks.” Went to my seat at the very last row. On this flight, the airshow was on and so I can track the flight path. Doors closed at about 1040 and we pushed back while showing the safety video. Taxied to runway 34R for takeoff. However there was a long hold as we have to wait for 3 MH aircraft to depart in front of us. Eventually took off at 1055. Estimated flight time was 40min. Again the same procedure as for the incoming flight, seatbelts sign off, drinks, clear cups, descent. Our cruising altitude is 23000ft and our routing took us over Malacca, the coast of Johor, before flying out towards the riau islands for our approach. The approach took quite long as the pilot has to avoid some thunderstorms in the area. Landed on runway 02L with idle reverse. Then it is a long taxi to our gate. Tha arrival gate, F60, is the furthest from immigration in terminal 2 as it is mainly used for VIP flights (don’t know whether there were any VIPs onboard though). One stewardess even joke with a passenger to get ready for an exercise after disembarkation. There were some Indonesian stewardesses as the crew on this flight will be operating another turnaround flight to Jakarta. Had a very long walk to the duty-free shops where my mum purchased yet more cosmetics before we clear immigration.
Thus concluded my recent 2 trips. It will be quite some time before I will be going on another holiday. Hope you have enjoyed reading my reports.
Date : 10/12/2003
Sector : Singapore – Kuala Lumpur
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 106
Aircraft : B777-200 (9V-SRQ)
STD: 0845
STA: 0940
Scheduled Flight Time : 0H55M
Actual Flight time : 0H55M
Departure Gate : F56
Arrival Gate : C2
Arrived at Changi airport 1.5H before the shuttle flight. Today, the airport is not as crowded as the week before when I departed for oz. Check-in very swiftly and proceeded through immigration. After some duty-free shopping where my mum bought some cosmetics, we proceeded to the gate. The aircraft has just started boarding when we reached the gate. Most of the passengers on this short flight are business men and women in suits and coats on business day trips. The plane I am traveling on (9V-SRQ) is spanking new as it was only delivered about 2 months ago. Boarding went very smoothly and all the overhead bins were filled with briefcases instead of the carry-on luggage that we normally see. Went to my window seat in the mid-section of the plane. There were Christmas decorations in the cabin, sending out a holiday feeling. One thing I realized on SQ flights is that even when if you are traveling in economy, the cabin crew will still be willing to hang up your coats. The seats on the B777 has a larger seat pitch than the 747. It also offers adjustable lumbar support, inflatable seat cushions and a small storage space beside the PTV. The PTV is also equipped with touch-screen feature, but it can only be used for adjusting the resolution of the screen. Pushed back at 0850, showed the safety video and taxied to runway 2R for takeoff. The captain gave a very detailed commentary on our flight path, including runways used and routing. The flight time announced was 40min. Took off at about 0900 after a very short run of about slightly more than 1km down the runway (very light plane as it is a very short flight). While we were holding on the runway, the handphone of the person sitting in front of me rang!! He immediately scrambled to switch off his phone and was obviously embarrassed as other passengers looked his way. We made a left turn after departure and headed towards Johor. Our short flight will take us over Johor, to Malacca and finally reaching Kuala Lumpur. One interesting thing is that the cabin lights are not dimmed for takeoff, both on this flight and on the return flight, and also on my previous flight back from Melbourne. I thought that it is SQ’s regulations to dim the lights for takeoff. However the lights are dimmed for landing. Our cruising altitude is a low 22000ft. As soon as the seatbelt sign is off, the drinks trolley are out with the cabin crew offering a beverage of either coffee, tea, orange or apple juice. The toilets are also not stocked with any amenities and there are also no magazines in the magazine racks as this is a short flight. However newspapers are still offered. The Wiseman3000 entertainment system is switched on. However no movies are played and the airshow is absent (even though the captain said to track our flight path on the airshow). Can only play games on it. As the crew were collecting used cups, I feel that the plane was flying in a holding pattern. My thoughts were confirmed when the captain came on an said that we are in a holding pattern over southern Malacca due to airspace congestion in KL (when is KL ever congested??). We were in the holding pattern for more than 15min!! This resulted in a 15min delay in our arrival. Arrival was on runway 14R with a long taxi to the gate. Overall this flight just provided the standard SQ service, but then is was just a very short one. However I was disappointed that the airshow was not on.
Date : 14/12/2003
Sector : Kuala Lumpur - Singapore
Flight Number : Singapore Airlines SQ 107
Aircraft : B777-200 (9V-SRQ)
STD: 1030
STA: 1125
Scheduled Flight Time : 0H55M
Actual Flight time : 0H50M
Departure Gate : C15
Arrival Gate : F60
Arrived at KLIA about 1.5h before departure. Check-in very quickly as there were no queues. Got a window seat right at the very last row of the plane (64A). Passed through immigration rather quickly and was soon on the train to the satellite terminal. Went straight to the gate as we decided to leave the shopping for changi. In KL, SQ uses its own ground staff and so the service provided is better than at other airports which have contracted staff (the check-in staff in Paris for SQ didn’t even know what I was talking about whan I requested for window seats and was babbling away in French). Was surprised when I saw that it was the same aircraft that brought me to KL. What are the odds of this when SQ has 51 B777s? Boarding commenced soon after. While boarding, there was a stewardess at the door who actually made an attempt to greet all passengers by their names (in economy!!) after checking at their boarding passes. “ Good morning Mr b777er, your seat is down this aisle. Thanks.” Went to my seat at the very last row. On this flight, the airshow was on and so I can track the flight path. Doors closed at about 1040 and we pushed back while showing the safety video. Taxied to runway 34R for takeoff. However there was a long hold as we have to wait for 3 MH aircraft to depart in front of us. Eventually took off at 1055. Estimated flight time was 40min. Again the same procedure as for the incoming flight, seatbelts sign off, drinks, clear cups, descent. Our cruising altitude is 23000ft and our routing took us over Malacca, the coast of Johor, before flying out towards the riau islands for our approach. The approach took quite long as the pilot has to avoid some thunderstorms in the area. Landed on runway 02L with idle reverse. Then it is a long taxi to our gate. Tha arrival gate, F60, is the furthest from immigration in terminal 2 as it is mainly used for VIP flights (don’t know whether there were any VIPs onboard though). One stewardess even joke with a passenger to get ready for an exercise after disembarkation. There were some Indonesian stewardesses as the crew on this flight will be operating another turnaround flight to Jakarta. Had a very long walk to the duty-free shops where my mum purchased yet more cosmetics before we clear immigration.
Thus concluded my recent 2 trips. It will be quite some time before I will be going on another holiday. Hope you have enjoyed reading my reports.