Aussie Flyer

Here is a trip report on a recent flight I had with Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Melbourne in business class. FLIGHT: SQ217 ROUTE: Singapore to Melbourne CLASS: Business Class SEAT: 91F AIRCRAFT: A380-800 9V-SKQ (5 years old) DEPART: 10.45AM ARRIVE: 9.10PM After a visit to the T3 Silverkris lounge I headed to gate B5  for the departure. I arrived at 10am with boarding not yet started and found 9V-SKQ at the gate. This was one of the newer A380's, only 5 years old. It has the upper deck configured exclusively with business class, 86 flat beds in total! Those that have flown the 2006 SQ business class seat know that the bulkheads are generally preferable as they have more leg space since there is no seat in front. I had chosen the centre bulkhead in the rear cabin, seat 91F. When boarding was called I noticed very few other passengers joining me on the upper deck jetway. 9V-SKQ at the gate

I had the great privilege to fly on what is probably the world's most luxurious first class product late last year, the Etihad Airbus A380 Apartments. Here is my experience on this wonderful aircraft! FLIGHT : EY19 AIRLINE : Etihad Airways AIRCRAFT : Airbus A380-800 A6-APB SEAT : 4K ROUTE : Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow I arrived at T3 checkin simply by walking across from the Premier Inn hotel which joins the terminal complex. Upon arrival I was met by the porters but I declined their assistance with my bags. I headed to the dedicated first class checkin zone and soon had my boarding pass and was on my way through security and into the terminal. At the time of this flight and still at the time of writing there is no Etihad first class lounge at Abu Dhabi, instead it is the 'Premium' lounge in T3 which is shared with business class. There is however a small roped off area for first class passengers. The lounge is quite good with a salon and spa available...

In January I had the chance to fly on Emirates on one of my sectors en route from the UK back to Australia. The flight I took was from Dubai to Bangkok, operated by the Airbus A380. The flight number is EK384 and the departure time was scheduled for the ungodly hour of 3.05am! Arrival into Bangkok is at a more respectable 12.25pm. At just after midnight I woke up in my Deira hotel, took a shower and grabbed a cab for the short trip to the airport. This flight leaves from the newest terminal, T3. It took me a while to work out where to find the First Class check-in counters, I was able to use them as part of my Qantas Platinum status since the two airlines are now partners. In fact I was booked on the Qantas codeshare  flight number QF8384.  Outside the terminal at Dubai - clearly the home of Emirates

This is the continuation of my trip from Melbourne to London on Qantas' flagship Airbus A380, flight QF9. For part 1 go HERE . After landing in Dubai on schedule with 13.5 hours of flight behind me it was time to head to the Emirates First Class Lounge in terminal 3. This is the lounge which features direct boarding  to the aircraft, but more on that later. As I was among the first off the flight there was nobody waiting at transit security so I was through and up to the lounge in no time.  First up it's time for a shower since Qantas don't have them onboard like Emirates do!

This past Christmas I gave myself a gift. It was a first class ticket to London on Qantas and flying on Christmas day too! It was to be my first First Class experience on the Qantas A380 and I was looking forward to it for months. Did it live up to my expecations? Let's see....

First Class is nothing new on the Melbourne - Auckland route with Emirates having flown it for some time on the Airbus A340-500 and Boeing 777-300ER, but in October 2012 the route was upgraded to the superjumbo Airbus A380. With this came the arrival of the First Class suite on trans tasman flights from Melbourne.  I had been wanting to sample it for a while and finally after 10 months of operations on the route I had a ticket for EK407 in First Class. I chose the Auckland-Melbourne route instead of the other way round as due to headwinds it is a longer flight time by about 30 mins. That means more time for champagne!  

I recently flew on the Emirates A380 in First Class. I was very impressed and decided to upload a video. I will follow up soon with a full trip report but in the mean time, check out the video:

Towards the end of 2012 Thai Airways took delivery of their first Airbus A380. The first couple of aircraft were used initially on short haul flights to Singapore and Hong Kong before starting long haul operations to Frankfurt. Although the whalejet no longer flies to Singapore it does operate one daily return trip to Hong Kong. At about 2.5 hours this is the shortest route on the Thai network that offers a first class cabin (the 747-400 operates the 2nd daily first class service to HKG).  Finding myself in Hong Kong this last January I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give the Thai A380 a go. I was most interested in first class so booked a first class ticket from Hong Kong to Sydney via Bangkok. The first leg being on the 380 with the second being on a standard B747-400.  HS-TUC AT THE GATE

I have uploaded a video to youtube today of a recent flight on the Singapore Airlines A380 from Melbourne to Singapore. I will be following up with a trip report on my blog soon! I have reviewed SQ Economy on this sector a few times now but this time is the first time with the A380. Check back soon for the A380 trip report... in the meantime, here is the video: