I flew on an Airbus A380!
This 8-hour flight on the world’s largest airliner took me across the Atlantic,
from Frankfurt to New York, with Singapore Airlines.
Now that sounds a whole lot different from the Air Canada and WestJet you
usually see on this channel, but there are a few good reasons for it.
Last spring, I was in Frankfurt after crossing off a flight on Lufthansa’s 747-400, and spending an
evening of plane spotting here with my friend and fellow YouTube creator Jonathan Winton.
While looking for flights home, I came across quite the Aeroplan routing,
which just so happened to have this leg on Singapore Airlines in Economy.
This being operated by the famous A380 no less, made it an easy decision,
especially since I don’t see a whole lot of A380s at home in the Canadian prairies. So,
I woke up early, made my way back to the terminal, and here we are!
What also makes this flight pretty interesting
is that it’s what’s called a “fifth freedom flight”. Today’s flight, SQ26,
starts off in Singapore, flies to Frankfurt, and then does this second leg to New York.
That “fifth freedom” right allows Singapore Airlines to sell tickets between Frankfurt
and New York, even though this particular leg doesn’t physically go anywhere near Singapore.
So, this flight is also a way to fly on an Asian
airline… across the Atlantic! You can see why I had to try it for myself.
We’d be departing from one of the B gates in Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1 today.
Frankfurt Airport, in general, has a very… grey and sterile feel to it,
but it’s efficient, and going through security and EU customs didn’t take more than half an hour.
As I found a window near the gate, today’s ride over to the States came into view as it arrived
from Singapore, this 11-year-old Airbus A380-800 registered as 9 Victor Sierra Kilo November.
This A380 first flew in November of 2010, and was delivered to Singapore
the following year. Singapore Airlines was actually the launch customer for the A380,
and has flown 24 different A380s over their history with the type.
However, 10 of those early A380s have since left the fleet,
with most of those being scrapped already. It’s unfortunately a similar story at some
other carriers, and the events of 2020 certainly did not help matters.
Even if the actual A380 program wasn’t quite the success that Airbus had hoped it would be,
there is no denying that it is a marvel of technological prowess.
It’s hard to get a sense of scale of just how
enormous this plane is until it’s right in front of you like this!
The last, and only time I flew on an A380 was with Lufthansa in the summer of 2014,
so 8 years later, I was very happy to be here trying one again!
Besides, in what has seemed like the 4-engined airliner apocalypse over the past couple of years,
I think any quad-jet flight is noteworthy, especially one on the mighty superjumbo.
Let’s go see what Singapore’s A380 has in store!
As I was about halfway down the plane, a very friendly cabin crew member asked
where I was sitting and showed me to my home for the next few hours, seat 63A.
Singapore Airlines has a fairly comfortable 32” of pitch in their Economy Class, and although I make
it look a bit snug, as usual, I knew I’d be just fine here on this daylight transatlantic flight.
Row 63 of Economy Class is also just on the very edge of the wing.
I’ll admit, it wasn’t exactly my first choice. I had gone onto Singapore’s website and paid
for a better seat, but that payment didn’t actually go through and I didn’t realize it
until much closer to the flight when there weren’t many other options for window seats.
Waiting at each Economy seat was this proper fabric pillow,
which was actually very soft, plus this blanket.
Just settling in, you can already feel the sheer size of this plane! One quirk
of the A380’s lower deck is that the walls slope upwards away from you,
giving the window seat some more shoulder room.
What’s kind of strange though is just how thick the walls are, and all of this space between
the inner and outer window panes do make it tricky to get a clean view out the window.
As you can see, there’s a bunch more to talk about around the seat,
but since we have a whole ocean ahead of us, I’ll leave it until after takeoff.
Just as boarding finished up however,
I lucked out tremendously when the passenger in the middle seat got moved to an empty row!
I knew the next 8 hours were going to be pretty comfortable for Economy Class!
“On behalf of Singapore Airlines and the crew members, welcome aboard this second
segment of SQ26 from Frankfurt to New York JFK. It’s very nice to have you with us.
I do apologize on behalf of the company on the delay to this departure, this is due to
late arrival of this aircraft into Frankfurt. Our flight time to New York will take approximately 8…
I beg your pardon, 7 hours and 55 minutes.”
Right after that, Singapore’s… ridiculously high-production quality safety video played,
and we were soon starting up. Here’s the departure from Frankfurt, off of runway 25C.
It really is fascinating watching the A380’s massive wing just do its thing
so effortlessly! Let’s check out the rest of the seat while there’s some light in the cabin.
First off, you’ll find this bi-fold tray table that slides out, and interestingly,
has this little mirror embedded in it too.
Below that is a surprisingly well-designed seatback pocket,
which had tons of storage for loose items in multiple pockets.
In the main pocket was the usual air sickness or I guess litter disposal bag,
and a very thorough safety card for the A380.
Right in front is the call button as well as one for the lights, plus as a USB port,
headphone jack, device holder, and this simple but very clever cup holder!
As it turns out, having those controls on the seats is quite important because
there’s so much height between the seat and the overhead lights that
some passengers had to stand up to reach them.
There’s also a universal power outlet between the seats,
and you’ll also find a coat hook on the sides too.
I’ll be honest, my long-haul experience with anything but Canadian airlines is limited,
but this is a very-well thought out Economy seat!
One thing Canadian airlines sure don’t have are actual fabric pillowcases in Economy Class! That
plus the empty middle seat made things very comfortable. And yes, I asked the
aisle seat passenger before stealing the middle seat’s legroom. They were quite sympathetic.
The only thing that proved to be a bit of a challenge almost right away were
the ergonomics of that cabin wall. The window side armrest doesn’t move at all,
and the wall is just far enough away that you can’t really lean against it.
Now, one of the things I’ve heard about Singapore Airlines is that they have
one of the best in-flight entertainment systems. That certainly holds up here,
and they have, without doubt, the broadest selection I’ve ever seen!
There’s also the usual moving map too, with a couple different angles to choose
from. I was a bit surprised that they didn’t have any camera views though,
I was kinda looking forward to that A380 tail camera.
In addition to the huge entertainment selection, Wifi was also available for purchase,
but was complimentary for those in First and Business. Those with KrisFlyer accounts
in Premium Economy and Economy also had 2 hours worth of complimentary chat access.
Before I left, I also downloaded the Singapore Airlines app,
which was pretty useful and even had these menus for Economy class.
About an hour and a half into the flight, the crew started that lunch service.
Making use of that cup holder right away, I went with this pan-fried
fillet of fish with spicy hollandaise sauce, green vegetables, and pasta.
That also came with a packaged bread roll, a tea cup, and this chocolate ice cream for dessert.
Impressively though, this came with real metal cutlery! That is definitely a first
for me in Economy class, and they even had the Singapore logo imprinted on them too.
As for the actual meal, it might’ve looked a little basic at first but
was very tasty and I easily polished off the whole thing.
After that, I just relaxed for the next couple of hours, ironically, watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine,
since there’s not a whole lot to see outside on a more southerly transatlantic flight like this.
The crew did come around multiple times with trays of juice and water for anyone
that was still awake. About two hours before arrival, they came around again
with another snack and drink service, and I went for this panini which was just okay.
As we got closer to North America, I got up to take a better look around the Economy cabin.
Since they first got them, Singapore Airlines has revamped the cabins on their A380s,
and now uses the lower deck for Premium Economy and normal economy only.
At the front are 44 Premium Economy seats which I didn’t quite get a picture of, in a 2-4-2 layout.
Behind that, in three separate cabins, are 343 Economy seats, all with a 3-4-3 configuration.
Just looking at the cabin from this angle, it’s hard to imagine that there’s another entire deck
above you! Plus, with these super high ceilings, it feels more like a building than an airplane!
These lavatories in the very back of the lower deck look very sleek and do feel slightly bigger
than, I guess, your average airplane bathroom. However, there’s one thing that caught my eye,
and it’s this foot pedal for opening the trash can! That is… absolutely genius!
Now, obviously I couldn’t quite go to the upper deck during flight since it’s all
First and Business, but this is where the crew really stood out.
I mentioned to one of them that I had booked this flight just for the A380 and asked if I
could go see the upper deck after we landed. Fortunately, they managed to arrange just that!
Along almost the entire upper deck are 78 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
These seats are just as amazing as they look in the photos, and I even got to try them out too!
I wonder if these are even open for Aeroplan redemptions at all.
Business Class takes up all but one of the cabins on the upper deck, and at the very front there are
the 6 first class suites in a 1-1 configuration. Those are without a doubt, the most insane airline
seats I’ve ever seen for myself! I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to sit here on a real
flight, so the fact that the crew took the time to show me everything was beyond amazing of them.
Now to make that walk-through of the upper deck possible,
the crew ended up moving me to the very back of the plane just before we started descending
so I could go up the rear stairs without having to wait for everyone else in Economy.
They even gave me a spare amenity kit and this little goodbye note too. So
nice of them to do that and I’m very grateful they
were able to let me geek out in the expensive seats for a few minutes.
For all intents and purposes, the very last row of Economy feels much the same as my
original seat, but it’s worth noting the window is a bit further forward.
What’s nice though is that you can kinda see the outboard engine from here too!
But eventually, the waters of the North Atlantic were replaced with these views of Long Island,
and it was soon time to say goodbye to the A380.
Here’s the arrival into JFK, landing on runway 13L.
So, that was Singapore Airlines and that was
the A380. I can honestly say this flight pretty much blew me away.
The food was good, the seat was excellent, and most of all, the service on board was outstanding.
I think I finally get why Singapore is considered one of the best airlines in the world.
This was also a great reminder of what a remarkable airplane the A380 is. The amount
of space it has in almost every direction is unlike any other airliner out there,
and I think I need to try more of them!
Unfortunately, the A380 on this route will soon become a thing of the past as it gets
switched out for a 777 in May. Still, this unlikely route is a great way to
try out Singapore Airlines for the first time, and if the opportunity ever comes
up (for the right price), I would not hesitate to fly with them again.
Thank you very much for watching this flight on the world’s largest airliner,
and I’ll catch you next time!