18 May 2001 Singapore-London Heathrow SQ318 B747-412 9V-SMN

This was the last leg of a trip to/from Australia with SQ/AN/DJ which had me routing LHR-SIN-PER-AYQ-CNS-SYD-BNE-SIN-LHR.

We boarded the flight on time for the scheduled 0900 (0100z) departure and made my way up to the upper deck and Raffles Class cabin to my seat 14A - again I was fortunate enough not to have anyone sat next to me. I had done well with the only sector being SYD-BNE with Virgin Blue where I had someone sat next to me.

The cabin crew were once again welcoming offering us the usual amenities of fruit juices, champagne, hot towels, newspapers, magazines, headphones, socks and eyeshades, pillows and blankets. (The Raffles Class kit with SQ needs improving)

We pushed back on schdule from the gate at 0901 and taxied towards runway 02R at Changi and after seeing a couple of aircraft depart including a Vietnam Airlines A320 we took up our position and commenced our take off roll of some 45 seconds in the early morning humidity and heat for our flight which out British Captain had estimated at 12 hrs 52 mins. We were airborne at 0922 (0122z)

Breakfast was again served soon after take-off and having slept well for some 5hrs out of 8hrs on the previous sector between BNE-SIN after breakfast I settled down to play with my KrisWorld entertainment system which I rate as one of the best if not the best I have ever experienced.

A service of champagne/drinks and satay was offered approx 6.5-7hrs into the lengthy flight. (I'd also recommend anyone to try the iced chocolate with whipped cream they can make you! throughout the flight)

Drinks and a full lunch were served about 10.5 hrs into the flight and I had Garoupa Fish with pasta which was a little disappointing and quite dry. (the only poor quality meal on all of my SQ flights).

The cabin crew were again full of their Singapore charm and were available for any thing you needed without hesitation.

We landed at London Heathrow after exactly 12h 52 m
our routing having taken us up over Kuala Lumpur, The Bay of Bengal, just South of Delhi, North of Mashad in Iran, The Black Sea to the SE of Odessa, then over Bulgaria, Germany and Belgium for an approach over the North East suburbs of London and Docklands for landing on LHRs runway 27R. We were on the gate some ten minutes ahead of schedule at 1520 (1420z)