04 May 2001
SQ317 London Heathrow-Singapore - Raffles Class

I arrived at Terminal Three at around 10:00 after the usual tedious journey from London on the Underground - the only reasonably priced option.

Singapore Airlines check-in for Raffles Class was friendly and efficient, with the agent asking me about my trip and commenting on the number of sectors over the subsequent two weeks (more reports to follow). The only minor problem was that they had no Raffles Class bag tags for my luggage - but not a problem. The lady confirmed my seat request for 11A on the upper deck of the B747-400.

Terminal Three was heaving with people and was most unpleasant, so after a bit of a quick look around the shops to obtain some holiday essentials I made my way to the Silver Kris Lounge via Fast Track (Business Class channel).

Tucked away up some stairs behind gate 12A the Silver Kris Lounge was also quite busy, but relative sanctuary away from the nightmare that is Terminal Three. I had around 30-40 mins to take advantage of the wide range of snacks, drinks and newspapers.

About 35-40 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of 12:00 I made my way to Gate 27 and captured my first view of the B747-400 'MEGA TOP' 9V-SMY.

The gate was busy, but I was able to make my way straight on board and up the stairs to be greeted with usual Asian warmth, and shown to my seat at the very front of the Upper Deck Raffles Class cabin and had my jacket taken for me.

The seat did look very comfortable however I wasn't sure how it would be for the next 12 hours. But as it was it turned out to be ok, although obviously because of the bulkhead I couldn't overstretch my 6'2" frame like the other rows. Also the problem with the Row 11 is that because of the taper of the nose, the usual side storage bin was hardly usuable except for books/magazines, and not able to accept shoes and a small bag like the other rows compartments could.


Later in the flight even though the footrest would only extend to allow an knees-bent posture, I still found it comfortable and was able to rest adequately with the adjustable headrest, pillows, recline and lumbar controls.

Once seated, champagne or orange juice was offered, and a selection of broadsheet newspapers, I chose the 'Straits Times' as it is always interesting to read the local English language newspaper before arriving somewhere to get a feel for a place, although I have been to Singapore at least a half dozen times before and would be spending a night there.

Menu's and wine list/beverage cards, amenity kits (kind of disappointing just slippers and eyeshades), dolby headphones and hot towels were offered before a further round of champagne and orange juice whilst we sat out the 20 minute delay, which the Captain told us was due to the usual ATC restrictions at LHR - no suprises there! Drinks orders and lunch choices were also taken for after take off.

We pushed back at 1223 and after taxing out we were airborne from 09R at 1243 after a take off roll of around 40 seconds.

Our climb out took us over the North suburbs of London, giving a fine view of the now de-comissioned Wembley Stadium, before heading out over Essex and Norwich before heading out over the North Sea towards the Dutch coast.

After take off I started to get to grips with the latest version of the personal in-armrest Kris World - Wise Man system, which is better to play around with rather than trying to get one's head around the instructions.

The Wise Man version of Kris World (There are two versions of Kris World) provides on demand 25 international, European and Asian movies, 65 short feature programmes including comedy, sports, chatshows, documentary and children's programming.

There are 50 CD albums on demand, and you can then select 30 tracks for your own personal in-flight playlist

12 cycled music channels plus 35 Nintendo games, as well as 12 PC games.

Full marks here, you won't get bored!

After take off cabin service:

Singapore landing cards

Chicken and beef satay with onion
Drinks as requested
Lunch was then served.

Tables laid, and napkins placed for you, then a well presented tray with Givenchy designed crockery with glasses, cutlery and side salad with a choice of two dressings.

I had an entree of Chicken Ayam (Malay chicken in a spicy Malay creamed coconut sauce with steamed rice)

A choice of wines, champagne and water. I had an Australian Chardonnay.

Hot rolls were offered, top ups of wine and water, then a selection of cheeses and fruit with port

Vanilla ice-cream and a choice of tea and coffee.

I then settled down with the Kris World system and watched 'Miss Congeniality' female FBI agent turns beauty queen, quite entertaining. I then had a sleep, and then mixed a bit of dozing with a bit of Kris World.

Our route continued out over Amsterdam, Berlin, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, The Black Sea, Georgia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

About two hours before landing Breakfast was served.

Hot towels, fuit juices, hot rolls and croissants, tropical fruits and a choice of corn flakes or yoghurt (my choice)

I had opted for a hot entree of grilled chicken sausage with cheese omelette, sauteed potatoes and Tomatoes.

Tea and coffee and further hot towels were offered.

After a glorious sunrise over Malaysia, and approach over the Johor Straits we landed on Changi's 20R runway after 12hrs 03 mins in the air and were on stand at Terminal 2 about four minutes later (ten minutes behind schedule). 12h 35m or so after pushback from LHR.

The cabin crew provided an excellent service and I would certainly recommend Singapore Airlines. I had a walk round the aircraft into Economy Class and there also seems to be a generous amount of legroom down there too compared with some carriers like BA.