Singapore's A380 whale at SIN
In early September, I made a quick trip to Arizona to visit a friend. To reach there, I've decided to fly with Singapore Airlines since they offering a great fare to the US West Coast from Delhi, which was identical to other airlines' economy fare. This also happened to be
1) My first experience flying in international premium economy,
2) My longest distance flown on a single flight (SIN-LAX),
3) The best Japanese meal I've had in economy class, and
4) The best economy class meal I've had on an airplane.
Fortunately, I was able to try out an A380 and a B777-300ER, where I found some interesting difference in their offering.
I'll report this time a bit different from how I traditionally used to do so on A.net. I'm now a guest contributor to KN Aviation, run by Keishi, who also posts frequently here in the Trip Reports section. As my original articles are already uploaded there, I'll write a brief summary by comparing the difference, while the full comprehensive report can be read from the links provided at the end of this post.
Introduction
Singapore Airlines have always been one of my all-time favorite airlines, along with Emirates. Their product is consistently good and such was also the case for this long journey from Delhi to Los Angeles, via Singapore. The first segment was flown by an A380, and the second segment by a B777-300ER. Both were comfortable to sit around especially on the latter flight as the duration was over 19hrs, including a 2hr stop in Tokyo Narita.
Difference 1: Seat width
A380 has 19.5" width seats, as opposed to 18.5" on the 777. While it's just an inch, I could feel the difference. An example would be if I carry a DSLR camera, on A380 I have no problem placing it by the side of my leg on the same seat, but there is no space to do that on the 777.
A380 premium economy seats
A380 seat feels wider
B777 premium economy seats
A bit narrower on B777
Difference 2: Can't lean on the wall in A380!
That's right - while the seat is wider, there is a gap between a window seat and wall so it's very difficult to lean against, due to the aircraft structure. On the positive side, that means there is more storage space next to the seat. This is not the case for B777.
The gap on A380
No gap on B777
Difference 3: Entertainment system
While the programs offered on both remained the same, there was a slight difference in the content layout. The handset differed and so were the headphones. Also, B777 has touchscreen TV but A380 doesn't.
Here is A380:
A380 movie menu selections
A380 handset
A380 noise cancelling headphones
Here is B777:
B777 touch-screen TV
B777 handset
B777 noise cancelling headphones
Those were the three main difference I felt between the two aircraft types.
Now, the rest remains pretty much the same. The seat-pitch having 38", well-stocked washroom (shared with economy), and great food (more or less same as economy).
Seat-pitch
Amenity kits in economy washroom
Excellent Punjabi lamb curry on DEL-SIN
The best Japanese main course I had in economy on NRT-LAX
Even better main course I had in economy on NRT-LAX - the best so far!
Verdict: B777 premium economy is better
Personally, I felt B777 was more fun to sit around. Despite the seat being a bit narrower, as sitting on a window seat leaning against the wall increases the comfort, the TV is touchscreen which makes it easy to navigate, and the handset looks better. I also want to note that B777's cabin feels more exclusive due to less number of seats compared to A380.
Check out for more detail on the full reviews here:
>Flight Review: Singapore Airlines A380-800 Premium Economy from Delhi to Singapore
>Flight Review: Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Premium Economy Singapore to Los Angeles
Hirofumi