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

Was the meal served all at once via an single tray service? or did they bring it our course by course an add it to you tray?

Kinda of shock to see how much plastic is used in there PE meal service, maybe I've got to used NZ using the same serve wear as J in PE.

zkncj wrote:

Was the meal served all at once via an single tray service? or did they bring it our course by course an add it to you tray?

Kinda of shock to see how much plastic is used in there PE meal service, maybe I've got to used NZ using the same serve wear as J in PE.

Exactly, the meal is basically the same as economy so it's a single tray service (except for the ice cream dessert). May be the presentation isn't refined but the taste quality is top-notch. Their economy service is already a high-standard so I was quite satisfied with their meals. Also, there is "Book the Cook" option for PE passengers from select airport which makes the experience more premium.

Looks great except for the orange in front which I think would hurt my eyes.

Thanks for the great pictures of both the A380 and 77W. The food looked excellent! I'll click in the links to check out more, and thanks again!

lychemsa wrote:

Looks great except for the orange in front which I think would hurt my eyes.

Yeah the orange color is quite a contrast to the rest of color theme.

11725Flyer wrote:

Thanks for the great pictures of both the A380 and 77W. The food looked excellent! I'll click in the links to check out more, and thanks again!

Thank you!

Thanks for sharing this one!

I agree - way too much space between the seat and wall on the A380 - good thing this is compensated for in the upper deck with a storage unit. A nice comparison between what is currently their flagship aircraft, but that's going to change soon anyway. Great pictures, too!

CollegeAviator wrote:

Thanks for sharing this one!

I agree - way too much space between the seat and wall on the A380 - good thing this is compensated for in the upper deck with a storage unit. A nice comparison between what is currently their flagship aircraft, but that's going to change soon anyway. Great pictures, too!

Thanks for the comment. They now have the third version after an introduction of A350 aircraft, which has different seat looks altogether.

great report...i would choose b777 over the a380

igtrader88 wrote:

great report...i would choose b777 over the a380

Thanks!

Top notch products, from what i read the new A380 Y+ has not been improved so much. It would be nice to see if passengers can feel a difference...
My one and only Y+ flight was with AF (JNB-CDG) last year, and while I could not complain due to the fact it was an opup (thank you anyway), I could barely rest, let alone sleep, for a few hours !
How was it with SQ?

Thanks for this comparison TR

eastafspot wrote:

Top notch products, from what i read the new A380 Y+ has not been improved so much. It would be nice to see if passengers can feel a difference...
My one and only Y+ flight was with AF (JNB-CDG) last year, and while I could not complain due to the fact it was an opup (thank you anyway), I could barely rest, let alone sleep, for a few hours !
How was it with SQ?

Thanks for this comparison TR

I'm actually with you for the comfort on Y+. I wasn't impressed with their A380 seat especially because I can't lean on the wall. The width in Y+ generally is good but I can't be too comfortable with just having a 38" pitch. It just doesn't make sense to spend a couple of hundred dollars extra for such seat, but that's just my opinion.

The new A380 Y+ - I think the entertainment system is updated with a touch-screen system similar to ones on 77W or A350. But more or less, still much the same in the designing aspect. It's only been 2 years since the introduction of the cabin so I guess there is no need of much innovation there.

Thanks for the comment.