Day 2: A380 to London/ A380 à Londres

Trains never arrive when you think they should.  Thursday’s experience was that the trains were very frequent but for some reason the one we got from Lavender (our starting point) was delayed and we waited and waited for it.  Then when we got to the transfer point for going to Changi Airport there was a long wait for that train to arrive. 

At Changi we found our terminal quickly and without much ado we were checked in. The only glitch was that for some reason they had decided to separate Bev and I.  That was quickly rectified. 

We went through immigration very quickly and before long we were heading for the Gold Kris Lounge.  Compared to the Koru Lounge it is a much more crowded area but I did manage to score a “Le Figaro” (the national French newspaper) so I can practice reading in French.  There was no barista to make us a nice coffee either. 

For a large plane the boarding was done very quickly.  About two thirds of the plane is given over to business and first class.   This comprises all of the upper deck and about a quarter of the lower deck.  There is a small premium economy area which was full.  The cattle class area was largely full as well. 

It was a very long take off.  I guess that being close to a 14-hour flight and it being pretty full it had to have a massive amount of fuel on board thereby making it very heavy. 

So far compared to Premium Economy on Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines is not as good an experience.  It is comparable to economy class  but with better seats, more legroom and bigger screens.   The food was very ordinary.  Singapore Airlines is renowned for its service and while it is faultless, to a large extent it is mechanical.  Premium Economy on the B777-300s has or had podded seats which means people do not recline into your space. which I really like.  The ones on Singapore Air are more like the traditional business class seats.

After over 13.5 hours in the air I was over it and ready for the flight to end, nonetheless I liked the day time flight as I got to see from the air a large number countries, from the dusty hazy India, to the brown and barron land  but clear skies of Afganhistan and Turkmenistan, the snowy mountains of Georgia and the largely cloudy skies of eastern Europe.   

Later

It was rather cool when we arrived in London being about 12 degrees.  I was pleased to  get some exercise after disembarking.  We went up and down escalators, along a tunnel and then arrived to a significant queue at the Border Control.  Despite it being peak time there seemed to be only a handful of Border Control officers.  It was bit like LA airport with odd questions being asked like:

“Do you know anyone in the UK?”

 “Yes”. 

Are you going to be seeing them?”

“Unlikely.”

“Why are you here?”

“Stop over?”

“How long are you here for”

I want to say “Read the card” but responded “two days”

“Where are you going next?’

“Portugal“

Pause, passport stamped and I am through!

It took us about an hour to get to the other side of Border Control and we found by then all the bags had been removed from the carousel.

I liked flying in the A380. It was quite quiet and had good feel of spaciousness about it.  The economy section was cramped like every other economy section on long haul planes.  Would I fly with them again?  Yes but my preference would be Air New Zealand but it was nice to go through a different airport to LA to get to Europe (as we did last time).

We then went to Earls Court and checked into our accommodation before going to a lively local pub for a very tasty classic English pie and veges.  After a long day, bed after our meal was a most wonderful thing to tumble into.