Last year, in April, Singapore Airlines announced that it would be returning to Brussels, and I was thrilled because it meant all of my favorite airlines (Qatar, ANA, and Singapore) would operate out of Brussels. Looking for an opportunity to test out the new flight, operated on Singapore’s Airbus 350-900, I booked a business class seat with Aeroplan points for earlier this month as the first leg of my trip to Thailand.
The flight was incredibly comfortable because of the bulkhead seats we chose, the food and beverage offering was quite good and the service fawned over us (but mostly the baby we were traveling with). It’s quite exciting to welcome Singapore Airlines back to Brussels and when the cash or award fare is right, I look forward to flying when long haul out of Brussels again.
The business class seat on Singapore Airlines’ A350-900
As with many airlines, Singapore Airlines divides its business class into two cabins. Because we were traveling with a baby, I selected the bassinet seats which are in the bulkhead row of the rear business class cabin, seats 11D and 11F.
When selecting the seats, I didn’t realize how special they would be. The foot space is comically wide so it can fit the bassinet and there is room for one on both seats 11D and 11F. Even if you have a bassinet set up, there is a ton of room to move your feet around and get comfortable while you sleep. The footwell was so wide that I even used the area to store my briefcase while I was sleeping and I’m a guy that rolls around plenty while sleeping. Seats 11D and 11F are reserved for those who are traveling with an infant in arms, and I don’t know if they open them up to the general public if there are no babies flying in business class.
The window seats in this row (11A and 11K) are reserved for the cabin crew only and have permanent signs on the headrest indicating that. As much respect as I have for flight crews, it seems a little odd to me that the airline reserves the two best seats in business for non-paying customers. Also oddly, the bulkhead seats in the front business class cabins do not have such a wide footwell, so the only way to fly these seats is to travel with a child or become a member of Singapore Airlines’ flight crew!
The only thing that awaited me at the seat was a bottle of Spa water and a pair of headphones and I was wondering where the amenity kit was. On the first page of the menu, there was a page informing passengers that a number of amenities like slippers, socks and indeed an amenity kit were available upon request. I suppose this is a measure to cut costs and try to appear a bit more climate friendly and it is the first time that I have seen this on the plane and would not be surprised if it becomes a trend.
I was considering passing up on the amenity kit because to be honest, who needs another one of those at home, but I had an inkling it would be something cool and it sure was. The flight attendant handed me a Le Labo branded oiled canvas satchel with lip balm, hand cream and facial mist. I don’t think I’ll use the facial mist, but this Le Labo fanboy will go through the rest of it quickly!
Speaking of high-end cosmetic products, while there was nothing special about the bathroom itself, it was stocked with Penhaligon’s facial mist, eau de toilette and hand lotion.
The only thing I didn’t like about the seat design was that to turn it into a bed, the seat had to be flipped over and it was not possible to extend fully into a bed unless you did so. I didn’t notice that the mattress version was any more comfortable than the seat itself and a mattress pad would likely have accomplished the same effect. Having a flight attendant flip the seat backwards and forwards was just a little tiresome after dinner and before breakfast. Let’s just say that I would have taken more catnaps had I been in full control of the seat myself. While it didn’t bother me, the seat is located quite close to the galley and there is a direct line of site to cabinets, ovens and fridges that the flight attendants are constantly working in and around.
The other minor drawback about Singapore Airlines’ A350 was that they do not have individual air nozzles. Still, I had my baby fan just in case, but I didn’t need to break it out and was happy with the cabin temperature for the duration of the flight.
The food and drink in Singapore Airlines business class
Upon boarding, the flight attendants came around with an option of beverages and of course, I chose champagne. The on the ground offering was Piper Heidsieck, which is a perfectly respectable option to begin with, but when we took off, they popped the Piper Heidsieck 2018 vintage. This happens often in first class cabins, but this was the first time I can recall a fancier bottle of bubbles being opened after takeoff. Needless to say, I stuck with champagne throughout my meal and the cabin crew was generous with refills.
Some 30 minutes after takeoff (it was bumpy coming out of Brussels), Singapore Airlines’ traditional satay cart appeared in the aisle and I must say that while I recall the satay being a little lackluster on my last Singapore Airlines flight out of Manila, it was absolutely superb coming out of Brussels. The lunch service started with a duck liver terrine. I’d eaten quite a bit of foie gras over the holiday season and must say that this was just as good as every slice of foie gras I’d eaten recently. For the first meal, I chose the pork belly with rice, which was outstanding though it didn’t look like much. My rule of thumb is that if the meal is one that I would be happy eating on the ground, then it’s a damn good thing to be getting on an airplane. That was the case with the pork belly, but not so much with the second dish I had, egg noodles with twice-cooked pork, which was far too salty. It was so unremarkable that it is not pictured here!
I also love to judge an airline on its fruit plate. While some airlines provide beautiful assortments of fruit, the taste is appalling. On this flight, the fruit plate was fairly simple with no added extravagance like rambutan or passion fruit, but the quality of the fruit was quite good.
The business class service on Singapore Airlines
From the very beginning of the flight, when we were welcomed aboard by a flight crew that was genuinely thrilled to see our baby, to deplaning in Singapore when they truly seemed sad to see us go, we had an outstanding experience with the Singapore Airlines flight attendants. Not long after settling into our seats, the chief purser came by and actually took our baby for a walk up to the galley and stayed up there with him for quite a while!
The flight attendants gave him a little rattle with Donald Duck on it, and they gave us an absolutely fantastic experience on our flight. They were friendly and proactive and chatty and unlike some airlines which seem to be short staffed these days, there seemed to be a very good ratio of crew to passengers, including pilots, as both of the other seats in our row, 11 A and 11 K were occupied.
The bottom line
While the special seats played a big role in making the 12-hour flight pass quite quickly, both the hard product and the soft product certainly assisted this in being one of the best business class flights I have had in recent memory. The food was quite good, two types of champagne were chilled to perfection and plentiful, and the cabin crew was a pleasure to interact with. A lack of individual air vents was mitigated by the fact that the cabin temperature was perfectly pleasant and while flipping the seat into a bed was a mild pain in the rear, it was not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The next flight I have booked is in Qatar’s beloved Qsuites, but they are going to have some very big shoes to fill.