Two years in the past, I obtained to expertise the world’s longest flight, Singapore Airways’ route between Singapore and New York. It was a giant merchandise to cross off my AvGeek to-do listing and the expertise itself was a blast. Since then I’ve been questioning how I might ever prime that flight. In the long run, there was just one method: flying the route in the other way (which has an extended common time aloft) and in additional model. After biding my time for some time and snagging a fortunate reserving, I obtained the possibility.
After I flew from Singapore to NYC in 2023, a stiff tailwind helped us make nice time: below 17 hours aloft. Flying the return path to Singapore could be a full two hours longer. Even for an AvGeek, the thought of over 19 hours onboard a single flight was intimidating. I used to be truthfully frightened that partway by this marathon of a flight, the magic would put on off and I’d get bored.
Nicely, I used to be fully improper about that. It was a LONG flight to make certain. However between the cozy seat, lovely views, big selection of leisure choices, and signature Singapore service, it was a blast from begin to end. I additionally obtained to study in regards to the distinctive options that make these ultra-long-haul companies tolerable (and even enjoyable!) for passengers onboard.
Learn on for the complete scoop on this one-of-a-kind route. We hope the walkthrough will enable you determine whether or not a flight this lengthy is price your time.
Earlier than I start, shout out to a particular story from the AirlineReporter archives. Again in 2013 David Parker Brown flew the earlier iteration of the Singapore-NYC route, operated at the moment by an Airbus A340-500. In case you’re searching for a historic comparability (or perhaps only for a little bit of AvGeek nostalgia) try that traditional story.
On the bottom at New York JFK
Singapore Airways presently operates out of Terminal 4 at JFK. The airline doesn’t function its personal lounge right here. Biz class and different qualifying passengers might use the PrimeClass contract lounge, the Air India Lounge, or request a $50 meal voucher. There’s additionally an AMEX Centurion Lounge and Chase Sapphire Lounge in the identical terminal for anybody with the correct bank card perks.
For long-haul flights, I’m used to boarding round an hour earlier than departure time. However as a result of Singapore’s A350-900ULRs are in a low-density configuration, boarding began solely half-hour pre-departure. Folks nonetheless lined up early to board, which was humorous since they had been about to be confined to the cabin for nearly a full day.
From the skin, the plane seemed like a daily A350, however on the within she was a very totally different animal. We’ll inform you why.
A singular subfleet
Singapore operates a super-specialized subfleet of simply 9 A350-900ULRs. The final three letters stand for ultra-long vary. With its modified gasoline system the ULR gives an insane vary of as much as 9,700 nautical miles and functionality to deal with 20 uninterrupted hours of flight.
One other key distinction between Singapore’s ULRs and its non-ULR counterparts is the cabin format. Singapore didn’t even hassle together with an economic system class cabin on its ULRs. That was to cut back weight, but in addition as a result of most individuals wouldn’t wish to spend 18+ hours in an economic system seat. There are two huge enterprise class cabins occupying the entrance two-thirds of the airplane, providing a powerful 67 whole seats. Within the rear third of the airplane there’s a premium economic system cabin with 94 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. In whole, the airplane carries simply 161 passengers, in contrast with 253-303 passengers on the varied configurations of Singapore’s non-ULR A350-900s.
Meet the seat
After stepping onboard, I headed into the ahead enterprise class cabin and took inventory of my dwelling for the subsequent 20 hours. The seat is identical as on Singapore’s commonplace A350s. It’s an attention-grabbing design, with numerous purple and golden accents.
The cabin format is 1-2-1 throughout. Seats within the center have a sliding privateness divider between them.
I had picked a window seat on the left aspect.
The seat itself was impressively extensive. The aspect of the seat enclosure blocked one among my home windows, however I had a superb view by the opposite one.
Singapore doesn’t supply a set model product in enterprise class (but) however the dividers between seats nonetheless do supply some privateness.
The console beside the seat got here stocked with an amenity package, menu, and some different goodies.
Beside every headrest was a studying gentle, energy outlet, and small storage space.
On the entrance of every seat compartment there was a big display, a small ledge for holding a drink, and one other small storage space with a door.
As I obtained settled within the purser got here by to introduce himself. I used to be then provided a alternative of drinks, although the pre-departure service was restricted to water and juice.
It was a late-night departure. The NYC space was glowing at evening and my eyes stayed glued to the window for all the climb alongside the size of Lengthy Island.
On a aspect observe, I had anticipated the world’s longest flight to have a loopy lengthy takeoff roll. However we lifted off barely midway into the 12,079-foot runway 22R – and with solely a nine-knot headwind. Fairly good efficiency for a airplane presumably tanked as much as the brim with gasoline.
Service will get began
After takeoff the crew got here round with nuts and a drink to tide us over whereas they prepped the dinner service.
This was the menu for the preliminary meal:
Singapore’s E book the Prepare dinner possibility enables you to pre-select an entree previous to the flight.
Right here’s a have a look at the wine listing for the flight:
And listed here are among the different drinks they provided:
Singapore runs some cool catering partnerships for its long-haul flights. One is with AeroFarms, an indoor vertical farming firm. The salad we began with featured their greens.
The ocean bass entree was excellent.
And a mango + ardour fruit berry cremeux rounded out an amazing meal.
As normal, the Singapore Airways flight attendants had been polished, proactive, and made the exhausting work look straightforward.
Settling in for the LONG haul
Singapore does inflight facilities a bit in a different way than most different airways do. As a substitute of a closely stocked amenity package for every passenger, they provide particular person gadgets within the bathrooms.
The enterprise class cabin had 4 washrooms. 4 lavs between 67 passengers is a reasonably tight ratio. There have been occasions near mealtimes and touchdown the place there was at the least a brief line for them.
For this flight they did additionally supply a lightweight amenity package at every seat, with only a few gadgets, together with some socks + slippers + eye masks.
Singapore’s A350 seats go absolutely flat, however not within the normal method. As a substitute of the seat flattening out right into a mattress below a passenger’s management, all the seat flips ahead to open up the mattress. That course of requires a flight attendant’s involvement.
It’s a polarizing design alternative. On one hand, you don’t have as a lot flexibility to enter and exit fully-flat mode. Alternatively, Singapore’s design gives a agency supportive materials for seat mode however a separate softer mattress floor in sleep mode. I positively appreciated the distinction.
On this seat design the footwell in mattress mode is off to the aspect and a bit cramped, although at torso stage the mattress is method wider than common.
Due to the A350’s cabin design, and in addition as a result of I used to be sitting within the forward-most cabin, it was an unusually quiet trip. Telephone sound meters might not be probably the most correct, however I used to be impressed that mine gauged the ambient noise stage at 77 decibels. That’s considerably quieter than many different plane sorts.
Between the smooth floor, wonderful bedding, and quiet trip, I obtained some AMAZING sleep on this flight.
Usually I attempt to sleep the naked minimal required once I’m on a treat-myself fancy flight. However with an almost 19-hour flight time I didn’t skimp on sleep. I wakened as we had been crossing into Turkey. It was ten full hours after takeoff … and we had been barely midway by the flight. Loopy!
Whereas I used to be sleeping the solar had come up exterior.
Simply as I used to be questioning what to do with all of the remaining flight time, the crew began a midflight meal service.
I’ll admit the menu alternative felt a bit odd. It was a meal being served at round 9AM in New York time. I’d have thought most passengers could be craving breakfast. However the dishes had been extra like a second dinner. Then once more, it’s not honest to be too Western-centric in my assumptions about meals since US-style eggy and sugary breakfasts aren’t the norm in most locations.
What mattered most was that it was one other very tasty meal. And in addition straightforward on the eyes, with nice presentation and plating. My principal dish (Moroccan grilled lamb chops) was one other culinary partnership, this time with California’s Golden Door spa and wellness retreat.
I took my time consuming (I imply, what else was I going to do?) and by the point dessert rolled across the solar was beginning to set. That marked the second nighttime I skilled throughout this flight. Due to the flight size and the time zone distinction, this flight lands two (!!) days after it takes off.
Passing the time
Having eaten and slept to my coronary heart’s content material, I turned some consideration to the leisure system. The display measurement was spectacular. Weirdly, it wasn’t a contact display. However you might at the least join your cellphone to the system to make use of it as a distant, along with the wired bodily distant subsequent to the seat.
The headphones they provided had been fairly good, although the quiet cabin additionally meant there was much less background nostril to dam on the whole.
There was limitless complimentary Wi-Fi, which was a serious plus.
The speeds had been moderately good for inflight web, although the protection lower out just a few occasions over the course of the lengthy route.
Total, Singapore gives an amazing leisure system and content material library. There have been solely two IFE downsides. One was that there have been numerous advertisements. The opposite was that there weren’t any exterior digital camera views. On the AvGeek shiny aspect, the transferring map was wonderful: each high-res and interactive. Trying on the map mid-flight and noticing all of the international locations we’d flown over, it actually sank in how insanely lengthy this flight was.
Singapore’s A350s supply among the most tasteful cabin lighting I’ve ever seen. The seat itself had a number of lights you might management to get precisely the vibe you wished.
Unsurprisingly, the crew saved the cabin darkish for many of the flight to permit individuals to sleep as a lot as they wished.
Sadly, that meant that I couldn’t actually look out of the window a lot — at the least not with out flooding the cabin with a ton of sunshine and waking individuals up.
It wasn’t an issue although, as a result of I had loads of content material on the IFE system to remain entertained. I additionally handed the time with some espresso and a pre-arrival bowl of noodles.
For the second half of the flight the crew members largely saved to the galleys however had been responsive once I wanted them.
Even the world’s longest flight ultimately ends
It was nearly a shock when the crew introduced we had been about to begin our descent. I took benefit of the heads-up-display possibility on the inflight map as we made our method.
We obtained a have a look at the standard expanse of ready ships throughout the closing descent into Changi.
Right here’s a window-seat view of the descent and touchdown:
And with that, our marathon of a flight got here to an finish.
Sizing up the world’s longest flight
To start out, this flight would have been price it for the novelty issue alone. I imply critically, simply check out how a lot floor we coated:
So from an AvGeek perspective this flight is properly price it. However in the event you’re weighing whether or not to drop some severe money/miles/factors on this flight you in all probability care about extra than simply the route size. The passenger expertise issues. So how does Singapore objectively fare there? Nicely, it’s a tall order to maintain passengers completely happy on a flight this lengthy. However I’ve to say Singapore Airways did a tremendous job with this ultra-long-haul service.
The positives:
– Singapore is understood for providing among the finest service within the sky. My flight’s crew was on their A-game and so they had been the only most optimistic a part of the expertise.
– When it comes to the essential dimensions the seat is generously spacious.
– The inflight eating was distinctive, each by way of taste and presentation. The distinctive provider partnerships (like AeroFarms for the salads or the Golden Door entree) had been a enjoyable twist. Singapore’s wonderful wine and occasional listing deserve explicit reward.
– The IFE display was huge, and the library of content material was wonderful.
– The A350 is a superb platform for this ultra-long-haul service, in contrast with the noisier fuel-guzzling A340-500 that used to function the NYC-SIN route. The comparatively quiet cabin quantity, calming lighting, and improved humidity and pressurization are particularly useful on ultra-long-haul flights.
If I needed to level to a couple small downsides:
– Singapore’s long-haul biz class seats are falling additional and additional behind the leading edge. At the least the airline is conscious of this, and not too long ago they dropped hints a couple of main upcoming seat redesign. With their subsequent era of seats, I wouldn’t be stunned if Singapore joints the suite elite.
– Not being able to take the seat between upright and fully-flat modes was awkward.
– Nearly as good because the meals was, it was unusual to not have a breakfast possibility for a full-day flight.
– The low lavatory-to-passenger ratio meant often needing to attend. A minor annoyance, however an annoyance nonetheless.
– What does an AvGeek must do to get exterior digital camera views round right here??
As all the time, if any of you’ve gotten tried this flight out your self (or aspire to!) and have ideas, share them within the feedback part under.
Logistical observe: Singapore has a number of every day flights into and out of the NYC space. Due to all of that capability there are generally nice offers on their ultra-long-haul flights with miles or money. I booked this flight with miles.
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