As I booked my ticket later than usual when planning this trip, thanks to the change in Royal Railway’s timetable which brought me to Bangkok instead, airfares between full-service and low-cost carriers were minimal. Taking costs and services into account, I decided to go for Singapore Airlines to go back home. I picked a flight operating with the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner to try out their new product as well, this time, with Singapore Airlines SQ983 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Singapore.
Despite having checked-in online already, I had a bag that I wished to check-in, so I had to queue at the manned counters.
While there is a separate line for internet check-in people, I decided to go for the regular Economy Class queue since the queue was almost the same length but there was more counters in the regular queue.
There are 3 counters for regular Economy Class check-in but only 2 for internet check-in. I spent about 10 minutes queuing here, which was faster than the internet check-in queue, as I had placed a mental marker of the last person in the queue to compare it to. That person had only moved through half the queue. I made the right choice then.
The screen for Economy Class check-in.
As I had already done my check-in online, the whole process was rather quick as I only needed to drop-off my bag and get a boarding pass along. Here’s my boarding pass for my Singapore Airlines SQ983 flight from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Singapore, which will also be my first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner flight.
My baggage tag was given in a separate receipt. Yup, I checked in a 5kg bag because I could.
Heading up for security screening.
Goodbye Bangkok. It was just as if I just got in. Oh wait.
Heading to the queue for security screening. This took another 10 minutes.
Once done, it was down to passport control.
The crowd at passport control was massive, with staff policing around to make sure no one took photos of the packed hall. At one point of time, they even had to check the crowd upstairs and downstairs using the stopped escalator, in order to consider stopping the other escalator from feeding passengers into the packed immigration hall. Luckily, Singaporeans could use the auto gate for immigration, but the queue still took about 30 minutes.
Once done with immigration, I had just a little bit of time to walk around the transit area before heading to my gate.
As such, I took the long way through the shops rather than the immediate escalator to the D gates.
No changes to my gate so far, and no boarding calls yet. Excellent.
Heading past some shops in the transit area.
Heading down the escalator to the gates at the end of the concourse.
Concourse D is the same as the main shops, which makes it very convenient to walk to from immigration.
Heading to Gate D6 where my Singapore Airlines SQ983 flight was departing from. There’s a security table for random bag checks too, but this time, I didn’t have to get checked.
The flight information screen at Gate D6.
Heading into the gate.
In case I missed the flight information screen, there’s also a pull-up banner for Singapore Airlines along the path down to the gate hold room.
Heading down to Gate D6.
Unfortunately, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport’s curved and far-away windows do not allow for a good picture of the aircraft at night. 9V-SCK will me flying me home tonight. This aircraft was just delivered on 3 April 2019, so it’s a barely 4-month-old aircraft at the time of my trip – which makes it almost brand new.
Waiting in the gate hold room before my flight. Boarding passes are scanned before entering the gate hold room.
As I was seated in Group 6 at the front of the plane, I was the last group to board, so I just decided to be the last to board anyway.
Heading through my private gate.
Argh, I got in too fast. Time to stand in the queue on the aerobridge.
Only one aerobridge is in use for the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
Queuing down the aerobridge.
Newspapers and headsets are free to take before boarding the aircraft.
Heading through the Business Class section of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
A little preview of the new Singapore Airlines short- to medium-haul Business Class seats. Unfortunately, my budget doesn’t allow for this hop.
The galley with a new aircraft smell coming from it.
Heading into the Economy Class section.
My aisle seat in the Forward Zone for this trip.
The excellent legroom on this new Singapore Airlines short- to medium-haul Economy Class seat.
The seat back also has a wide IFE screen and a couple of convenient amenities such as a rigid pocket and a cup holder.
The attendant call and reading light buttons, USB charging port and headphone jack are located on the left of the seat back.
A universal power socket is also located between seats below in front of you.
The view of the aircraft from my Forward Zone Seat.
Logging in to the IFE, I had an option to key in my Krisflyer details to save my IFE where I had left off to my next SQ flight. Here’s the future of flying – to be loyal to an airline to binge-watch Korean dramas or something.
The initial screen of the IFE.
Once everyone is on board, the hot towel service commenced. I think Singapore Airlines is the last airline to actually offer a true hot towel service for Economy Class passengers.
My hot towel which was a refreshing end to the long day of commuting from Ban Klong Luk Border.
The hot towel has a Singapore Airlines logo embossed on it.
The estimated flight path back home.
The safety video was played during pushback.
Cabin lights were slowly dimmed during the safety video.
Some screen grabs of the safety video.
View the Singapore Airlines safety video here:
After take-off, the cabin lights were brightened to a purpley-orangey hue, slightly reminiscent of Singapore Airlines’ corporate colours.
As the meal service would shortly commence on this short flight, I got my table ready. The tray table can be folded out to the initial half-size first which includes a groove to place a cup and a tray mirror.
The full-size tray table would fit the regular meal tray, plus a groove for a cup as well.
There was a western and Asian option, and I chose the western one without thinking much.
My meal was a Beef Stroganoff with Mashed Potatoes, served with a side Thai salad, a coconut milk and sago dessert and a pre-cupped water. For drinks, I got a red wine and apple juice.
The beef was very tender with 4 or 5 chunks of it. The sauce goes well with the vegetables and mashed potatoes too.
After dinner, time for a toilet break. The toilet was very clean.
The sink area of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
The usual Singapore Airlines amenities are located at the side.
I was trying to find the holy grail of amenities in the toilet and I found that it is located on top beside the mirror on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
However, only toothbrush kits seems to be available on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. Not sure if it’s due to the short flight time or that the other stuff had already ran out.
Disembarking through the aerobridge at Terminal 3.
Looking back at the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. Not a good photo opportunity here too.
Heading out through the long aerobridge.
Oh, I think I know where I am now.
I was parked in the far area of Gates A16-A21.
Two paths from here.
I could follow the signs to arrival along the travellator path like what a lot of people are doing…
… or I could just get the Skytrain.
Skytrain it definitely is.
Heading to the active platform.
Looks like I had just missed the train, with the train now at Terminal 3 Arrival & Transfer.
The welcome sight of Changi Airport from Terminal 3 Gates A16-A21.
The incoming train to take me to Terminal 3 Arrival & Transfer.
The Skytrain cars on this transit-only line comes in a JEWEL livery, despite the train not passing through or by JEWEL.
The interior of the Skytrain.
Heading off to Terminal 3 Arrival & Transfer.
Once at the Terminal 3 Arrival & Transfer Skytrain station (Station A), immigration is just down the escalator.
Heading down for arrival immigration.
Once out in like 30 seconds, I headed to the arrival belts.
My bag would be coming out of Belt 43.
This time, as my walk from the plane to the arrival belt was pretty fast thanks to the forward zone seat and Skytrain, the bags were surprisingly not out yet.
At least the waterfall and green wall didn’t make the 5-minute wait unbearable.
After picking up my bag, it was out to the public area as usual.
As my arrival was quite late, I got a taxi back home.
Overall, a rather pleasant flight on Singapore Airlines on board the brand new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. I’m surprised that this seat is considered a short-haul product as it certainly is more comfortable than tonnes of long-haul Economy Class products out there in the skies, even more so than the Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200 which could be thrown onto New Zealand routes nowadays too. The restricted fare I got for this flight was quite competitive too, in fact, it was cheaper than Scoot, fare to fare, hence my decision was a no-brainer. The short flight from Bangkok means that I couldn’t catch a movie though, but that’s not really a problem since all I needed this time was a mode of transport back to Singapore.