Singapore Airlines A380 premium economy

LONDON-SINGAPORE

BACKGROUND A couple of years ago Singapore Airlines (SIA) retired its oldest A380s, welcomed five new ones and retrofitted the rest with a new layout, cabin and seats. This flight was operated under the Singapore government's Vaccinated Traveller Lane programme (VTL) so all travellers on the flight were fully vaccinated and pre-approved. For further details on navigating the VTL programme, see our feature at businesstraveller.com.

CHECK-IN Although I had checked in online and chosen a seat, I was unable to get my boarding pass as all paperwork under the VTL needs to be checked at the airport. I arrived at 0910 for my 1055 flight at London Heathrow Terminal 2 which was busy with queues everywhere. The SIA check-in area had a long queue for economy and I had 16 people in front of me for the one premium economy desk. SIA staff were on hand checking paperwork before people reached the counter and the queue started to move quickly once the first and business desks became free. In total, it took 30 minutes to get my boarding pass.

BOARDING It is a fairly long walk to the B Gates where SIA flights depart. Boarding started at 1025 for first, business and premium economy. A bottle of water and care kit, containing hand sanitiser, face mask and wipe, were on a table on the jet bridge. Boarding seemed to go well, but due to an issue with passenger paperwork, the flight pulled away 25 minutes late.