In 2020 Singapore Airlines (“SQ”) announced that it was absorbing its regional subsidiary Silk Air into its mainline operations, and from early 2021 some Silk Air Boeing 737s started to appear in full SQ livery, which was the first time in decades that SQ had operated single isle (narrow-body) aircraft.  These planes will cover all of SQ’s short regional routes, and slightly longer regional routes which are too thin for a wide bodied aircraft.  Mr A and I were booked to fly from Singapore to Phuket and back, in Business class.  I can’t tell you how much the tickets cost because our outward flight was part of a ticket from London, and the return was bought with miles, again as part of the journey to London. The northbound flight, SQ726, was scheduled to depart just 50 minutes after our flight from London’s scheduled arrival, but we landed early and the buggy assistance given to us ensured we were at the departure gate in good time (and our bags made it too).  It was a wet and overcast morning.

We boarded B737-800 registered 9V-MGB before 08:00 and noticed that the cabin had been refurbished as part of the SQ make-over, so everything was bright and clean. Business Class seating is in grey leather recliner chairs, arranged in a 2-2 configuration with a roughly 40″ pitch, over three rows and we sat in the third row, designated row 14!  SQ, for reasons unknown to me, always starts its Business Class rows at number 11, even when that’s the front row of the plane, and they don’t use no. 13 for reasons of superstition.  There are overhead screens for the safety briefings, but otherwise extensive in-flight entertainment is provided via i-pads in the seat pocket, though this doesn’t include a ‘moving map’ function, which I usually like to follow.

SQ’s short-haul Business class, whilst not as spacious and comfortable as its long-haul flights, is far superior to what national carriers offer within Europe. Better, wider seats, in a real cabin (not just a curtain dividing identical business and economy seats).

I counted 80 pax boarding, about half of the plane’s capacity, and doors closed five minutes early at 08:15 and push-back was at 08:20.  After taxiing to the threshold of runway 20R, we took off at 08:35 and headed north east, up the Malay peninsula over Malaysia and then into Thai airspace.

Shortly after take-off we had our second breakfast of the day! Mr A had a Malay breakfast while I had “scrambled eggs with cheese, Veal sausages, roasted tomatoes, button mushrooms and potatoes.  I think it was due to covid that the whole breakfast was served on one tray. I ate the main course before the fruit and yogurt, with a bucks fizz. I asked for some jam to have with my croissant, which was eaten with a cappuccino.

Thailand is an hour behind Singapore, and we landed into a deserted Phuket Airport at 09:00, well ahead of schedule.  All of our arrival covid-related documentation was checked quite efficiently, we passed through an empty passport check area, got our bags, had a PCR test, and we were in our hotel car at 09:30!

Our return flight one week later was SQ735, which was scheduled to depart at 18:00.  We arrived in very good time to find an almost deserted terminal building, but we had a short wait to check in at the Business class counter, because of all the paperwork which needed to be checked by the agent.  I’d booked wheelchair assistance again (which actually met me from our car, kerb-side!) and I was pushed through security to the Coral Executive Lounge, a shared business class lounge used by a few airlines and the paying public.

The Coral Lounge sits at the far right hand side of the departures level, but the SQ flights always leave from Gate 15, at the far left side of the building, so I was glad I was being pushed!

Inside the lounge was a food buffet and a mediocre selection of drinks; we just had a beer. There were windows at one end to let in natural light, but there wasn’t a view of the apron. There appeared to be an outside section, maybe for smokers, but it was closed off at this time.  Apart from us, there were only 2 other pax in the lounge.

We were the first pax to board B737-800 9V-MGD at 17:35, and from my front row seat I counted 38 other passengers walking past us; roughly a 25% load factor.  Consequently doors were closed ten minutes early at 17:50 and we pushed back from stand three minutes later.  It had been raining all that day in Phuket, but the rain had passed by the time we took off at 18:03 from runway 09.

After take-off I had a glass of SQ’s signature cocktail; a Singapore Sling. The drink is pre-made, but this one had a lot of juice sediment in it, so it wasn’t as smooth as it should have been.  We were then served dinner, and I chose chicken rice from the menu with three choices.  TBH I didn’t enjoy the texture of the chicken.  The hot-smoked salmon starter was quite palatable, but I didn’t care for the strange pieces of cauliflower with it.  Also on our tray was the ever-present garlic bread, but it tasted very stale.  BTW Mr A later asked me why garlic bread is served with every SQ meal, when it’s really not a common accompaniment across Malaya.

With our watched moved forward by one hour, we landed on Singapore Changi’s runway 20R at 20:31 and parked at stand A4 minuted later.

I think SQ’s short-haul business class on these ex Silk Air 737s is very good in terms of seat comfort, cabin cleanliness and quality, catering, entertainment and service standards. It’s more than acceptable for short flights.  I just wish European airlines would offer something as good. 9/10