Review - Singapore Airlines Business Class A350-900 Singapore to Chengdu Tianfu
SQ846 SIN-TFU
March 12th, 2025
In-transit:
In my last review, I wrote about how an airline I used to love seemed to be going downhill. In this review, however, the reverse is true? Y’all know Singapore Airlines and I have a complicated history. While I wouldn’t say I hated Singapore Airlines, it certainly wasn’t in my good graces either. Well, I recently traveled on Singapore again, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but is Singapore Airlines, great again? Maybe it was just the stark contrast of two miserable Turkish flights, but this medium-haul Singapore Airlines flight was actually… perfect???
Since I had a checked bag, I stopped by the check-in counter. I originally booked premium economy class through Singapore Airlines’ Spontaneous Escapes program, which allows you to book discounted award tickets for a particular month. The routes and classes change monthly. I paid 18,550 KrisFlyer miles for this 4-hr flight, which I consider to be a great deal for premium economy. I never intended to travel in premium economy, though, lol. I enquired at check-in about the upgrade and was quoted SGD500. I thought the price was fair, and my ticket was processed within minutes.
Lounge:
I’ve reviewed the renovated SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 in a previous post, you can check it out here. One thing I noticed this time was how warm the lounge was. I had to sit in front of an air purifier just to get some airflow.
Boarding:
Upon boarding, I was greeted by a group of very friendly cabin crew and was, omg you won’t believe it, escorted to my seat by a lovely flight attendant named Nurin.
Singapore Airlines’ A350s feature the most common business class product you’ll find at the airline, as it’s available on all long-haul A350s, including the ULR variants, as well as on all the B777-300ERs. These two aircraft types are the backbone of Singapore Airlines’ long-haul fleet. The A380s feature a slightly updated version of these seats, but the structure is the same.
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Cabin
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Cabin
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Cabin
For any first-time flyers, one thing that will stand out about these seats is how incredibly wide they are. You could easily fit two Lululemon models in one of them.
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
The hack to make a flight even more enjoyable is to secure one of the bulkhead seats, as there’s an infinite amount of legroom. They are basically first class seats at this point. Just to give you a direct comparison, the below is the legroom for non-bulkhead seats.
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Seat
Awaiting at each seat were a bottle of water, a pair of headphones as well as slippers and eye mask.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Headphones SIN-TFU
Singapore Airlines Business Class Headphones SIN-TFU
Singapore Airlines Business Class Slippers SIN-TFU
I was seated in the rear cabin, housing 16 business class seats. Four seats ended up being occupied, while the forward business cabin was around 80% full. Shortly after settling in, I received a proper welcome from the crew and was offered a pre-departure drink. I was asked if I wanted a bellini, which sounded like a novel addition to Singapore Airlines, so I took them up on that. A hot towel accompanied.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Welcome Drink SIN-TFU
Singapore Airlines consistently offers menus on all flights, which is no doubt a premium touch. The menu and the extensive beverage list read as follows:
I gazed out of the window and spotted another A350 a couple gates over. Singapore Airlines is usually the first mover on new planes. Just to give you perspective on how long Singapore has operated the A350s - the business class IFE doesn’t even have touchscreens… Some other airlines are just taking delivery of A350s for the first time.
Singapore Airlines A350-900 at SIN
Inflight:
After takeoff, the crew went into action and started the service with an apéritif. I of course asked for a Singapore Sling, of which I forgot to photograph. Oops.
40 minutes into the flight, appetizer was served. When the crew took my orders, I asked if I could try the Shi Quan Wei Mei menu, which was a special menu created by one Michelin-starred chef Zhu Jun, available exclusively on routes to China. Since I upgraded at check-in, they didn’t cater a spare set. However, they came back after checking and told me they could serve me the appetizer and the dessert from that menu, just not the main course.
I don’t think I was ever impressed by Singapore’s business class catering, but I was happy to have a starter on Singapore that wasn’t some kind of smoked salmon, lol.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Lunch Appetizer SIN-TFU
The starter was an eel dish in a salted egg yolk roll with asparagus and mushroom salad. It was, uhh, interesting. Somehow this was paired with some kimchi, which was so random.
For my main course, I had pre-booked the bak chor mee from Singapore’s Book the Cook menu. It really hit the spot. It might have been the best dish I had on Singapore.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Lunch Main Course SIN-TFU
The dessert from the special menu was creamy roasted walnut soup with pearl sago. Desserts don’t get more Asian than this. I’d be surprised if one pinch of sugar was added to this thing.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Lunch Dessert SIN-TFU
Being the cheesecake-eating American I’ve now become, this healthy granny-pleasing longevity elixir didn’t quite poke my fancy. The astute crew noticed I barely touched it and offered to get me something else, which was a nice gesture. Meal service was wrapped up an hour into the flight.
On Arrival:
We had a smooth touchdown at Tianfu 20 minutes ahead of schedule and were guided to our gate.
Arrival at TFU
Well, that was an unexpectedly pleasant flight with Singapore Airlines. The crew on this flight were delightful. It was obvious from the moment I stepped onboard that they were genuinely enthusiastic about being there. The purser was hilarious, because every 2 minutes I’d just overhear him exclaim “pandas!” to passengers. My flight attendant Nurin was the textbook example of a “Singapore Girl”. She cleared any rubbish around my seat within moments, noticed that I didn’t like my food and folded my blanket while I went to the lavatory - just a classically trained veteran. Although she was just wearing the blue sarong.
TFU
China isn’t known for having the best airports in the world, but it sure is trying. I mean which other airport will arrange the luggage carts like a military parade, lol.
When you get a good crew on Singapore, you understand what the hype is all about. I wish it happens to me more often.