QF52 SINGAPORE TO BRISBANE

THE NEW QANTAS A330 BUSINESS CLASS SUITES AND SINGAPORE LOUNGE | QF52 SINGAPORE TO BRISBANE

Today's overnight flight departs Singapore at 20:50 and arrives into Brisbane at 06:50. I arrive early at Terminal 1 for a mid afternoon check in and proceed through immigration to the new Qantas Singapore Lounge.

Opened in 2013, this new lounge is definitely one of the best business class lounges I've visited to date. Upon entry there is a full bar to the right side serving coffee, wine, mixed drinks, cocktails and draught Heineken and Tiger beer. The bar looks great and the staff are attentive and friendly.

Walking past the bar leads you to the dining area with a decent buffet selection and tables laid out in front of an open kitchen preparing a few daily made to order dishes. After pouring myself a glass of champagne, I took a seat at one of the tables where a waitress approaches to ask if I'd like something to eat from the small menu.

I chose the Grilled dory with Cucumber and Mint Salsa which was cooked and flavoured very nicely. 

I could have eaten a second portion but decided to wait a little and relax in the lounge as I had a few hours to kill. The decor is standard Qantas and looks very modern, warm and appealing. Definitely a nice place to relax for a few hours.

Later on, I decided to head back to the dining area and try the Thai green curry.

I grabbed some dessert from the buffet to finish off the meal. 

Overall, everything in the lounge tasted great and was in small portions which was good for sampling a few items.

By this stage, the lounge was getting much busier and the dining room was filling up. It was a good atmosphere without being too overcrowded.

I was impressed that the bar was offering Singapore Slings and it seemed every second person who went to the bar was ordering one. I also tried another cocktail that the bartender suggested but it wasn't quite as nice.

As boarding time drew closer, it was time to head downstairs to board the aircraft.

These seats look great and are very comfortable - the sleeper mattresses were already placed over the seats before boarding so that passengers could sleep straight away after take-off.

After takeoff, the supper service commenced. I had preordered a chicken dish from select on q that wasn't on this menu. 

The chicken was nice enough but by this stage I was quite full after eating in the lounge and struggled to finish it. 

After eating, I decided to get in a few hours of sleep. The flight attendant brought some T2 tea around the cabin before most people went to sleep.

I managed to sneak in a solid 4 hours of sleep before waking up to a sunrise over Queensland.

The mood lighting seemed to match the sunrise outside fairly well too.

The breakfast offering consisted of baked eggs with bacon, fruit salad and muesli. I ordered the baked eggs and fruit salad. It was perfectly adequate for this shorter flight from Asia. The baked eggs tasted great and were certainly better than a few other breakfast egg dished I've had on other airlines.

The landing and arrival into Brisbane was on time and smooth. This was my first time using Brisbane International and the arrivals and transfer to my domestic flight to Sydney was a very fast and efficient process. Overall this was a great flight. The Qantas lounge in Singapore is excellent with a great selection of food and drinks and combined with the new Qantas business seats make these overnight flights from Singapore very bearable indeed.

CX110 SYDNEY TO HONG KONG

CATHAY PACIFC A330 BUSINESS CLASS | CX110 SYDNEY TO HONG KONG

My flight today to Hong Kong is scheduled to depart at 07:30 and arrives at 15:15 Hong Kong time; nice timing for an early departure before peak hour with an early enough arrival for dinner in Hong Kong or an onwards destination in the region (mine being Taipei). 

I arrive nice and early to make use of the lounge facilities and relax before the flight. Check in is hassle free and I am also given a lounge pass for my transit in Hong Kong (despite my onwards flight to Taipei being in economy). 

Cathay uses the Qantas lounge which is located along a long hallway upstairs from the main departure hall. It is quiet at this time of the morning and it is still dark outside the windows. Perfect for watching the sunrise over the airport.

I settle in and grab some breakfast and a very early glass of champagne. Standard breakfast fare is on offer with bacon, eggs, hash browns, muesli, fruit and toast amongst other options.

After sitting back for an hour or so I head downstairs to the gate where there is a slight delay in boarding the aircraft. Boarding was however quick and efficient. This flight was operated by B-HLS delivered to Cathay in 2001. 

 The Cathay business cabin is very nice with smart neutral colours and mood lighting. The seats are spacious and provide plenty of privacy. We're soon taking off on this clear morning and menus and amenity kits are quickly distributed.

Shortly afterwards, the flight attendants come around to set up the tray table. A tray is brought around with bircher muesli, fruit salad and a really good buttery croissant. I also ask for a mango smoothie. Soon after a trolley comes around with the main course for breakfast. As I'd already had a Western breakfast in the lounge, I chose the Noodles with pork which was alright but could have had more flavour.

After breakfast I decide to order a Hong Kong milk tea and set up the seat into bed mode.

                             

As expected, the seat is very comfortable and has plenty of space. I manage to get a couple of hours sleep and wake up somewhere over Indonesia.

After watching a movie, I order one of the signature cocktails. I'm also impressed at how the flight attendants managed to address me by name on most interactions I had with them - it's a nice touch.

 Soon enough, we are only a few hours out of Hong Kong and it is time for lunch. Out came the entree with the spanner crab tart, scallop and prawn - a very good start to the meal though if you can't eat or don't like seafood there's no other entree options unfortunately. The flight attendant also came around with a bread basket of which I chose garlic bread.

I like the way Cathay allows you to look at and select your main meals off the trolley. Especially helpful for the more indecisive amongst us.

       

Beef cheek with parsley mash, broccolini and carrots             

Next up is the fruit and cheese trolley. I also opt for some port with the cheese.

               

 I decide to try dessert and manage to finish about half of it before giving up. Pralines are also brought around.

Before too long, we begin the rainy and stormy descent into Hong Kong. 

The plane lands on time however we are forced to sit back from the gate for about ten minutes due to a lightning warning preventing ground crew from preparing the aircraft for arrival.

Overall a very enjoyable flight on which you certainly won't go hungry. The food was good, the seat was comfortable and the crew were attentive and friendly.