Singapore Changi

The Sheraton in Singapore was nice and allowed me to stay in my room until 18:00. Despite the fact, that it was another five hours for my flight to Munich, I decided to head to the airport. Since I had to finish a report for work, it did not matter, if I finished it in the executive lounge of the hotel or the Silver Kris Lounge at Changi Airport. The taxi ride took a bit longer than I had expected, since it was still rush hour traffic. The Lufthansa counters were not yet open, but they have an early check in. There is no dedicated line for elite customers as well as premium classes, but the line was short and it took only a few minutes until it was my turn. I asked, if it was possible to check the luggage all the way to Düsseldorf, which was booked on a separate ticket and to my surprise it was not only possible but I also get my boarding passes for this flight. Though the agent mentioned, I should contact the transfer desk in Munich, he was not sure if everything was correct (well it was, as his Munich based colleagues assured me 17 hours later in MUC).

Immigration was no wait at all, one of the advantages of checking in early, and I decided to make use of the time the Royal Orchid Lounge of Thai which was still open and took the shuttle train over to terminal 2. I cannot remember, but I think, I have never been to terminal 2.

The agent was a bit surprised to see me there, but of course it was possible to access the lounge. I think it is still a nice, though not outstanding lounge. The only down it the restroom being located outside the lounge and the lounge has no windows. I checked e-mails and received a customer request for my small travel agency business, which I dealt with prior to my other duties. In so far, not a bad idea, since the WiFi in the Thai Lounge is much more stable than the one in the SQ Silverkris Lounge. After round about 70 minutes in the Royal Orchid Lounge I walked over to terminal 1 stretching my legs. I spent the remaining time in the SQ Lounge working on my report and enjoying the offerings of the crowded lounge.

I left the Silver Kris Lounge a few minutes before scheduled boarding time and walked to gate E 5 for the flight to Munich. In Singapore security is done before entering the gate and therefore it need some additional time.

There was a separate line for Business and First Class Passengers as well as Star Gold Passengers. Only one passenger queued at the Business Class Line, while the Economy Class line was with five passengers not that long either. Unfortunately the passenger at the Business Class Line was questioned about the purpose of the trip and the whereabouts which took some time. In the end, I would have been faster if I took the Economy Class Line. A wheelchair arrived also and of course I let the service staff with the elderly lady pass.

As usual it was laptop out of the carry on and on the belt. No beep this time and I do not why, as I had the same jeans, same shoes and the same belt than a few days before. Anyway, I stored by belongings and entered the waiting area. Boarding had not yet started and after five minutes the announcement was made about the boarding process. First passengers traveling in First Class as well as HONs and family with small children and those, who need some additional minutes for boarding were allowed to board the plane and it seems, it was enforced, because one passenger was sent back to the waiting area. Soon later it was Business Class, Star Gold and that was the moment I headed to the jetbridge. Boarding by classes was enforced, as the already mentioned passenger was turned away as he tried to access the jetbridge again.

Onboard the plane, I was greeted and shown directions to my seat. It was, as expected the same crew, than on my flight two days before.

05 May 2011
SIN – MUC
[Singapore Changi – Munich Franz-Josef Strauß]
LH 791 (Lufthansa); Boeing 340-300 (D-AIGO / ‘Offenbach’)
Gate E 5
23:05 – 05:50 (+1) [effective 23:08 – 05:45 (+1)]
Business Class
Seat 3K

My seat mate had not yet arrived and so I stored my belongings in the overhead bin. The flight attendant from First Class recognized me and we chatted a bit about the time in Singapore, later the purser joined us. My jacket was taken by this occasion and hung in the closet.

Pre departure drinks were offered; again it was champagne, orange juice, water and Singapore Sling cocktail. Blankets, pillows and amenity kits were already placed in the seat, as usual.

The cabin filled with passengers and the plane was full with nearly every seat taken, only in First Class seems to remain two seats free. The safety video was shown while we were still at the gate. The captain welcomed us on board and informed us about expected flight time and the weather in Munich. Later, the purser also welcomed us over the microphone and announced the safety video, which was shown while we were still at the gate.

Glasses from pre departure drinks were collected and then we were pushed back and taxied for the runway and without any long wait we were airborne at 23:22.

Our Airbus A 340-300 had a different configuration as the inbound flight. It offered the same number of seats in First Class, but had only 36 seats in Business Class but 197 seats in Economy Clas. This Airbus A 340-300 was named after the city of Offenbach and joined the Lufthansa Fleet as new plane on August 07th, 1998. It made its first flight on July 17th, 1998. It had the same engine type, as the CFM56-5C4 was the only one available for the A 340-300. The bigger Airbus 340-500 and Airbus 340-600 was also available with Rolls Royce Trent engines.

We climbed into the sky and after 15 minutes or so, the seat belt signs were turned off and the crew began to prepare the service. First, the printed menus were distributed and soon later a first beverage round was done. I opted for a glass of bitter lemon. I read a bit in a newspaper I took while boarding the plane.

It is the same menu as on Singapore to Frankfurt, but I had another look at the menu (click on the menu / opens new window)

After approximately one hour flight time, the crews laid the table with linen. A few minutes later the carts arrived and the first row was asked what they wanted a starter course. Since I had eaten in the lounge, I decided to take only the main course. The flight agent then asked me, if I would like to have it right now and which of the three available options I would prefer. I told her I would like to have the Romanine Lettuce Wrappers and approximately five minutes later it arrived. I had a glass of the Chardonnay with the main course. It was good, but the knife could have been a bit sharper, because it was difficult to cut the wrappers. My tray was collected along with the first course tray from the rest of the cabin. Since I did not want to disturb my seat mate too much, I skipped the visit at the lavatories and lowered my seat, put it in a full flat position, put my eye shade on and slept for the next eight hours or so, interrupted only a few times.

Main Course
Romanine Lettuce Wrappers

I do not know why, but on this trip I could really sleep very well, might it that I have been quite tired, might it that the seat was more or less fully flat and could sleep in my preferred position.

I woke up as the cabin lights were already switched on and the crew was about to prepare the breakfast service, which I skipped. I only took a croissant and a coffee – what I call a French Breakfast and as I mentioned it, the flight attendant just handed me a croissant and a coffee and smiled. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised and usually I had to add that was coffee and croissant, but not this time. Additional rounds offering refills of coffee or tea were done and also additional pastries, rolls, croissants and slices of bread were offered from a basket.

Later after the items from the breakfast service were collected, the crew began to prepare the cabin for the arrival and the seat belt signs were turned on. The captain already had updated us with new information about flight time and weather in Bavaria’s capital. The last minutes in flight were more relaxed than on the Frankfurt bound flight. The crew took their seats much later and I think it was about five minutes before they went to their stations, for sure much later than their counterparts from Frankfurt on LH 779.

We touched down at 05:44 and taxied to our gate at terminal 2. I was among the first passengers off the plane and headed upstairs to immigration. I took the stairs and was the first one there. From what I could see, only the SQ flight had arrived, the other flights, e.g. the one from Hong Kong, were behind us and so I hurried up since this means good changes for a shower in the lounge. There was only one other passenger queuing at immigration and so no waiting time, because four officers were on duty. Stairs down and a quick visit at the First Class check in asking about my luggage. The agent told me everything was fine and my luggage was tagged correctly. With an already busy airport, the lines at security were long, but waiting time okay. After ten minutes I had passed it. No additional check of my camera was necessary. Well, we see if this was an exception or becomes the rule next week.

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