Welcome to my return flight trip report on Qantas A380!
This is Qantas A380 parking at a remote parking lot after arriving from Singapore on QF1 around 6.40 a.m and it would depart on the same day later as QF2 on the flight back to Sydney via Singapore.
Introduction
I wasn't looking forward to going home as I thoroughly enjoyed myself in London especially the cooler weather and more exciting places to visit compared to my country. However, I would return in November depending on a few factors to bring my mum to another city of her choice! I quite looking forward to showing her around Athens and visiting Santorini (Greece).
Anyway, checking on which aircraft I would be flying on, I was able to do so a day before my flight departure (SYD-SIN) and thanks goodness, I was flying on a different A380, VH-OQH. If I was flying a day later, I would fly back on the same aircraft I flew to London (VH-OQD). This time round, I decided to choose the seats just in front of the wing to enjoy the wing and engine view photos (you can see them in my later part of the trip report). Is this flight better than my previous? Read on to find out. So without further ado, let's begin another trip report on Qantas A380 Economy Class Trip report. Please enjoy!
My time in London
This is Wopping neighbourhood, I stayed at a government flat thanks to Airbnb. The flat was small but comfortable.
Sometimes you encounter ducks and swans in this canel.
This building certainly caught my attention!
One of the streets in London
This is outside Liverpool Street Tube Station.
Night action near Regent Park
Delicious Turkish cuisine
This beef is really delicious
Tower Bridge
The tube tracks near Chalkfarm tube station
This is Primrose park.
The view from the top of the hill
We walked to Regent Park after spending some time enjoying some waffles while watching the sun set.
Sunset is always beautiful.
The view from my sister's apartment.
A delicious meal with my mum before we head for the airport.
Goodbye London!
Our flight to Singapore was in the evening so I hang around at my sister's place until afternoon. As the Piccadilly line was having severe delays, we took the expensive 13 pounds one-way ride to the airport from Liverpool Street Station.
I fly in and out of this terminal more frequently than the other terminals at Heathrow.
Welcome to Terminal 3!
This is Qantas' check-in area
I did the self check-in for both of us as we had baggages to check in.
Checking the seat map, it wasn't a full flight and lady luck smiled on us as we had the aisle seat vacant.
The check-in process was straight forward but the luggage tag was a challenge as I found it difficult to remove the sticker and it took a while before finally able to tag onto my bag.
Off my luggage it goes!
If I could pick another destination to go instead of Singapore, I would like to head back to Sao Paulo!
Now off to some duty free shopping. We bought some last minutes snacks and chocolate for the folks back home.
Lots of shops to check out and complimentary wifi is available, but you need to register in order to access.
This is British Airways Lounge. British Airways operates flights out of Terminal 3 and 5 at this airport.
It was quite crowded as there were many flight departure at that time.
My partner bought us some nice warm food to enjoy from a Japanese eatery.
After the meal, I went to do some plane spotting.
This is Hainan Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner operating on Changsha to London Heathrow route.
Japan Airlines Boeing 777-300ER getting ready for departure to Tokyo Haneda Airport.
I went for a walk to check out Virgin Atlantic's aircraft.
The beautiful Virgin Altantic's A330-900neo just pushed back for departure.
The airline's Airbus A350-1000
The airline's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Qantas Lounge is located near our departure gate, gate 1.
Once the time was close to our departure time, we headed over to our assigned gate.
There she is, VH-OQH!
Our assigned gate 1.
It is large enough to accommodate the capacity size of A380 passengers.
After a short wait, it was time to board.
My ride: VH-OQH (Photo: Paul McCarthy)
Flight route: LHR-SIN
Miles: 6,765
My seat: 51A (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
Date of departure: 4th March 2024
Airline: Qantas
Flight: QF2
Route: LHR-SIN
Aircraft type: Airbus A380
Registration: VH-OQH
Departure Terminal: 3
Gate: 1
Load: About 70% in Y Class
Schedule Departure: 1945
Boarding: 1909
Pushed back: 1954
Take Off: 2016
Flight Time: 12 hours 35 minutes
Actual Flight Time: 12 hours 49 minutes
Schedule Arrival: 1745
Actual Arrival: 1705
Departure Runway: 09R
Arrival Runway: 02L
First Class Cabin
There are 14 First Class seats designed by Marc Newson in a 1-1-1 seating configuration located at the front lower deck of the A380 aircraft. These seats were introduced in 2020 and is based on the open suites concept. Each seat is about 22.5 inches wide and can be converted to a lie-flat bad. Each suite comes with a 18 inch touchscreen HD display, an ottoman that can used as a buddy seat, 2 secure storage cubbies, fold-down cocktail table, a lamp and 2 air nozzles located at the seat shell. Lastly, universal AC an USB-A sockets are available.
Each F class passenger receives, a mattress pad, a blanket and a pillow.
What I don't like about these seats is that is it s quite far away from the window, so I don't consider them as window seats in my opinion. Of course, one can sit at the ottoman to enjoy the outside view.
I gave this seat a try for a short while and I find it to be quite comfortable.
The view from the seat I was checking out.
A few more photos of the first class seat
Have you tried Qantas First Class product on the A380?
Economy Class Cabin
These are the Recaro seats designed by David Caon, configured in a 3-3-3 configuration located at the lower deck of the A380. There are 3 cabins with the front cabin located just behind the First class cabin. The cabin is identical to the other A380 I flew into London so I won't go much details into this.
This time, I decided to choose the front cabin so that I can enjoy the view of the wing with the engines.
The Scarlet red seats do look great in this A380 cabin.
The view of the cabin before the rest of the passengers board the aircraft.
Seat selection on the mobile app for me displayed rows from row 50 onwards, I guess row 49 is for higher tier travellers? Correct me if I am wrong.
Notice the gap between the window seat and the window.
This set of great crew was one of the highlights of this flight.
Each passengers received a headset, pillow and a blanket on this flight.
A few more photos of the airline's A380 Y class cabin.
The work station was just a few rows in front of us.
The door was closed and we were on our way.
The cabin interior photographed during the flight.
This staircase is located at the rear of the A380.
There is a snack bar for each passenger.
The view of my seat after the flight.
What's provided for each passenger?
Pillow
Safety Card
A bottle of water
Amenity kit
Universal AC socket
USB-A port
This was the vacant aisle seat which I get to enjoy extra legroom space.
Boarding the aircraft was by zone and the process finished quite fast. The flight turned out to be only 70% full which is quite surprising but it is always nice to have a vacant seat beside you. Later on during the flight, there were a few lucky ones manage to get the whole row to themselves. Unfortunately there was a inconsiderate traveller sitting at the centre seat of the bulkhead row, stretched and placed his dirty shoes against the wall. None of the crew walking past his seat, told him off. I suppose they didn't want to create drama and the possibility of returning to the gate if that country bumpkin refused to oblige. Fortunately, after sometime during the flight, he sat properly for the rest of the flight. It is just annoying that some can't sit properly or be considerate towards others.
After take off, the ride was generally smooth as we greeted with a great view of the city before flying above the clouds. The cabin crew were great as they came around many times during the flight to serve water and of course the 2 meals we received. Not only that, after the first meal, they came around to serve chocolate drink with marshmallow and that was delicious. Despite the Qantas online criticism, my flight experience with the airline on both flights were overall pleasant but the main issue was the hardware product and if they sort that out and the other issues the airline is facing, I think the airline can be as competitive as the top airlines in the world.
Anyway, for our flight, we were flying with the tail wind reducing our flight time, therefore the flight time was shorter but due to the heavy traffic at Singapore, we had to circle around for a few times before being given the green light to land at the airport, so even with the delay, we arrived about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. For some of the passengers travelling to Sydney, they had to disembark at Changi and stay at the transit area for an hour or so before reboarding the aircraft for its final journey to Sydney.
Just like my previous flight, I enjoyed the meal and in-flight service and this has given me a better impression of this airline. I was fortunate that everything went well.
Lavatory Check
The lavatory was clean and spacious.
In-Flight Entertainment System
Just like the IFE system on VH-OQD (aircraft on my previous QF flight), the touchscreen response was poor.
In-Flight Meals
Before our dinner, we were given a packet of Pretzels and a choice of beverage.
This is my favourite ginger beer! Bundaberg is an Australian brand.
Are there anyone else a big fan of this drink?
For dinner, we were given a choice of beef, chicken salad or vegetarian pasta. I chose the chicken salad option. It was not bad!
While my partner chose the beef option which was better. I could have gone for the beef option but I wanted to post both options to let you readers have an idea of the London-Singapore meal options for Qantas. Unfortunately, no photos of the Vegetarian option.
Hot chocolate with Marshmellow with another Australian's product, Tim Tam's chocolate.
Hours into the flight, the crew came around and distribute the hot snack to those who were awake.
This is the Chicken and Bell pepper pastry. Not bad!
For breakfast, we were given 2 choices. Fresh Fruits or English Breakfast. Both of us chose the same option as we were quite hungry at that point.
Window View (Take off to Landing)
Just took off from London Heathrow!
Unfortunately, the crew didn't or forgot to turn off the cabin lights.
This was taken about 8 hours into the flight and the sun was already out.
I am certainly a fan of these type of this view.
At this point, we started our descent into Changi Airport.
We were on final approach onto runway 02L, greeted by the familar sighting of the Eastern part of Singapore.
I have to say the flight went pass quite fast and it was enjoyable.
Reverse thrust was deployed (only on the 2nd and 3rd engine) to slow the aircraft down to taxi speed.
Due to the presence of the warm air condensating on the cooler surface of the window, it became foggy and I wasn't able to take anymore photos.
My flight summary
Back in my homeland!
With that, my 2 weeks trip came to an end. Time always fly especially when you are having fun!
Goodbye VH-OQH, thanks for the enjoyable ride.
This is terminal 1
It didn't take long for our baggages to turn up and we were on our way home after that.
My ratings
Airline Mobile app/website: 3.5/5
Airport Experience (LHR Terminal 3): 3.5/5
In-Flight Service: 4/5
In-Flight Entertainment System: 2.5/5
Seat Comfort: 3.5/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Cabin Condition: 4/5
Punctuality: 5/5
In-Flight Snack/Meal: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Overall rating: 39/50
Percentage: 78%
Conclusion
My return flight with this airline was certainly more pleasant than my previous flight with the vacant aisle seat and the excellent cabin and flight crew on this flight. For the hardware products, the airline could certainly do to ensure that the seats, charging ports and the IFE system to be in working order. Not an easy task especially the size of the aircraft and a lot of hours needed to get this aircraft in tip-top condition, but that is needed to ensure that each passenger gets as much comfort as possible especially for Economy Class for long haul flights. The issue I had on this flight is the charging ports at my row not working but fortunately our phone batteries were enough to last the flight duration.
My impression of the airline? I thought the in-flight meals and service on both flights were great but the condition of the IFE system on both A380 (VH-OQD and VH-OQH) have certainly seen better days, so for those particular in the IFE system, keep your expectation low. Although the contents in the IFE system is limited, there are enough to keep you occupied for the flight duration. I wonder whether the airline has plans to install WiFi on the A380, maybe not but if the IFE contents is not to your satisfaction, just use your laptop or Ipad and make sure they are fully charged before flying. Hopefully the charging ports are working. One has to be more patient with the IFE system especially if you are used to flying with airlines with top notch IFE system.
I am glad to finally fly on this airline after a long wait! I had a chance to fly with this airline from Singapore to Jakarta on the airline's 747SP in the early 2000s and that is a mistake that I hope I won't repeat. Will I fly on this airline? Perhaps on the airline's A350-1000 and try the Boeing 787-9 as well. Qantas will be operating the world's longest flight with the A350-1000 ULR (Ultra Long Range) version on the Sydney-London Heathrow route and that would be a whopping 20 hours plus of flying, will you be keen to fly on this flight or prefer to take a layover in between both cities.
Thanks for reading this part 2 of my Qantas trip report!
For my part 1 of Qantas QF1 flight from SIN-LHR, click here
For my previous trip report (Flying with TAP from LIS-LHR), click here
Have a good one!
Charles
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