Five hours was enough on Singapore Airlines' oldest, worst plane
Entertainment + tech
Under the seat is a universal power outlet compatible with Australian plugs and a USB-A port. These are shared between passengers on a two-between-three basis. Another deviation: There's no seat-back entertainment screens. A subset of the KrisWorld Entertainment system can be viewed from your own device; I've forgotten my headphones, so that counts me out. The crew provides headphones, to plug into the armrest to listen to one of the 12 channels, as in the olden days. Wi-Fi? I'm afraid not.
Service
Something that's not an anomaly is the service. The Singapore Airlines crew is as attentive and efficient as always. When I realise the overhead locker above my seat is reserved for crew use, a friendly crew member kindly whisks my bag to a space further forward.
Food
The spiced chicken in creamy tomato gravy is finished by the time the cart gets to me, but my fish arrabbiata pasta, and salad of barley, cucumber and smoked salmon are tasty. Wines, beers and spirits are complimentary and later there are individual tubs of ice-cream. Surprisingly, there is no menu card in the seat back, nor on the limited selection of KrisWorld entertainment on my device.
Sustainability
Among many airlines, Singapore Airlines has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.* Newer-generation aircraft help this cause by using less fuel, but not this one, which could be one reason the airline plans to replace it.
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One more thing
Singapore Airlines flies these dinosaurs on three routes, from Singapore to Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu. By October, the airline plans to replace all 737-800 NGs with the more modern 737-Max 8 (which it already flies, with Boeing 787 Dreamliners, on the Kathmandu route). Seat pitch in economy will remain the same, but all seats on the new planes will have entertainment screens and Wi-Fi. Business class seats will lie flat, standardising this in the entire fleet.
The price
From about $1600 return for economy class from Sydney or Melbourne**.
The verdict
Five hours was long enough on the worst Singapore Airlines plane. The service was excellent, the food was good, but this does not feel like a Singapore Airlines experience.
Our rating out of five
★★★
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