[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by ranjithrnath

Here is a trip report of the inaugural flight of Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR. (Ultra Long Range) by Sam Chui, one of the worlds most followed aviation bloggers, vlogger, photographer and journalist.
I am a big follower of his Youtube channel.

Off topic, but this guy makes me cringe. He choreographs his "review", which makes the treatment and experience he receives only confine to him. An honest review cannot be trusted from this guy as he gets special privileges all the time like visiting the cockpit ! Which normal person will get this experience!
I try to follow "Non-Stop Dan" but he is also super annoying. In the end, I prefer to read "thepointsguy" or "onemileatatime" blogs which are to the point on experiences of their flights.

Coming to SQ22 & SQ21, my thoughts are, when you eliminate one flying class, the next closest class takes its place. So Premium Economy becomes "Economy" as the new normal. What problem I have with Premium Economy becoming Economy, the service levels drop. And in Premium Economy, you have paid more for a better seat AND service as well.

Still, this flight seems to be convenient based on timings and Singapore Airlines great service.

[RedHerring]

My personal choice is always to take the non-stop option irrespective of the duration of the flight. I have done India-US trips on Air India non-stop, through Europe on Jet and again through the middle east carriers and i value the non stop flights the most.

In fact i hate the middle east options the most. these flights are usually at 3-4AM which means you dont sleep that entire night waiting to board the plane. Once you board the flight and just start to doze off, they start serving food and wake you up due to the lights etc. Then when you are finally asleep, its already time to land. I always end up being grumpy when I land in Dubai/Abu Dhabi and then need to go through the long walk and then queue for security. It is just too much of a hassle. European stopovers are better in the sense that you can at least get a longer stretch of sleep.

[vishal9999]

Is there any online search engine which provides option to search flights by flight type . i.e : 737 , A380 , basically want to have information about flight type and how new is the flight.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by vishal9999

Is there any online search engine which provides option to search flights by flight type . i.e : 737 , A380 , basically want to have information about flight type and how new is the flight.

I guess you will need to subscribe (paid) to websites like Flightradar24 to get all the details like age of the aircraft and so on.

However, it is not a fool proof system as airlines shuffle their aircrafts (especially the 737/A320s) sometimes and then the details may be hard to find out before the flight actually takes off.

[SCORPION]

Originally Posted by vishal9999

Is there any online search engine which provides option to search flights by flight type . i.e : 737 , A380 , basically want to have information about flight type and how new is the flight.

If you type the flight number on Google search, you can normally get all the details about what aircraft is being operated on that route by the airline. You check the best flights that suit you on that route and then check on Google by flight number. I don't know if it will tell you how 'new' the flight is.

Is that what you mean, or did I get you wrong?

[AVR]

I am a big fan of long-haul flights having done the Dubai-SFO route many times along with the Delhi-New York flights. I am kinda blessed with the ability to sleep for however long I want if I am not at driving so I catch a few drinks - sleep and in a to-and-fro US India trip I end up watching a grand total of 1 movie (first-half in to and second-half in fro) with a long-interval

I sleep 5-6 hours on regular days but my sleep patterns are like camel's eating patterns. Grab as much when you can!

[yatrik]

Originally Posted by vishal9999

Is there any online search engine which provides option to search flights by flight type . i.e : 737 , A380 , basically want to have information about flight type and how new is the flight.

use google.com/flights it will give you the aircraft type as well.

[vishal9999]

Originally Posted by yatrik

use google.com/flights it will give you the aircraft type as well.

Yes i am aware of google flights ,but i fails to show age of aircraft as i prefer to travel only newer aircrafts.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by vishal9999

Yes i am aware of google flights ,but i fails to show age of aircraft as i prefer to travel only newer aircrafts.

You can download the Flightradar24 app, it can give you a lot of information including the age of aircraft (paid feature), so once you are done with your selection/ shortlist, you can check aircraft info. Though I am not aware if such information is available at the time of search/ booking anywhere.

[Nikhilb2008]

The best thing to use is Seatguru.

You enter your flight number, date and it will give the seat map of the exact aircraft you'll be taking. It will give you advice on which seats to avoid and which to target. There are also some reviews by flyers.

It will even give you smaller details like which seats have an entertainment box near your leg and things like that.

I've been very happy with Seat guru and it has made flying a little more convenient if I can choose better seats with their help.

[superbad]

In my humble opinion, flight experience all depends on the mental make up of the individual & his surroundings. A 19 hour flight can pass by in a jiffy if one is adequately prepared - neck pillow, eye mask, noise cancelling head phones, the works. On the other hand even a two hour flight with difficult co passengers - wailing kids, fidgeting individuals, loud mouthed persons, can seem like a never ending nightmare.
Given the advances in technology, I hope in the future a supersonic jet like the iconic Concorde, flies again and further reduce flight times.

[amoghchaphalkar]

I prefer non-stop long-haul flights primarily because I quickly fall asleep and getting a nice 12-13 hour sleep before reaching the destination ensures jet lag is less of an issue. In the early 2000's I used to take the Delta operated Mumbai-Atlanta which was a 16-17 hours non-stop flight.

After Delta discontinued that flight, I tried doing the KLM-Air France options (primarily because I was earning miles on Sky Team) but the Mumbai departure times, the 9-hour flights and the European airports were leaving me unimpressed.

For the past few years, I have been flying Emirates, and that is working out quite well. Leave Mumbai at 7 pm or 10 pm, reach Dubai and then take a long haul flight to the US. The A380's are a bonus and Dubai airport ensures the layover isn't dull.

[V.Narayan]

Some factoids for the interest of T-BHP's readers.

Before the advent on today's super long range airliners such as the Boeing 777-200LR and A350-900ULR the aviation endurance greats were the Russian Tupolev Tu-142M and the Japanese Kawanishi H8K. Both were long range maritime patrol aircraft. Here I am not touching experimental aircraft or gas filled airships which by definition are lighter-than-air machines.

Photo: Sputnik
The Tupolev Tu-142M was an all time Russian great with an endurance of 19+ hours of ocean patrol keeping lakhs of square kms of ocean under surveillance in one patrol. It is powered by four giant 14,795 shp turboprop engines driving 4 sets of contra-rotating props - 32 blades in all. The unique swept wing (for a prop aircraft) and contra-rotating props added to the endurance. Russia and India were the two operators. India recently retired its Tu-142M's after 29 years of accident free flying.

Photo: US Navy Museum of Naval Aviation
The all time endurance great is the Japanese Kawanishi H8K flying boat with a staggering endurance of 24 hours. It was used in WW2, by the Imperial Japanese Navy, to patrol the vastness of the Pacific ocean. Considering this machine was designed in the 1930s its endurance was superlative to say the least.

Passenger Travel Advisory: If you want to get even with someone send them on a 19-hour flight in a propeller driven aircraft. Rattling of teeth and joints for 7 days is guaranteed

[Foxbat]

This is a great thread to show off my Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 model. It's not the ULR version(Ultra Long Range model which comes with more internal fuel tanks) used on this worlds longest flight, but externally I don't think there is any difference.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

American air lines' quality of cabin service is uniformly bad and actually they work hard at being rude and bullying with, in my opinion, United being the pits and Delta the best of a bad lot. Of the Europeans, Lufthansa and KLM I find good in their cabin manners and in J class very good. The rest are so so to poor to rotten.

Totally agree, especially on domestic flights in the US its totally crap as if they are doing you a favour by serving you. Even in US domestic business class I found the service way below Business in Jet Airways in India or even Vistara in economy. A few weeks ago did Zurich to San Francisco in business on United Airlines on a 787, surprisingly the the service was decent but nowhere near the Etihad/Emirates levels.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by SCORPION

Thanks! Makes sense. But it also means that 161 people are paying for something that 300 odd people would have normally shared, albeit at different rates. Tickets must be really expensive.

I don't know how it works on flights.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

If they have two captains on board I wonder how that would work in terms who has the final authority? That might still be only one designated pilot/captain.

Jeroen

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

I would opt a non-stop flight when traveling alone but when traveling with family and especially kids, I would prefer to break the journey in between and take a couple of hours lay-over.

ULR is quite in demand at present and we will see more of these long haul flights in coming years.

Many interesting questions, so will try and answer a few.

1) The Singapore flight has 2 sets of captains and co-pilots. They work as two separate teams. When Captain 1 and Copilot 1 are flying, they are in charge and the other two are on designated rest break. When #2 & #2 are flying, the first set are also merely 'passengers'. Every emergency and scenario is taught in training as a two man team troubleshooting and trying to solve the issue. Same applies on this flight.

The flight plan of the airline will have details of who flies at what point in time - it's all pre-decided. Usually team 1 does takeoff and landing while team 2 does cruise. A lot of shorter (but still long haul) flights have a 3-crew set up. 1 Captain and 2 Copilots. The Copilots are together during cruise and captain is present during takeoff and landing. Interesting point: At the rear of this A350, where the center overhead bins would normally be is a sort of tub shaped thing which forms part of the crew rest area. Essentially a long & narrow bed.

2) Singapore flies their A380 to JFK via Frankfurt which has First, Business, Premium Eco and Economy. What their research found is that Business & Premium Eco travellers were most concerned about speed of travel. First class was concerned with luxury, Economy concerned with price. Hence, they chose to have this plane configured in this way. Please note that the aircraft can still carry 300+ in the ULR version. The choice of seating mix was made by SQ not by Airbus.

3) This aircraft would make BOM/DEL to Los Angeles flights possible along with improved economics if used to replace the 777-300 currently used for NYC/Chicago to BOM/DEL. Supposed to be the most silent twin-engined plane in the sky today. Further, it is an option for Qantas who want to do something called "Project Sunrise" flying non stop from East Coast USA/Canada to Australia.