The Route

The route between Perth and Singapore is by far the busiest international flight route into and out of Perth International Airport which services the West Coast of Australia and the capital of Western Australia. It serviced over 1 million yearly passengers immediately prior to the pandemic. Singapore much like for the rest of Asia-Pacific’s travelling public provides for an excellent transit hub for West Australians travelling further into Asia, Europe or even North America.

Whilst the frequency of flights can vary slightly per day, there are currently up to 6 daily return services between Perth and the Lion City. Singapore Airlines are the dominant and most established carrier on the route offering up to three daily flights which include morning, evening and overnight services whilst the airlines low cost budget subsidiary Scoot offers a further 1-2 daily services. The Australian flagship carrier who we flew on for this review offer a single daily service with their Airbus A330 aircraft with a leisurely afternoon service up to Singapore before an evening flight back to Perth. Singapore Airlines operates a mix of regionally configured Boeing Dreamliner and Airbus A350 aircraft on this service whilst Scoot operates older Boeing 787-8 aircraft on the route and occasionally Airbus A320 (in the overnight time slot offered by the former Tiger Air who operated the route). With all airlines expect flight time to be around 5 hours heading up to Singapore although it can be quicker on the return at around 4.5 hours.

As Perth’s most popular international route competition on the route is strong with good sale fares to be had across the board and reward seat availability across the full service carriers when booking in advance. Expect sale fares from Scoot to be often as low as $200 or even lower each way which is a great deal if travelling light on a budget from point a to point b but do expect luggage and optional extras to quickly add to the fare price. I purchased this all inclusive fare with Qantas as a Red E Deal approximately 3 months in advance for $598 return or $299 each way which I considered was an exceptional deal especially considering the surging costs of airfares as of late. Singapore Airlines were also running a similar sale at $588 return however free seat selection as Frequent Flyer member with Qantas got me over the line as Singapore Airlines were going to charge extra.

Checking in at Perth

First things first it is important to remember that Qantas’s limited but nonetheless very important international presence at Perth Airport is not based at Perth’s main international Terminal 1. Qantas actually operates there two current daily flights to Singapore and London from a small international section of Terminal 3 which is otherwise apart of the wider Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 domestic percent located on the other side of the airport and is currently exclusively operated by the Qantas group for all domestic flights and international flights (note Jetstar’s services to Bali are the exception which still operate from Terminal 1)

At Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 Qantas has the latest in kiosk and automated bag drop technology that can be used for both domestic and international flights meaning the whole process for checking in and bag drop usually only takes a few minutes. On this particular occasion however using the kiosks was not available meaning a trip to the manned counters as Qantas staff wish to verbally confirm from passengers that we had completed a Singapore Arrival Card declarations which are essentially an electronic version of the incoming passenger card with a few new questions related to communicable diseases in the current light of the covid-19 pandemic.

Anyway without being able to use the automated bag drop on this occasion the whole process of checking in only took around 5 minutes and with boarding pass in hand I was advised it was recommend to clear security at Terminal 3 as oppose to connected Terminal 4 however you can go through either to get airside domestically as you still need to complete another security check and clear immigration prior to being let into the small international departures lounge which is not much more than a glorified partitioned off gate of the domestic terminal which returns to domestic use outside of international departure times.

Seating in Economy Class

Whilst Qantas operates several variants of the Airbus A330 on this route for this particular flight as is most usually the case the flight is operated by an Airbus A330-200 which is configured for both domestic and medium haul international flights. The aircraft has a total of 271 seats. 28 lie flat business class seats featuring the Thompson Vantage XL Design can be found at the front of the aircraft in a 1-2-1 configuration whilst at the back of the bus there is 243 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration which does however taper off to a 2-3-2 configuration from row 54 backwards where I was seated.

Seat pitch for economy seats on the Airbus A330 is advertised as a respectable 31in with a width of 17.5in. Compared to Qantas’s rather cramped Boeing 737-800 aircraft which have just a 30in pitch, 5in recline and 17.2in start width. The seat itself is a comfortable and of the red-fabric kind an is equipped with an adjustable head rest. Also supplied were a blanket and a pillow which was nice touch and something that is not always supplied for a relatively short international flight these days even with full service carriers.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

This afternoon’s flight up to Singapore was inclusive of a lunch service and complimentary beverages. About an hour after takeoff lunch was served and I opted for the braised beef with mash and vegetables. It was reasonably well portioned although whilst it was ok it wasn’t excellent either with the beef being rather tough. Along with lunch complimentary drinks were served with a good variety of soft drinks, juices, beers and also wine available. After the lunch service the crew distributed ice-creams for deserts and followed up with a tea and coffee service which was great. Afterwards further requests for drinks were promptly entertained. Overall a pretty decent in-flight service by Qantas this afternoon and certainly an improvement over the standard of domestic flights although the quality of the meal could still be improved.

Entertainment

Qantas Airbus A330 aircraft either come equipped with in-flight Panasonic entertainment screens or iPads loaded with Qantas’s on demand entertainment system. This variant of the Airbus A330 comes equipped with the later whereby there is a tablet holder built into the seat-back ensuring a comfortable viewing angle similar to that of what you expect with a tradition IFE screen. Attached to the iPad’s is a strong casing and charging cable ensuring the device shouldn’t get damaged or run out of charge.

Once connected there is a reasonable (although certainly not humongous) range of movies, tv shows, music and other content. Strangely though there did not appear to be inflight information and a moving map which is slimly dissapeointng. Additionally the iPad’s must be stowed away in the seat pockets until after takeoff and again before landing meaning less time to watch entertainment than with he traditional IFE screens.

Unfortunately Qantas’ popular free in flight wifi is still not available on any international flights even if the aircraft are otherwise already equipped. On the flip side there is however the Qantas inflight magazine if you are a fan of some good old fashioned reading literature.

Arriving into Singapore

After some minor turbulance over the Shark Bay region of Western Australia and again over Indonesia we began our descent into Singapore’s legendary Changi airport slightly ahead of schedule just before 5pm local time ensuring a slightly early arrrival. Despite being a relatively busy time of day at Changi Airport bags were already arriving at the carousels by the time I made the lengthy walk to immigration which took around 15 minutes to clear courtesy of the E gates Australian passport holders can now use in Singapore. After clearing immigration my bag was already to pick up and with nothing to declare I was almost immediately out the door spilling into Changi’s impressive Jewel Shopping Complex and moments later into a refreshingly affordable Singapore taxi on my way to the Hotel. Very impressively I was at my central Singapore hotel within only about an hour after the plane touching down so you certainly can’t complain about Singaporean efficiency!

Summing Up

Overall today’s flight up to Singapore with Qantas was really quite hard to fault relative to the price I paid at $299 each way of $598 return. Whilst some aspects of Qantas’s service offering is by no means the flashiest and probably not to the same standard of Singapore Airlines they did well however in getting most of the basics rights in what I would expect from a full service carrier. Perhaps the lunch service could of been improved but the free flow of drinks was much appreciated as were the reasonably comfortable seating although the entertainment could be improved with a full service carrier you could righltyfully expect IFE screens for a full service carrier on a wide body international route. What does let certainly let Qantas down is flying from Terminal 3 which means passengers don’t get to enjoy the full range of shops, services and lounges available at Perth’s main international terminal so hopefully this is something that will be rectified in coming years.

Ultimately, however today’s flight was a real bargain for what I paid and coupled with good flight timing I arrived in Singapore refreshed and ready to take on a full weekend of sightseeing ahead.