Key Details

Date: 2nd May 2023

Flight No: QF72

Route: Singapore to Perth

Aircraft: Airbus A330-200

Cabin: Economy

The Route

The route between Singapore and Perth 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 Jewel Singapore Changi Airport

All of Qantas’s International flights from Singapore Changi Airport depart from Terminal 1 which is conviently located directly adjacent to the stunning Jewel Changi Airport Shopping and Entertainment Complex. Impressively, there is more than one way that you can check in and bag drop in Singapore, in addition to the usual web check. In Terminal 1 you can check in as usual at the departures hall whereby Qantas has the latest in self service kiosks and bag drop technology making for an effortless and easy process which is available up until 4 hours before departure. Its great to see Qantas to be amongst the first airline’s to adopt the latest technology at Changi!

Alternatively, as we did today we took advantage of the early check in feature offered by Jewel Changi Airport. Available up to 3 hours prior departure for select airlines which include Singapore Airlines, Qantas and several others the facility allows you to take the opportunity to arrive early for your flight to explore the massive Jewel Complex first including its impressive indoor Vortex Rain Waterfall and the over 300 shops and restaurants on offer!

The early check in feature pretty much is the same process as checking in over at Terminal 1 and helps saves you the hassle of having to lug your larger bags around the shopping complex with you! Just don’t forget to put any larger items you buy there first into your checked luggage before you check it in!

Seating in Economy Class

Whilst Qantas operates several variants of the Airbus A330 on this route for this particular flight between Singapore and Perth, 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.

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.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

This evening’s flight down to Perth came inclusive of a dinner servivce and complimentary beverages. About an hour after takeoff Dinner was served and I opted for the braised chicken with potatoes and vegetables. It was reasonably well portioned and although it didn’t win any awards for presentation although it was fairly tasty.

Along with dinner complimentary drinks were served with a good variety of soft drinks, juices, beers and also wine available. After the dinner 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 evening and certainly an improvement over the standard of domestic flights although the quality of the meal could still be improved.

Arriving into Perth

Just after 11pm local time we commenced our descent into the West Australian capital of Perth making for a slightly early arrival around 11.30pm which was ahead of the scheduled 11.50pm arrival time. When booking to fly Qantas on this route it pays to take note that the Flying Kangaroo does not fly from the main international Terminal here in Perth and instead out of their own dedicated international departures area of the Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 percent which caters exclusively to domestic Qantas and Jetstar flights. This unfortunately makes for a largely sub-par terminal experience especially on arrival and also on departure especially if you don’t have access to the Qantas Transit Lounge. With the Qantas International section of the terminal being so small and only catering to 2 daily flights in addition to the seasonal Rome service this means there is very limited range of shops or dining options on departure and a fairly humble passenger processing facility for arriving passengers.

Having been seated towards the rear of the plane it meant I was amongst the last of the passengers to arrive at the tiny immigration hall which did not have E-gates meaning each passenger had to manually processed by the Australian Border Force. Whilst friendly and simply doing there jobs, it took close to an hour to clear immigration with only two immigration officers being tasked with manually processing a whole flight! At Perth’s main international terminal E Gates would usually mean this process only takes minutes. One slight up side was that getting through Customs however was very quick as they only had to deal with one flight as opposed to the usual multiple late arriving flights at the main terminal.

Once you have been cleared through immigration and customs it is important to remember that you are essentially spilling out into the Qantas and Jetstar Domestic terminals which are very busy at this time of night with late incoming flights from over east so you may encounter delays or surge pricing in finding transport to your accommodation. Unlike at the main international terminal, you’ll have to walk or get the shuttle bus around 600 metres to get to the nearest train station (Redcliffe)

Summing Up

Overall tonight’s flight with Qantas from Singapore to Perth 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 arriving into 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 on departure nor E Gate’s on arrival to promptly process passengers. 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 back into Perth refreshed and ready for the next day at hand.

Please also don’t forget to check my review of the flight up to Singapore here!