Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Business Class Review: New Delhi to Singapore

In July 2022, Singapore Airlines made some modest changes to its award charts. I had a tonne of Krisflyer miles sitting in my account from the transfers made for the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold status offered on transfers from various financial institutions. While there was no real plan, I was playing around with some use cases for over 200K Krisflyer miles sitting idle in my account.

Singapore Airlines re-launched their US non-stop flights, which are some of the longest flights in the world, back in 2018. The airline had commissioned Airbus to make seven special A350-900 aircraft fitted with extra fuel tanks, which came to be known as the A350-900ULR aircraft. From SQ’s side, given that the plane would fly for about 18 hours (for the US East Coast flights), the airline put up only Business Class and Premium Economy cabins on this flight. Having flown these SQ ULH flights on the A340 before Singapore Airlines closed these flights, I wanted to try these out on the A350 now.

Booking the flight

Saver Availability showed up on the Delhi – Singapore/Singapore – Newark flights in Business Class, where the ultra-long-haul variant of the A350, the A350-900ULR, would operate from Singapore to Newark. This is usually very hard to come by, so I took that as a sign, especially when people were blocking all sorts of tickets anticipating the change of KrisFlyer pricing in the coming days. While I wasn’t sure about the state of the world and if we could make the trip, we booked two tickets for travel from Delhi – Newark via Singapore in July 2022. Eventually, the trip was booked as follows, all in business class:

  • Delhi to Singapore on the A380 departure out of Delhi at 10 PM, arriving in Singapore the following day at 6 AM
  • Day in Singapore
  • Singapore to Newark on the A350ULR departure out of Singapore at 11:30 PM, arriving in Newark at 6 AM (same day)

For each passenger, the total cost was 121,000 SQ Miles plus INR 3132 in taxes per head. The exact itinerary would now cost you 136,500 KrisFlyer miles if you could find Saver availability. Else, 179,500 KrisFlyer miles would be needed for redemptions using the Advantage inventory.

While the Delhi to Singapore leg was booked on the A380, Singapore Airlines pulled away the A380 and assigned a Boeing 777 much later after booking. The Boeing 787-10 day flight between Delhi and Singapore was full, so we had no option but to continue with the Boeing 777 assignment if we wanted to continue with the trip.

At the Airport

Shipra and I arrived at the Delhi Airport at about 6:45 PM for the Delhi- Singapore flight leg. After a quick check of the tickets at the gate, we were let in. The Singapore Airlines counter for Business Class and elites was empty.

people in a terminal

Singapore Airlines Check-in Pier Delhi Airport

people standing in front of a counter

Singapore Airlines Business Class Check-in, Delhi Airport

people standing in front of a counter

Singapore Airlines Business Class Check-in, Delhi Airport

AI-SATS, which is half-owned by Singapore Airlines’ group company SATS, handles ground handling for Singapore Airlines in Delhi. Shipra and I had a bag each for check-in. Document Check and Check-in were done in six minutes, and we were handed our boarding passes. On the Boarding Pass, the lounge invitation was also printed.

We went through immigration and security checks, and it took a total of five minutes between both of these, given that early evening is not a rush hour for international departures, and the assigned counters were open at Passport Control. The queue for Security Checks of Premium Cabin customers worked as intended.

From there, we walked past the Encalm Lounge at Delhi T3 International (accessible via bank instruments such as credit cards), which was backed up like never seen before. You can read an earlier review here and figure it is missable if you are a discerning traveller.

a group of people standing in a line

Encalm Lounge Delhi T3 Entry Queues

We headed to the Air India Lounge, used by Singapore Airlines for their premium cabin and frequent flyer customers. You can read more about the lounge experience here.

a marble counter with flowers in front of a lobby

Air India Lounge, Delhi T3 International Reception

As soon as boarding was announced, we headed to the gate, which was about 15 minutes away from the lounge. The gate looked deserted as if everyone had already boarded. But that seemed not the case once inside.

a group of people in an airport terminal

Boarding Gate, Delhi Airport T3 International Pier

We were scanned in and on our way to the jet bridge.

Singapore Airlines SQ403
Delhi (DEL) – Singapore Changi (SIN)
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Departure: 09:55 PM
Duration: 5 Hours 30 minutes
Arrival: 5:55 AM
Aircraft Type: Boeing 777-300ER 
Seat: 12A (Business)
Meal Service: Dinner

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Business Class Product

Singapore Airlines operates a four-class configured 777-300ER product on this route. There was one row of First Class seats in a small cabin right at the front of the aircraft, and behind it was the first of the two business class cabins on the plane. The first cabin has 12 business class seats between door 1 and door 2, and beyond the second door, there is a second, bigger business class cabin with 36 seats. All seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, offering direct aisle access to each passenger.

people sitting in an airplane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER First Business Class cabin

In our case, we selected two seats behind each other since we both would have appreciated a window seat and not being into each others’ faces on this flight. Picking the bulkhead row also means you get access to a bigger, open footwell compared to the cubby, which is small and forces you to sit diagonally in the case of the other seats.

a seat in a plane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Seat 11A

However, we were on 12A and 14A right behind the bulkhead. As you can see, the cabin alternates between dark brown and grey seats.

a seat in a plane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Seat 12A

a seat in an airplane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Seat 12A

The seats are spacious, 28-inch wide and 55 inches seat pitch, and all stitched in leather. So, it is as if you are seated on a lovely couch at home. Singapore Airlines’ seats are handcrafted from Scottish leather and diamond-stitched.

To the left of the seat was a compartment with a storage area, a reading light, a headphone jack, and power outlets.

a close up of a door

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Storage Area

Given the era in which the last seat was designed (about 15 years ago), you are well covered if you use an iPod but on your own if you’ve moved to charging with USB-C wires.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Charging Ports

In front of that and to the left was the entertainment controller and a storage compartment for headphones, though you could also store something else in there if you wanted to. A bottle of water is also placed in the storage unit.

a seat in a plane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Storage Area

The entertainment controller also doubled up to show the essential flight-map movements from time to time, apart from the usual controls and the ability to select movies to watch and so on.

a digital screen on a car

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Entertainment Controller

The headphones Singapore Airlines offers in business class are reasonably high quality and, in the current era, come with ear pads which you can use along with the headphones if you want enhanced hygiene.

a headphones in a plastic wrap

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Noise Cancelling Headset

a hand holding headphones

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Noise Cancelling Headset

In the front of the seat, there is the wide 18-inch HD-enabled entertainment monitor. Other useful things are fitted in the same console, such as a vanity mirror and a glass holder, and a storage compartment for personal effects such as passport and spectacles.

a screen on a vehicle

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Entertainment Monitor

an empty shelf in an airplane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Personal Effects Storage

The tray table could also be extended from the left armrest and was a single table that couldn’t be folded. However, the table adjusts to various positions of the seat and height levels. It is one solid slab, so you don’t have to worry about your laptop being wobbly if you are working on these planes.

a white rectangular object on a table

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Table

More reading lights fitted into the panelling of the seat on the other side.

a close up of a seat

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Reading Lamps

And then, there was a panel in the armrest where you could adjust the various seat position. These controls have been placed here from the perspective of offering common controls for both the seat and bed mode, and unfortunately, they are pretty fragile (not tactile) and could be easily triggered when you are lounging around.

a seat belt in a vehicle

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Seat Controls

Singapore Airlines’s business class seat places the foot cubby in an angled manner towards the sidewalls of the plane, which make it very, well, disliked by some folks. But you have to be tall to be one of those people to dislike this seat.

a seat in a plane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Foot Cubby

While sitting in when you want to lounge in your seat and watch a movie is weird, the seat works out fine to sleep. But more on that later.

a screen on the seat of an airplane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class

There is space to store your shoes somewhere in the bottom of the whole seat unit.

a small shelf with lights

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Shoe Storage

This seat has plenty of storage, an area many other airlines don’t do especially well, so kudos to Singapore for that. Also, with the side wing on each seat, you hardly have a view of someone else, so the privacy aspect is covered very well, albeit without a door.

the inside of an airplane

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Privacy Barrier

After take-off, I quickly hopped over to the lavatory, and it was spruced up pretty well.  As with most Singapore Airlines jets, the lavatories had been covered with leather cushions to enable people to use them to sit if they were changing or tying up their shoes, etc.

a toilet in a bathroom

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Lavatory

The usual amenities are stacked on the side panel, hand cream and EDT.

a shelf with bottles of liquid and a towel

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Lavatory Amenities

Since Singapore Airlines does not provide amenity kits, they load the essentials on their aircraft lavs. You will always have toothbrushes, shaving kits, sanitary napkins and combs on an SQ aircraft.

a small drawer with items in it

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Lavatory Amenities

One great touch for Singapore Airlines is their detailing, such as providing towelettes rather than tissue paper only.

a group of towels in a box

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Lavatory Towelettes

Singapore Airlines Business Class On-Board Service

As soon as we entered the plane, a member of the cabin crew walked us to our seats. After settling in, she returned to offer us pre-departure beverages. The usual water and juice were available. I requested a diet cola, and it was brought promptly to me. They also went around distributing compression socks, slippers and eye shades. As this is a short flight (under six hours), amenity kits are unavailable, and neither are sleeper suits on this segment (in business class). Hot Towels were also distributed before take-off.

Menus were already placed in the seat pockets. The cabin crew came back again to take dinner orders.

a hand holding a piece of paper with a vegetable cut out

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Menu

This was a short flight, so there would only be dinner service. For those interested, I have for you here a look at what was on offer for dinner. I’m putting out both sectors (Singapore to Delhi and Delhi to Singapore) for those interested.

a menu of a restaurant

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Menu

Singapore Airlines offers four meal options in this sector, basically Indian Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian and Western Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian options. The Indian options are all prepared by SQ’s kitchen in consultation with Sanjeev Kapoor’s kitchen, who is empanelled on the Chef’s panel for Singapore Airlines.

They also have their famed Book-The-Cook service on this sector, offered to Business Class and First Class passengers. For reference, here are the Book-The-Cook options from Delhi in the Business Class section. Remember, this is the full list of options, and a subset is offered depending on the day of your flight.

a screenshot of a menu

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Business Class Book-The-Cook Menu ex-Delhi

Because I usually like to try the Indian options departing ex-India and arriving back, I had already selected the Mutton Biryani for my dinner entree. The crew reconfirmed this. Shipra chose the Chicken Glass Noodle Soup for her entree.

For drinks, here is the wine list on board this flight. Besides these options, the usual cocktails, drinks menu and a full coffee menu from Illy were also available.

a book with text and images

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Champagne & Wine List

The flight boarded and departed precisely on the dot. We pushed back at 21:55 hours according to the plan.

a screen shot of a television showing a map of the world

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Moving Map

We were parked near the runway, so we taxied by some stored Jet Airways aircraft and a parked Vistara 787-9.

a group of airplanes on a runway

Jet Airways Aircraft at DEL

an airplane on the runway at night

Vistara 787-9 at DEL

Soon enough, we entered Runway 28 for our departure from Delhi.

a window of an airplane at night

Runway 28, DEL

After take-off, I started browsing through the 1800 or so pieces of content this aircraft IFE was loaded with to find me something to watch. Here are some highlights of the content available.

a screen shot of a television

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment Options

a screen shot of a computer

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment Options

a screen shot of a television

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment Options

a screen shot of a television

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment Options

a screen shot of a computer

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment Options

Eventually, I settled for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a movie I’ve watched before, but the fun of reruns on airplanes is that you can sleep midway.

a screen with a man in a white suit

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Entertainment

As soon as the plane levelled out. The crew started to prepare for service. I had requested some Champagne to be served after take-off, which was brought right after. Amusingly though, no ramekin of nuts was served. I suppose I had to ask for it specifically, or it was assumed that everyone would like to head straight into Dinner. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this Champagne, so I nursed it and never finished it.

a glass of wine on a tray

Singapore Airlines Champagne

There was a bit of a flurry around the cabin, and some people were being served what looked like Vegetarian Seekh Kebabs to me from a distance. I assume a part of the cabin had requested the Indian Veg Meal, and hence, they were being served these rather than the Satay. Momentarily after, the crew brought the first course, the Singapore Chicken Satay. Always delicious, especially with that delicious peanut sauce.

a plate of food on a table

Singapore Airlines Chicken Satay On-Board

The crew then brought out the drinks cart and laid out the table. While I was offered a top-up on my Champagne, I told them I did not like the champagne too much. I was encouraged to try the 2016 Chateau Livran, a French wine from Bordeaux.

a cart with bottles and drinks on it

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Service Cart

Next up, the crew brought out the Appetiser, a Marinated Scallop and Smoked Duck Breast with Basil Pesto. I can appreciate everyone does not have the taste buds for Duck, especially since it is not so prevalent in India, but this one was a good appetiser.

a plate of food on a table

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining, Appetiser

a plate of food on a table

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining, Garlic Bread

The crew also brought out the bread basket. They had paranthas, poppadum, dinner rolls and garlic bread on the basket. Singapore Airlines does some fantastic garlic bread, so I went with a helping of that.

The Main Course for my dinner meal was the Mutton Biryani, which was brought out hot and served with Dal Tadka and Shammi Kebabs. The Mutton was soft, and the meal hit the spot. Pity a lot of the meal service was being done in a dark cabin, so the pictures did not come out as good as the meal was.

a tray of rice and meatballs

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining, Mutton Biryani & Accompaniments (Book The Cook)

a tray of rice and meatballs with sauce

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining, Mutton Biryani & Accompaniments (Book The Cook)

After the wholesome dinner, I was offered dessert. I had little appetite left, but I went with the ice cream.

a bowl of ice cream on a table

Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining, Dessert, Ice Cream

The meal service lasted until about midnight (two hours into the flight). When I got done, I noticed that Shipra was already catching her 40 winks, and I requested that my bed be prepared as well.

a person sleeping in an airplane

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Business Class, Bed Mode

With Singapore Airlines, the setback has to be flipped down to make the bed rather than have the seat flatten out into bed mode. This requires manual work but can be done quickly. When I got back to my seat from the restroom, the bed was ready, with a second

a bed in a plane

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Business Class, Bed Mode

There was a lightweight blanket, but it kept me warm during the night.

a blanket on a bed

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Business Class Blanket

I had no use for Wi-Fi tonight, but I wanted to check the speeds. As Business Class passengers, both Shipra and I were eligible for it free of charge, as was also flashed on the messaging inbox of the IFE.

a screen with text on it

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Business Class IFE Inbox

a screenshot of a phone

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Wi-Fi Complimentary Access

a screenshot of a phone

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, Wi-Fi Throughput

I had a decent 3 Mbps throughout the flight whenever connectivity was active. There were certain legs of the flight where connectivity broke, but most of the time I was up, there was connectivity available.

Coming back to bed mode. I could comfortably get a few hours’ nap before I woke up without any alarms. We were roughly thirty minutes or so out from arrival in Singapore Changi.

a screen with a map on it

Arriving into Singapore

At this time, I tried resuming my movie play, but it was too long to finish on this flight. So, I switched to watching the moving map.

a tv in a plane

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, IFE

As I quit the movie, the IFE offered to save the film so that I could continue watching on the next flight.

a screen on a machine

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER, IFE

One of the reflections of 2006 technology, apart from the iPod connectivity option, was that there was no touch screen on this IFE. I’d frequently tap the screen to do something, only to realise the only screen with touch technology was the IFE controller in the side unit.

Soon enough, we arrived into the familiar sights of Singapore. I must admit, though, it has been a long while since I turned up before dawn in Singapore. Changi was all lit up.

a city lights at night

Arriving into Singapore

We docked in about 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival time in Singapore, and First Class passengers deboarded through gate 1L while Business Class disembarked through gate 2L.

a plane at night with lights

9V-ANA, Singapore Airline’s Boeing 777-300ER on arrival in Singapore

Overall, it was a good flight, and we arrived in Singapore on time to spend a day at the Lounge and Singapore before heading over to the long ride to the US. We proceeded straight to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge to catch a nap.

Bottomline

Overall, Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER is a beautifully done-up product and a legit backbone of the Singapore Airlines fleet. The business class cabin is comfortable and spacious, and out of Delhi, I’d prefer the 777 over the 787-10, which is also an instrument I’ve tried. The hospitality is just right (not over-friendly and not underwhelming). With wifi, I can also get some work done if needed. The F & B offering is solid. The only surprise was no touch screens.

Have you flown Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER? What has been your experience with the 77W for Singapore Airlines?


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Pros

+ Spacious Seat
+. Book The Cook
+ Amazing Catering
+ Well-maintained equipment
+ Professional Crew
+ Complimentary Wi-Fi

Cons

- IFE Screen does not have touchscreen

Rating

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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

More articles by Ajay »

Comments

  1. A word of caution. One should print a copy of their ticket or receipt that shows the flight number and date. Alternatively, have a screenshot on your phone.

    I had the misfortune of being unable to enter the airport, which is limited to ticketed passengers only. I had an e-ticket but no data on my phone, it having expired the previous day. Indian airports often have free wifi but one must have an Indian mobile number to use it. Foreign mobile phone numbers will not work.

    The airport guard would not accept my printed Singapore electronic entry document because it was dated for an arrival the next day. Note that the Singapore Airlines flight departs at 10 pm and arrives at 6 am the next day. The guard would not budge. He pointed to the date being the next day. I did not have enough time to seek a printer then return to the airport.

    Luckily, I pulled out a piece of paper that I printed myself that listed my flights and hotel reservations. It was not on any letterhead, simply a Microsoft Word document that I wrote up. I confidently pulled out the paper and said “See, this is my flight!”. The guard said “ok” and let me pass.

    Next time, I am going to print my ticket receipt and/or have a screenshot. I might even print out a paper with the flight number and stamp it with a rubber stamp, maybe something like those at some Japanese rail stations!

    • @Derek, it isn’t as bad, but yes, you need to present a ticket (electronic or printed) with the QR code to access any Indian airport. And in this case, security has all the manifests for passengers travelling internationally as well, and they could have cross-checked you against that if asked for it.

  2. Does SQ stopped providing amenity kits even in long haul?. I recently travelled to SFO in Business, even after asking for amenity kits couple of times, never got it. Embarrassed to ask again.

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