SWISS Airbus A340-300 Economy Class, Zurich to Singapore

According to plan, we were supposed to land in Zurich at 4:30 p.m. coming from Berlin. Due to the strong hurricane Niklas, we only arrived three hours later. From Gate A81 we walked towards the SWISS Senator Lounge. Long queues had formed at the transfer counter due to the many delays. Unfortunately, many passengers were no longer able to catch their connecting flights. Niklas had caused chaos not only in Berlin but throughout Europe.

SWISS Senator Lounge (Zürich)

The lounge has been revamped since our last visit in September 2013. The lower floor is now equipped with smaller seating groups and larger tables with bar stools. The upper buffet area, however, remained unchanged.

The longest served lounge bar in the world is located in the SWISS Senator Lounge Zurich. On our previous visits I had never looked inside. So this time I'll pay it a short visit. Unfortunately, it turned out that this is a smoking bar, so after a short photo I went straight back to the lounge.

We were disappointed with the food this time. The leek and potato soup was cold, the vegetable spaetzle simply inedible and otherwise the selection was quite small. The Mövenpick ice cream was also rationalized away. Pity! So I only treated myself to a non-alcoholic Feldschlösschen beer.

We had a 12-hour economy class flight to Singapore ahead of us. To freshen up again, we use the shower stalls in the lounge and then put on comfortable jogging pants. Not quite so stylish anymore, we then went to satellite terminal E. All international flights leaving the Schengen area are handled here. You can get there with a small self-propelled train – the Skymetro. On the way you should pay attention to the tunnel walls, as a short film is shown here - like the flip book used to be.

Arrived at gate E34, I asked one last time about a possible upgrade to business class. I had already seen at check-in that the economy class was fully booked and so we still had hope. But unfortunately it worked out in the end and Business and Economy were filled to the last seat.

Flight SWISS LX 178 to Singapore

Thanks to the Star Alliance Gold status, we were one of the first to board and found an empty economy class. Today we sat in seats 31J and K in the rear and last economy compartment.

After boarding was completed at 10:45pm, the menus were handed out. There was a choice of chicken and a vegetable paella.
Service began shortly after reaching cruising altitude. Christin took the paella and I tried the chicken once. Both were OK - no more and no less. As a little nightcap after dinner, I drank a Vodka-Cola. Unfortunately, there is only Smirnoff on board.

A movie and a good 5 hours of sleep later, we woke up shortly after leaving mainland India. Now we only had a good 3:45 hours ahead of us. About 1400 kilometers away from Singapore, the light on board was switched on again and we were given a warm towel to refresh ourselves.

Breakfast was served halfway across the Straits of Malacca, 1:30 hours before arrival in Singapore. When I studied the menu that was handed out in the evening, I was disappointed that there will be scrambled eggs. I had never received an edible scrambled egg on a plane. But I tried it anyway and was more than pleasantly surprised - delicious and with the croquettes and asparagus a great combination. In addition there was fruit salad, yoghurt, rolls, coffee and a tetra pak of orange juice. I certainly haven't had a drinking pack in my hand for 5 - 6 years.

Following the breakfast service, we prepared for our arrival in Singapore. The amenity kit we brought with us contained a toothbrush, various creams and deodorant. After freshening up, we changed from jogging pants back to jeans. That's not so easy in an airplane toilet.

The first thing we noticed when approaching Singapore were the many different container ships waiting to finally be unloaded in the port. After an unspectacular landing, the pilot stopped the A340-300 at Gate E4 at 4:49 p.m., approximately 30 minutes earlier than planned.

Are you still looking for a flight to Singapore?

Singapore International Airport can be reached from many German cities all year round. You can find cheap flights through online travel agencies such as Flugladen.de, Bravofly,ebookers.de,Expedia,lastminute.deorskyscanner.

After the problem-free entry, without much waiting time, we were able to take our luggage immediately. Unfortunately we missed the hotel shuttle to the Grand Mercure Roxy by 10 minutes and had to wait 50 minutes. You can get information about the shuttle bus and a small hotel sticker at the ground transportation counter on the arrivals level.