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Qantas A380 meal in Premium Economy London Heathrow to Singapore
December 1st, 2009 by Olivier

Qantas A380 meal in Premium Economy London Heathrow to Singapore

London to Singapore

London to Singapore

Quantas Airbus A380 double deck

Qantas Airbus A380 double deck

Inside the A380 in Economy Premium

Inside the A380 in Economy Premium

Quantas A380

Qantas A380

My flight this time was on a Qantas Airbus A380. My first flight on this aircraft, which was sadly in premium economy only. As you can see from the photos, the premium economy cabin looks quite good – with wide seats and a respectable amount of legroom. BUT (and its a big but) be aware that the seats in economy do not recline by much. It isn’t just a matter of not having a flat recline, but that you can only recline by a few centimetres – in fact, if there is any extra recline above standard economy class, it is not noticable. So forget about getting any sleep on board in this class, or even really having a comfortable position from which to read a book. There really isn’t enough room for getting much work done with a laptop either – which really makes this class of travel a big waste of money (none of the reasons for paying extra apply here – unless it’s just some burning desire to be seated on the upper deck).

As for the food, well, let’s say it wasn’t really anything to write home about. I had fish (cod, I think, but I’m not prepared to swear to it) that was covered in some green crusty stuff that didn’t have much flavour. This was accompanied by some roast potatoes and courgettes, which were OK if uninspiring. Alongside this, there was a rather plain salad and a bread roll, plastic-wrapped crackers with butter. Now, if we were comparing this to Eurostar or even to my recent experience of Lufthansa’s offering on a recent long-haul flight in business class, then I could say that I did quite well on this Qantas flight. But that’s comparing against the lowest of the low. Overall, the food onboard the Qantas A380 was edible, but certainly not worth buying a higher class ticket for.

The meal

The meal

Average food...

Average food...

The rest of my experience on the A380 was quite good. It was a very new aircraft so still had that showroom “new car” smell to it. And I would say that it was quieter and had noticably better air quality than other, older, widebodies like the Boeing 747. So if you happen to be travelling on a route that has an A380 flying, its worth your while to try it. Just don’t get suckered into premium economy – this is NOT a business class alternative, and for the “extra” you get over standard economy (which as far as I can tell is nothing except a slightly wider seat) is is absolutely not worth wasting your money.


2 Responses  
  • Luiz Hara writes:
    December 19th, 2009 at 12:49

    Hi Trusted Gourmet,

    Thanks for the tip about “not” purchasing the economy premium ticket, good one. Also, it is an interesting take on food blogging, I would have never thought of reviewing airline meals, but why not?!

    Luiz @ The London Foodie

  • Olivier writes:
    December 19th, 2009 at 20:28

    Hi Luiz,

    You are welcome. Do not forget to visit http://www.seatguru.com! It is very useful especially on long haul flights, like going to Brazil from London :)

    Olivier



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