I don’t think that flying in Business Class on short haul flights is necessary, unless of course you get invited to bid for an upgrade, which was the case on my flight from Singapore to Penang. I had placed the lowest bid and managed to snag an upgrade to Business Class. Nothing much for a 1-hour flight, but it was better than nothing.
SilkAir operates out of Terminal 2 at Singapore Changi Airport. With dedicated check-in rows for Business Class passengers, the entire process was a breeze and I was through immigration in no time.
Since I had some time before boarding, I proceeded to the SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 2 for some light refreshments, but more on this lounge in another post.
At around half an hour prior to departure, I headed to the gate for boarding. Business Class passengers were called forward for priority boarding.
Business Class seats onboard the B737-800 aircraft operated by SilkAir are arranged in a 2-2 configuration in three rows, with a total of 12 seats. The cabin had an overall clean and polished appearance, which is expected from SilkAir, operating as Singapore Airlines’ subsidiary and regional wing.
The leather seats were large and comfortable, offering more than what is expected for a short flight. Of course, it was previously announced that SilkAir would be introducing lie-flat seats in Business Class onboard the latest B737 MAX 8 aircraft to be delivered in the coming years. This would better align the cabin offerings across the fleet when SilkAir gets absorbed into Singapore Airlines.
Simple switches on the armrest allow you to adjust the legrest and seatback, as well as the lumbar support.
With no in-seat inflight entertainment installed onboard SilkAir aircraft, the only other alternative would be to download the SilkAir Studio app into your devices before your flight to enjoy some movies, shows and music during the flight. Otherwise, simply plug in your headphones into the jack and toggle the channel and volume buttons to enjoy some audio entertainment.
Let’s take a closer look at the seat. The tray table folds neatly into the armrest. When deployed, the tray table offers sufficient surface area and stability for an inflight meal.
Try to get the seats in row 1 if possible. As I was seated in seat 1A, I had loads of legroom to enjoy.
The cabin crew served us some pre-takeoff drinks, and I opted for some apple juice to quench my thirst.
Even for this short flight, we were provided with a pillow and blanket for extra comfort.
After an on time pushback and a short taxi to the runway, we were on our way.
Once we reached our cruising altitude, the cabin crew commenced the dinner service, which had to be a little rushed due to the short flight time. I chose the pasta, which was full of flavour.
It was really a short flight because the captain chimed in on the PA system to provide some updated arrival information at the top of descent even before I finished my meal. Nonetheless, the cabin crew did not rush the passengers to devour their meals, and still managed to prepare the cabin for landing in good time. During the approach, the pilot had to execute a missed approach, probably due to ATC as the weather seemed fine. Otherwise, after a minor delay from circling around for another approach, we touched down smoothly just a little behind schedule.
Really enjoyed the flight, but as I mentioned earlier, there isn’t a significant boost in comfort from flying in Business Class for such a short flight. However, given that SilkAir operates this aircraft to farther destinations, it might be worthwhile to consider flying in Business Class even on narrow body aircraft.