At the stroke of midnight of 12 Oct 2020, Singapore Airlines launched its Restaurant A380 @Changi service. For a limited time of 2 days, everyone got a chance to dine on its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft. Except that almost everybody won’t make it onboard – reservations were sold out in 30 minutes.
The response was so overwhelming that Singapore Airlines opened up dinner time slots and added 2 more days to the itinerary, to cater to the piped up demand. This phenomenon was so unique, even Bloomberg ran an article trying to find out why the pop-up restaurant idea took flight. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to fathom from an outside-in perspective. So here’s Mr Salty’s explanation for everyone out there, especially for the Westerners out there who think Singapore Airlines was just plain lucky.
A Chance To Experience Singapore Airlines’ Premium Class At A Fraction Of The Price
The most obvious reason why Restaurant A380 @Changi was a sold out was the appeal of dining on an airline’s premium class. Singaporeans have a love-hate relationship with their national carrier. They feel proud of the airline for topping many airlines harking from bigger, more developed countries. At the same time, they were always priced out of Singapore Airlines’ offerings.
A full fare flight to Hong Kong on Economy Class would cost around SGD$1,500. The Business Class seat would cost double, while the First Class seat would be in the vicinity of SGD6,000. As for the First Class Suites? It could go up to SGD10,000.
For the uninitiated, the First Class Suite is a class above First Class, which is Singapore Airlines’ flagship product only available on its A380 fleet. Restaurant A380 @Changi offers one a chance to dine at the First Class Suite. Between that and the more prevalent First Class seats found on SQ’s vast B777 fleet, the choice is obvious.
And yes, considering that you have to pay about SGD3,000 to fly on its newest A380 Business Class to Hong Kong, paying 10% of the price to experience the same product for the same amount of time makes perfect sense! Before this, few of us don’t even dare to dream about taking Business Class on Singapore Airlines!
How Is It Worth Spending Big Bucks To Dine On The First Class Cabin Of An Airplane?
This is where many Westerners had difficulty wrapping their minds around. They could not understand why people would spend big bucks (though already at a discount) to have meals on an aircraft. Not even a First Class seat would attract them! However, the underlying issue was that they were comparing this service with the premium class service on American and European airlines.
They are most familiar with their own regional airlines because those were what they would take, or could take. Their national carriers dominate their countries and in turn, and as we all know about monopolies and oligopolies, consumers begin to pay more for inferior products.
Since Singapore Airlines fly only to 5 destinations in USA (pre-covid) and perhaps to only 1 city in each of the western Europe countries, we can’t blame them for being unaware of Singapore Airlines’ offerings.
If they had the chance to fly Singapore Airlines, they would realize that the First Class cabins of their American carriers are at best Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary’s Scoot’s Business Class seats. Of course, European carriers like British Airways and Lufthansa have much better premium offerings than their competitors across the Atlantic. However,their First Class seats are like Singapore Airlines’ Business Class seats.
And consider that many Western airlines have watered down their already lacklustre service in the premium cabins…
Joke!
— hellomrsalty (@hellomrsalty) October 22, 2020
"Virgin Australia serves cup noodles to Business Class passengers" https://t.co/SXAmvwvwxa
Yes, only the likes of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways could match Singapore Airlines class by class in their offerings.
And not to mention American airlines are notorious for their subpar customer service.
Goodness! Why are we comparing the top of the line carriers with those at the bottom of the barrel?
Therefore, Westerners sneering at Singaporeans for “wasting money to dine on underwhelming First Class products” are misinformed. It was like us asking why we would pay over SGD2,000 for a mobile phone, overlooking that it was the iPhone 12 we’re talking about.
What About The Economy Class? Surely Singapore Airlines Don’t Have The Best In The Industry!
Of course, the value of a product and service can be very subjective. While Japanese would pay big bucks for premium sashimi, someone who doesn’t fancy seafood will never pay a single cent for one. Additionally, it is known that there are many airlines whose Economy Class seats are better than Singapore Airlines’.
So how is it that so many Singaporeans are willing to pay for this experience, even for dining in the Economy Class?
For one, Singaporeans are always looking for novel stuff to do. A new mall opened? Let’s go check it out. Never mind that it’s all the way on the other side of the island.
Already have 2 Apple stores in Singapore? Never mind. Singaporeans will support a 3rd one. Even if it’s opened in the depth of the pandemic.
As a well connected city, Singaporeans have gotten used to seeing and experiencing stuff around the world. They’re so numb and bored that they would easily divert some attention to anything new that pops up. Even if it meant for a short period of time.
Singaporeans Are Stuck On The Island
Even then, there’s another contemporary reason why Singaporeans are so fascinated by novel stuff. There isn’t much to see or do on the island city.
Unlike Switzerland, there’s no scenic mountains to go hiking or skiing in Singapore. Unlike Thailand, Singapore is not dotted with millenia-old monuments that we can visit. Unlike Japan, Singapore doesn’t have onsens to experience. The list could go on.
This issue could not be more stark in the thick of the pandemic. Singaporeans are literally stuck on the island, as countries around the world implemented travel restrictions. Heck, even our neighbour Malaysia closed its doors on us for a good half a year already.
Singaporeans are travel-starved by now. They’re even paying over SGD600 to have Singapore Airlines’ premium class food delivered to their house.
Even if the end product flushed all the good perceptions we have of Singapore Airlines down the toilet…
