If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade out of it ”, this old saying is the ideal starting point for this trip report. For numerous frequent flyers and aviation friends around the world, the corona pandemic also meant that staying on board a commercial aircraft again seemed to be an almost rare highlight.

So how do you make lemonade out of such a situation?

Singapore had closed the borders for months in the midst of the pandemic, entry was only possible for a few people. This extraordinary situation is also due to the new “Fifth Freedom” flight of Singapore Airlines from Copenhagen to Rome, which was launched a few weeks ago.

Flight SQ352 is scheduled to take off from Singapore at 00:30 and arrive in Copenhagen around 12 hours later at 6:55 local time. After a short turnaround of a little less than 1,5 hours in Copenhagen, the A350 flies on to the Italian capital, where the plane reaches its final destination at 10:35 am for some travelers and the crew.

Arrival to Copenhagen Airport

There are numerous possibilities from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland - depending on the departure airport, more or less cheap - to reach the Danish capital. Since I tried to avoid any hectic arrival and departure, I decided to arrive the day before in order to inhale a little Scandinavian air in peace and to experience cosiness so that the journey to the next morning was in the right mood sometimes lively Italian metropolis. After a good dinner and a short night in the practical and simple hotel, I set off for the airport early on Friday morning in rush hour with the metro.

Web check-in is possible - no need to go to the counter

Fortunately, Singapore Airlines allows check-in on this flight, even during Corona times via the app or via the web, and since I had already secured the desired seat by reservation in advance, I passed the check-in counter for security in Terminal 3 of the Copenhagen Airports. In passing I could only make out a handful of fellow travelers for whom a considerable number of check-in counters were still open. After the extremely friendly security check at the CPH, the departure gate E5 / E105 was already advertised on the monitor with the note “Gate Area opened”.

Corona documents were carefully checked

That morning Singapore Airlines used a bus gate, as it quickly turned out that my early arrival made a lot of sense, by checking all the necessary documents for the trip from Denmark to Italy, a small queue had already formed.

Since the gate agents and the representative checked everything meticulously, it was easy to see how individual guests had to download QR codes on their smartphones or even register to enter Italy. The buses drove to the plane at high frequency and always with only a very small number of guests.

Immediately after scanning the boarding pass, the representative handed each passenger a small bottle of still water from a prepared slot at the gate and even for a little small talk with a mask there was still time until the next available bus slowly rolled in.

A closer look at the cabin and seat

Since the Airbus had arrived from Singapore beforehand, it was at a finger position in the non-Schengen area and everyone was able to enter via a staircase through the rear left door.

The crew, who had taken up position at the door in full protective gear, handed a shrink-wrapped hygiene pack with surgical mask and disinfectant to every traveler and even with a mask and visor on their face, every guest was given a noticeable smile and a warm welcome. I had already dealt with the seat map of the Airbus A350 while booking, which offers space for 253 passengers in the "normal" intercontinental configuration, in economy class in 3-3-3 seating and with the seat row number 41 and the surcharge "Forward Zone" begins.

Directly in front of it there are 3 rows of Premium Economy Class in a 2-4-2 configuration as well as the extensive Business Class. Singapore Airlines does not currently offer First Class in the Airbus A350 fleet. The differently colored upholstered seats of the Economy Class have a slim central armrest with the option of reclining the backrest and an acceptable seat distance to the person in front. Even with a height of over 1,85 m I was able to sit very relaxed, as it would have looked after a 12 hour flight, but it is difficult to assess.

In the Premium Economy, slim seats with a gray leather cover are used, which in the two-seater seating in the outer rows offer a small cocktail table in the middle, as well as an adjustable footrest and a significantly expanded function of the backrest. Furthermore, the premium seats offer a much larger monitor in the front seat.

The stylishly furnished business class in the A350-900 cabin comes in elegant-looking brown and gray tones and offers the current industry standard of a full-flat seat, which I was allowed to try out extensively after landing together with the inflight manager in row 21.

Entertainment offer and wifi internet

In Economy Class, the monitors in the front seat offer an approx. 10-inch screen with a separate gamepad in the lower area, over 1400 hours of content from films, series, music and a large selection of games, which will likely make the 12-hour flight more entertaining design. Live TV is offered on selected flights, which could not be used on the flight from Copenhagen to Rome. Of course, the flight can be followed in various forms using the airshow functions, so it is also possible to display the remaining flight time via the gamepad while you are enjoying your film or TV show on the monitor in the full screen display.

Each seat in Economy has separate power connections that make it possible to charge your own device on board at any time. As a special feature, Singapore Airlines is currently offering two hours of free WiFi on board until the end of the year, so that I had a stable connection to the Internet on my smartphone for the entire flight.

In-flight service in check

In fact, my expectations were that I was simply looking forward to the in-flight service on this short flight with a little over 2 hours in the air.

Immediately after the start and the closing of the curtains between the individual classes, the crew first handed out another antibacterial cold cleaning cloth, a few minutes later a sandwich service followed, with two different sandwiches and the complete on-board bar available.

For my choice of a cold “Ciabatta Egg Mayo Cheese” roll, I stayed that morning with a classic plastic cup of orange juice and a small brown coffee to go cup with a white lid in the corporate design of SQ. During the flight the crew asked several times about the well-being and about an hour before landing I received another coffee without any problems.

Price and tariff class booked

Singapore Airlines offers a check-in baggage in all economy tariffs, in the "Economy Light" tariff this can weigh a maximum of 25 kilos, plus one free piece of hand baggage. Since the price difference between the 4 selectable Economy tariffs was over 1600 Danish kroner on the day of my booking (around € 215) and I was only on the road for one night, the Economy Light tariff was sufficient for my personal needs with an expected 40 degrees during the day Rome absolutely from.

Everyone knows the different ways of generating ancillary revenues as part of the business concept. My flight in the Economy Light tariff plus the associated seat reservation (almost exactly 4 weeks to the day before departure) was exactly 600 Danish kroner (approx. € 80), of which my seat reservation in the forward zone was 50 kroner (approx. € 6,50) cost.

Author's conclusion

Anyone who has ever wanted to test one of the most modern long-haul aircraft in the world or Singapore Airlines - initially on a short-haul route - has the opportunity to do so with this “5th freedom” flight. In addition, it should be mentioned that the airline is of course part of the Star Alliance, which could be another nice incentive, especially for FQTV. There are currently 4 airlines operating on the route from Copenhagen to Rome. Whatever the personal preference in the end, one thing is certain; With the temporary use of the A350-900 on this route, at least in the short term, a nice opportunity has been created to be able to test the aircraft without having to fly a long haul.

Note: The flight took place under the hygiene and entry standards of the respective countries valid on July 30, 2021.