Singapore Airlines offers fully lie-flat Business Class seats on all of its flights to and from Australia. This include the former SilkAir routes from Darwin and Cairns to Singapore, where it operates Boeing 737-8 MAX jets.

I recently flew with Singapore Airlines from Darwin to Singapore, and was extremely impressed with the experience from start to finish. Find out why as I review the Singapore Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX Business Class experience.

Flight Details

Flight number	SQ252
Route	Darwin (DRW) to Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-8 MAX
Class of travel	Business Class
Seat number	12J
On-time performance	This flight ran around 40 minutes late
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I booked this flight for 38,000 Velocity Frequent Flyer points + $248.15 in taxes & carrier charges. This amount included a new carrier charge that applies when redeeming Velocity points for Singapore Airlines flights – which in this case was USD90 (~AU$136).

You could also book a seat for 40,500 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles + $112 in taxes, or through any other Star Alliance frequent flyer program. (Note that Singapore Airlines does not generally release Business Class award availability on its own long-haul flights to other Star Alliance airlines, but Darwin-Singapore and Cairns-Singapore are not considered long-haul flights for this purpose.)

If you were to buy a ticket, Singapore Airlines Business Class airfares on the Darwin-Singapore route start from $2,272 one-way or $3,892 return.

Airport Experience

Checking in at Darwin Airport was quick and easy, with plenty of counters open and nobody else in the Business Class priority queue.

Before COVID-19, there was an international lounge at Darwin Airport called the Catalina Lounge. Unfortunately, after the space was temporarily used by Qantas as a transit lounge when it was operating all its flights to London via Darwin, the lounge has not reopened.

With no lounge available, Singapore Airlines instead issued me a $25 meal voucher to use at any of the airport restaurants.

I would have preferred lounge access to a meal voucher, as there are other benefits to airport lounges beyond just free food & drinks (such as access to showers and a private, quiet space). However, the airport was not busy at that time of the afternoon and I was able to secure a comfortable seat with a great runway view by the window at The Northern Common.

I ordered a caesar salad with squid, which came in at under $25 and was surprisingly good.

Shortly before it was time to board, I headed through the international departures section at Darwin Airport. This comprised of another security check (you can take liquids over 100mL through the domestic security checkpoint, but not international) and immigration. There was also a sizeable duty-free store between there and the boarding gate.

The flight was a little bit late due to the late arrival of the operating aircraft from Singapore. Eventually boarding began for passengers requiring assistance, followed by priority boarding for Business Class. Boarding began around 10 minutes before the aircraft was actually ready, meaning we had to stand waiting in the aerobridge.

Although Economy Class was completely full on this flight, only 4/10 Business Class seats were filled.

The Hard Product

There are 10 Business Class seats on the Singapore Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX over three rows. The seats in the first and last row of Business Class (rows 11 & 13) are in a 2-2 configuration, while the middle row (row 12) has just two “throne” seats in a 1-1 layout. This layout uses the space on board the Boeing 737 efficiently, while offering a lie-flat bed to every passenger in Business Class.

I had selected seat 12J, which was one of the solo “throne” seats offering exclusive access to both windows and the aisle:

For a narrow-body aircraft, this was a truly excellent seat. I found the leather seat itself very comfortable, both as a seat and as a bed. There was lots of space to stretch out, some useful storage space around the seat, and a decent level of privacy.

When I boarded, there were unfortunately some crumbs and (I hope) water on the seat. It wasn’t a big deal and I understand that the plane had a tight turnaround in Darwin, so this may have been overlooked by the cleaning crew. The flight attendant was extremely apologetic and immediately brought me some sanitiser wipes.

The plane felt new, which isn’t surprising given it was only a few months old. It had a Boeing Sky Interior with pleasant mood lighting and large overhead lockers.

This aircraft had an excellent in-flight entertainment system, with a large, responsive TV screen at every Business Class seat. The entertainment system had an impressive variety of content, including a wide range of music from around the world – something that is sorely missing on the Qantas and Virgin Australia in-flight entertainment!

Singapore Airlines also now offers free wifi for Business Class passengers! I was able to connect and it worked reasonably well, although it was a bit slow at times.

Later in the flight, I tested out the lie-flat bed. I’m quite tall but found the bed sufficiently long. The space for my legs and shoulders was a tad narrow, but I could still sleep quite comfortably in this seat. This was easily the most comfortable Boeing 737 seat I’ve ever sat in.

The Soft Product

Singapore Airlines has a reputation for great service, and this flight was no exception. The cabin crew were friendly and impressed me with their attention to detail. I was addressed by name throughout the flight.

Upon boarding, there was a pillow and blanket on my seat. Noise-cancelling headphones were also provided and there was a printed menu in the seat pocket.

After settling into my seat, a flight attendant introduced herself and explained some of the features of my seat. She also offered a pre-departure glass of champagne and took my dinner order.

After taking off from Darwin Airport, the dinner service began with a drink from the bar and some nuts. The drinks list in Singapore Airlines is impressively extensive, but it was hard to go past a refreshing Singapore Sling!

There were three main meal options for dinner. This was the menu:

Before the meal service began, a flight attendant set my table with metal cutlery, butter, salt and pepper neatly laid out on a proper tablecloth. Dinner then started with a smoked chicken salad, along with a choice of breads.

I love Singaporean food, and it was hard to go past the fried Hokkien Mee for the main course – marked on the menu as a “popular local fare dish” inspired by Singapore’s hawker centres. The portion size was generous and it was absolutely delicious!

For dessert, there was a choice of a cheese plate, sticky date pudding or fruit, but the flight attendant was more than happy to give me more than one. The desserts paired very nicely with a tawny port wine.

In case you’re interested, here’s the full drinks list:

As this flight was under 6 hours, no amenity kit was available. However, I was offered slippers, socks and an eye shade. Face masks and disinfectant wipes were also available on request.

The attention to detail didn’t stop after we landed in Singapore! As soon as we arrived at the gate at Changi Airport, a flight attendant closed the curtain between Economy and Business Class and stood at the back of the cabin to ensure Business passengers had a chance to disembark first.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.