Spain & Italy

Singapore Airlines SQ377 | BCN/MXP
Economy Class
Airbus A350-900 | 9V-SMJ
ATD/1030 | ATA/1204

When I booked this trip, I first purchased a one way ticket to Barcelona and a one way ticket out of Rome. I hemmed and hawed about what to do in between. I wanted to go to Malta, but there were no direct flights between Barcelona and Malta, and I really didn’t want to take two low cost flights to get to Malta and be nickel and dimed twice over. It also seems as if OneWorld carrier Iberia has pretty much left BCN and let the low cost carriers scrap over it. But, still, I needed to get to Italy. I briefly considered doing a rail trip but it was a lot of train travel for a two week trip. In the end, I decided to take Singapore Airlines’ fifth freedom service between BCN and MXP. The airfare was about €50 more than the low cost carriers, but I also knew I wouldn’t be nickel and dimed on seat selection, meals, bags, etc. Besides, I have a long and complicated history with Singapore Airlines starting with my employment with them in 1993 to 1998, so I was drawn to this option by a mixture of nostalgia and curiosity.

I took the Aerobus to Barcelona Airport. I had attempted to check in online the night before, but that failed, probably because I was on a one way ticket. Regardless, check in was smooth once I showed the agent my ticket out of Rome. I then had a quick breakfast and I made my way to the gate. There, I figured out something was amiss when, according to FlightRadar24, the inbound flight SQ 378 had arrived but the aircraft was nowhere to be seen. I quickly surmised that this was a remote gate boarding and that there was no way we would make the 70 minute turnaround. I thought it was a little odd that the gate agents did not make any announcements about the remote bay boarding. In my past experience, letting passengers know the will be boarding via bus helps expedite the process.

At the gate, I was surprised to see how many passengers there were. I assumed that BCN and MXP would more or less split the load, but the flight was at least 75% full in Economy and Premium Economy. I noted that barely a quarter of the Business Class seats were occupied; hopefully MXP would fill the rest as they’re more of a business destination.

We left about 15 minutes behind schedule. The flight to MXP was smooth and uneventful. We were served a sandwich (with a choice between cheese and tuna; I chose for former) in a paper bag, which in my opinion was sufficient for this short sector. I shuddered when I recalled we are made to cater a hot snack with tray setup on Manchester-Amsterdam, and how the crew struggled to complete the service on that sector that was even shorter than this one.

But, most of all, I loved coming back to something that was a key part of my young adulthood: the smell of the cabin (SQ has a specially commissioned citrusy scent), the boarding music, the earnestness and pride… this was a far cry from the carrier I predominantly fly domestically within the US. The only thing that threw me for a loop was both cabin crew serving my aisle were from Korea. Back in the day, the non-Singaporean/Malaysian crew mostly operated to and from their home countries as their language skills were needed on those flights.

Upon arrival at MXP, I purchased a bus ticket for the one hour ride to Milano Centrale, and then I made my way to my Mr B&B accommodation.Read more