Flying from Auckland to Singapore aboard Singapore Airlines

Hapi Daze on the way to Singapore. Photo / Winston Aldworth

Winston Aldworth flies on Singapore Airlines SQ286 from Auckland to Singapore.

The plane: A 777-300ER.

Class: Premium Economy. There are 32 seats in Premium Economy. This is a four-class flight. The Premium cabin rolls with a 2-4-2 configuration (Economy is in 3-3-3). It's a spacious cabin. On my recce through Economy Class, I found the aisles fared well in the two-people-passing test.

Price: You can get a return Premium Economy airfare to Singapore, starting from $3320, with special fares launching soon.

The seat: 31H, at the front of the small Premium Economy cabin. It's a cracking seat with an emergency exit right alongside, meaning a good 2.5m of legroom. The seats are very comfortable, with a 19.5-inch width.

Flight time: About 10hr, 30m.

Entertainment: Excellent high-definition screens, operated by touch, or by a small controller. The SilverKris system has a vast amount of viewing and music — as you'd expect from a high-end carrier. I watched a Norwegian flick called The 12th Man which, despite the name, is not a genius parody of Aussie cricket commentary from the 1980s, but rather a brutal true story of a lone Norwegian resistance fighter evading the Nazis in the snow in 1943. Howzat, indeed!

Fellow passengers: About half seemed to be Asian travellers . The rest were mainly Kiwis.

Food and drink: Garage Project's excellent Hapi Daze Pacific Pale Ale is served on this flight. This superb beer was the winner in the inaugural Herald Travel Best Beer in the Air award, as determined by head judge Michael Donaldson — this is officially the finest ale you'll get on a plane out of Auckland.

The toilets: Behind this cabin, on the right-hand side of the plane, there's a toilet with extra accessibility for disabled passengers — meaning more space for me to change into my PJs.

Airport experience: There's a lot to be said for a Koru Lounge flat white before boarding a midday flight.

Verdict: A superb start a longhaul journey to Europe, or — as in my case — a restful launch into an Asian trip.