A Singapore Airlines A350-900. Photo / Getty Images
Flight check: SQ362 from Singapore to Stockholm.
The plane: A350-900.
Class: Business.
Price: Auckland to Stockholm return Business Class fares from $9175.
Flight time: The flight goes via Moscow, where it makes a stop of almost 90 minutes. We were 15 minutes early into Moscow, left there on time, then arrived 45 minutes early into Stockholm. Early arrivals like this can happen at this time of year, if they don't need to de-ice the plane prior to departure.
My seat: The Business Class seat angles towards the window, with a little cubby-type area for your feet, so you can stretch right out. The seat back folds forward for sleepy time, with a thin mattress topper already attached and a duvet and pillow behind the seat. When lying flat, your feet go into the same little cubby. On the seat controller, there's a handy do not disturb button if you want to check out and stay out.
Fellow passengers: No real issues with body odour-disseminators, noisy laughers, rubik's cubers or snorers, at least in my immediate vicinity. The self-containment of the seats in the biz class cabin means that, even if such horrific flying stereotypes were present, chances are you wouldn't notice.
How full: Not so full that there were was ever a need to queue for the toilet but full enough that the cabin crew weren't overbearingly attentive.
Entertainment: The Krisworld system has long been a world leader and its choice continues to be vast and internationally diverse. I launched into the box set of HBO's best show of 2018, the black comedy series Barry. The wide screen is beautiful and the noise-cancelling headphones crystal clear.
The service: Compared to, say, Air New Zealand, the SQ service is more restrained. Warm, but not in your face. Not a bad thing, especially when your objective as a passenger is to remove yourself from the world and into the loving bosom of your Business Class seat.
Food and drink: Excellent and potentially endless, with a perfect mix of Western, Asian and healthy choices, wines from around the world and middle of the night meals, should you need them. And it's all served so nicely. Crew say: "May I lay your table?" "Can I entice you with the menu?" and other gently repetitive and soothing terms of courtesy.
The toilets: Consistently clean and well-stocked with a nice range of amenities including a refreshing, gently scented facial mist, blue-green mouthwash and a dense and intense hand lotion.
Luggage: Business Class passengers get 40kg. More than enough for a good spell in Stockholm, even as the temperature drops below freezing.
The airport experience: Oh, Changi! Airport of dreams! Singapore has long known how to deliver an airport. Wide, airy, fast, efficient, consistently modern, apparently without any construction or maintenance work.
The bottom line: A beautifully cosy cloud of luxury, from which you would happily not emerge.
A world away from the glass and concrete of the Japanese capital.