When Norwegian Air first launched its budget airline services from Singapore to London, I knew it was my chance to visit Europe. By a sheer stroke of luck, prices fell (SGD $199.90 is the cheapest promotional price Norwegian Air has for flights from Singapore to London Gatwick) so I immediately booked a LowFare+ ticket on the world's longest budget flight of almost 14 hours.

Tip: if you're buying a one-way ticket on Norwegian Air, its Singapore to London Gatwick option is cheaper. Flying from London Gatwick to Singapore on Norwegian Air can cost up to twice the price since the exchange rate is not in Singapore's favour. I booked my tickets approximately four months in advance.


I chose a LowFare+ ticket as it includes a checked bag of 20kg and seat reservation — I love my window seat. As it turns out, the two meals (and a sandwich snack) was redundant because Norwegian Air wasn't too strict about passengers bringing their own food onboard. Could've saved a little more if I chose the check-in bag option with an additional seat reservation instead. Nonetheless, getting my tickets at SGD $289.90 was still a steal.



My flight was originally scheduled for departure at 8:15am (SGT, +8 GMT). In January, one month after my reservation, Norwegian Air sent me an email to inform me of a 1 hour 5 minutes delay. the flight was rescheduled to 9:20am (SGT, +8 GMT). A bit of an inconvenience, but not too bad. The actual flight took off at 9:30am (SGT, +8 GMT) and I only arrived in London Gatwick at 4:20pm (BST, GMT+1).

Seats / legroom

I opted for a normal window seat instead of the emergency exit row, which allows you more legroom, because I liked having my bag with me during landing and take off. Norwegian Air's flight legroom suited me fine but keep in mind that I am only 154cm!

Despite picking a seat far away from the bassinet, which is basically synonymous to crying babies, I ended up sitting beside a kid. The silver lining is that I could "steal" his legroom.


To be honest, I don't know how other people of average height survive the flight because towards the second half of the flight, I got a bit restless. I guess if you have the aisle seat, you could get out and take a walk.

In-flight entertainment (IFE)

As with most budget airlines, I did not expect Norwegian Air to provide in-flight entertainment at all but I was pleasantly surprised. Norwegian Air's in-flight entertainment obviously cannot compare to full-service carriers like Singapore Airlines' but it was sufficient.

Classic movies shown on Norwegian Air

TV shows on Norwegian Air's in-flight entertainment

Norwegian Air's in-flight entertainment has games too!

I actually spent the majority of my time staring at the flight info screen, counting down to my arrival in London Gatwick.

Food

The unwritten rule is to not expect too much of airplane food, and Norwegian Air is no different. The first meal was served about 1.5 hours after take off. I chose fish and pasta for this meal, and it comes with coleslaw and pudding.


A snack, ham sandwich, was served midflight together with a glass of water.


Followed by a second meal about 2 hours before landing. Chose chicken and rice for this meal service. The chicken was slightly spicy but nothing I couldn't take.

Both meals come with a cup of water (not sure if you can request water when it's not meal service) and coffee/tea. You can order more food and drinks via the in-flight entertainment system with your credit/debit card too.

Service

The cabin crew were pleasant and attentive, more so than most budget flights I have taken. I noticed that they took extra care of the child beside me, even offering him chocolates! There were disruptive and quarrelsome passengers on my flight too and the cabin crew handled the situation with grace.

Overall

I had a lovely experience with Norwegian Air and will definitely consider this budget flight should I travel to Europe again.

P.S. This post is in no way sponsored or affiliated to Norwegian Air. Everything written here was based on my own experience.

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Update 2019: The flight Singapore to London Gatwick (and vice-versa) has been discontinued by Norwegian Air. To say that I will dearly miss it wouldn't be an understatement.