Often regarded as one of the best full-service carriers in the world, Singapore Airlines connects
the world to and through its hub at Singapore Changi Airport. With about 140 aircraft in its
mainline commercial passenger fleet, the carrier operates a mix of Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
In previous years, the carrier was mainly a widebody operator
but has since restructured its group operations to include the Boeing 737.
A major A380 carrier and now operator of the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A350s,
let’s take a look at the Singapore Airlines fleet in 2022.
As we often do with these fleet deep dive videos,
let’s start with Singapore Airlines’ smallest aircraft: The Boeing 737.
The airline currently has 22 of these narrowbodies. Nine of them are the older
next-generation -800 variant, which have an average age of roughly seven and a half years.
Meanwhile, the other 13 jets are the newer MAX 8, which average three and a half years.
Data from ch-aviation indicates that the carrier has 24 more maxes yet to be delivered,
with at least one of these already built. This particular jet is registered 9V-MBM and had its
first flight in November 2019 with the intention of being delivered to Silkair. Strangely,
it appears that this particular aircraft has been in storage since its initial test flights.
But speaking of Silkair, anyone who has followed the aviation scene in Asia over the past few years
knows that Singapore Airlines didn’t originally order its current 737 for its own operations.
While Singapore Airlines operated the Boeing 737 decades ago,
its current narrowbodies come via former Singapore Airlines Group subsidiary,
Silkair, which operated the group’s low-demand, short-haul operations.
However, with the Silkair brand and its operations being absorbed by Singapore Airlines,
the mainline carrier has since taken on the narrowbodies into its own services.
The first of these Singapore Airlines 737s took off for
regular passenger service in March of 2021, going from Singapore to Phuket.
Here’s what the airline had to say about the move:
"As we take to the skies in the Singapore Airlines livery, and embark on our transition journey,
we are also elevating our promise—so you can enjoy a world- class experience,
no matter how short your journey."
With a reputation of premium service to uphold, Singapore Airlines made sure that
its 737s were modified for their new role. At the heart of the refurbishment are 10 business
class seats for each aircraft, configured as alternating rows consisting of four, two,
and four lie-flat seats. The row with just two flatbeds is particularly attractive,
with these throne-style seats offering extra space and storage.
Each seat has a 16-inch IFE screen and in-seat AC power. When seated upright,
the 22-inch wide seats offer passengers a spacious 44 inches of pitch. However,
they can also recline into fully-flat beds, measuring 76 inches (193 cm)
long. This provides comfort levels more often seen with long-haul flights with widebody aircraft.
Funny enough, the next-largest aircraft in the fleet is the Airbus A350-900-
which is quite a big jump from the 737 MAX 8. The airline doesn’t have any stretched
A320 family jets while it has phased out its fleet of 34 Airbus A330-300 jets over the
past few years. The retirements began in 2015 with the last A330 leaving in March of 2021.
As for the Airbus A350, Singapore Airlines has become the type’s largest operator in
recent months. Over the course of 2021, the airline overtook Qatar Airways for this title-
which is largely due to the fact that the Middle Eastern carrier is in a
bitter dispute with Airbus and refuses to take delivery of any more A350s.
It was way back in March of 2016 that Singapore Airlines took delivery of
its very first Airbus A350-900 in Toulouse. It was to be the first of 67 A350s on firm order,
including seven of the ultra-long-range variant, the A350-900ULR. Today,
the average age of the A350 fleet sits at a relatively young three-and-a-half years.
On April 9th, Singapore Airlines took delivery of A350 number 59. While the carrier states on
its website that it had ordered 67, ch-aviation data indicates that the airline is only expecting
six more at this point- making for a total of 65 of the passenger variant.
The carrier’s A350s have three different configurations. We won’t list off all the numbers,
but we can tell you that one configuration is for medium haul operations with a business class
and economy class. Another configuration is for more standard long haul flights with business,
premium economy, and economy classes. While the third layout is its special
ultra-long-haul configuration, comprised of only premium economy and business class seating.
In case you were wondering how the A350-900ULR differs from the standard model,
a press release covering the first delivery to Singapore Airlines states the following:
“The main change over the standard aircraft is a modified fuel system,
enabling the fuel carrying capacity to be increased by 24,000 liters to 165,000 liters.
This extends the range of the aircraft without the need for additional fuel tanks.”
These special aircraft are typically utilized on the carrier’s flagship service between Singapore
and New York. With a great circle distance of 15,349 kilometres (8,288 nautical miles),
this flight takes the crown for being the world’s longest regularly scheduled commercial flight.
Moving ever-so-slightly up in size, the carrier has 15 Boeing 787-10s.
These are the longest variant of the Dreamliner family, which Singapore Airlines uses to fly
passengers to destinations such as Hong Kong, Denpasar, Delhi, Perth, and much more.
As the 787-10’s fuel capacity is identical to the 787-9, its extra passenger capacity places a limit
on the range this variant can fly. As a result, the type is better suited for higher-capacity,
medium-range operations and is considered more of a quote-unquote ‘regional aircraft.’ The
average age of the airline’s Dreamliners is just over three and a half years.
At the start of 2021, the airline had orders in for 29 of the 787-10 with Boeing.
In February of 2021, the airline converted some of its 787-10 orders
into commitments for 777-9s. Additional orders were transferred to its low-cost subsidiary Scoot,
and downsized to the 787-9 while five more were to be transferred to leasing companies. There
is conflicting information between ch-aviation and planespotters.net- as one source indicates
that the carrier is expecting an additional eight from Boeing, while the other lists nine.
Regardless of the number of undelivered 787s, it’s clear that Boeing’s issues with
787 output have also affected this carrier. As we mentioned in our earlier fleet-analysis videos,
Boeing is continuing to work with the FAA on fixing issues with its Dreamliner
production. More recent news indicates that this could take place later this
year- although Boeing is reluctant to publicly offer a specific date. Other airlines affected,
that we’ve also covered, include American Airlines, KLM, Turkish Airlines, and WestJet.
The next aircraft up in size is the Boeing 777-300ER, of which Singapore Airlines has 26.
There is a 27th 777, but this is a 777-200 listed as parked in Alice
Springs. The airline has phased out its 777-200 operations in recent years,
and so its unlikely this last -200 will be returning to service.
The airline’s 777-300ERs are all between six-and-a-half and about 15 years of age,
and fly a mix of short and long haul services.
Going further afield, the jets serve cities like London, Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich, while on
the shorter-end, the jets visit destinations like Jakarta, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul.
Finally we come to the largest aircraft in the S.I.A. fleet-
and the largest passenger aircraft in the world - the Airbus A380 superjumbo.
In 2007 the airline took delivery of the world’s first Airbus A380 in Toulouse,
France. This made Singapore Airlines the type’s global launch customer.
The aircraft’s very first service was a flight from Singapore to Sydney on October 25th, 2007.
Since then, a lot has changed with the airline’s A380 fleet. The carrier has taken
delivery of a total of 24 superjumbos since 2007 but has also retired seven of the type.
Sadly, the majority of these have either been partially or fully broken up for scrap.
Of the 17 still listed as being part of the Singapore fleet,
eight are currently listed as being parked and inactive. Three of these inactive aircraft
are listed as being stored in the Australian outback, in the desert region of Alice Springs.
The remainder of the airline’s stored A380s are being stored at Singapore Changi airport.
The average age for these 17 A380s currently sits at just over nine and a half years.
For the last few years, Singapore Airlines working hard to refurbish its A380 cabins. From first all
the way through to economy, every class has been getting updated and refreshed seating.
Changes to the airline's business and first class suites are the highlight of the update,
with both classes offering new premium seating. Some A380s came straight from Airbus with these
new interiors. In 2017, Airbus delivered the first quote-unquote “New Singapore Airlines
A380” with an upgraded and improved cabin that was apparently the result
of four years of development and a quote “significant investment by the airline.” Indeed,
according to Airbus, Singapore Airlines invested about $850 million to develop the new cabin.
The new A380 business class seats recline into a lie-flat bed and are semi-enclosed
by quote-unquote "sculpted wings." Seats in the center offer personal dividers that span
the entire length of the chair, offering a better sense of privacy. For couples traveling together,
the center wall can even be lowered completely to create two fully flat beds side-by-side.
All of this refurbishment work makes us confident that the airline will
continue to operate the A380 for at least a few more years in the future,
having already invested a great deal of money in new cabins.
When it comes to A380 destinations, Singapore Airlines currently flies
the superjumbo to cities like London, Sydney, Delhi, and Mumbai. It also
operates a fifth freedom service from Singapore to New York via Frankfurt.
When it comes to future aircraft types, there are two particular orders to discuss.
The first is the airline’s Boeing 777X order. Singapore Airlines purchased its first 20 Boeing
777-9s back in June 2017, alongside 19 787-10 Dreamliners. The carrier was planning to get
its first 777-9 in 2021, but delays to the 777X program have and will continue to significantly
delay the airline’s first delivery. A lack of visibility on when the 777-9 will be fully cleared
to enter service means that a first delivery to Singapore could take place in 2024 or later.
When it comes to the other future type, Singapore Airlines will eventually finish taking delivery
of its A350 passenger aircraft orders quite soon. However, the airline will accept A350 freighters
further into the future. These will obviously be deployed to support the group’s cargo operations.
It was rather recently, on December 15th, 2021,
that Singapore Airlines signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Airbus for seven A350F
freighter aircraft. According to an Airbus statement, the agreement will see the A350F
begin replacing the airline's existing 747-400 freighter fleet in the fourth quarter of 2025.
About two months later, the order was firmed up in February of 2022. Singapore Airlines
joins Etihad and Air France as early customers for Airbus’ upcoming purpose-built widebody freighter.
As you can see by all the types we’ve covered, Singapore Airlines really likes to go big with its
aircraft fleet. While it has since said goodbye to the Airbus A340 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10,
the airline has replaced these aircraft with modern giants like the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.
Eventually, we’ll see its cargo division replace its Boeing 747-400
freighters with new and efficient freighters from Airbus.
With a fairly even split between Airbus and Boeing,
it’s clear that the carrier has good relationships with both planemakers-
something that will carry on into the future as it takes delivery of the 777X and Airbus A350F.
It will be interesting to see how Boeing’s issues with the 787 and 777X
affect Singapore Airlines and its future fleet.
What do you think of the Singapore Airlines fleet? Have you ever flown with the airline?
If so, share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment-
and of course, let us know which aircraft you flew on!