Singapore Airlines operates seven Airbus A350-900ULRs, the world’s longest-range aircraft. The airline uses these jets to operate its longest flights from Singapore (SIN) to New York (JFK), Newark (EWR) and San Francisco (SFO).
Star Alliance airlines will soon ground some of these jets for maintenance. This raises an interesting question as to whether there is something more to it…
Singapore Airlines reduces A350-900ULR flights
Singapore Airlines took delivery of the A350-900ULR in 2018. It is normal for aircraft to require frequent major maintenance, and for these jets it is every 6 years. With this in mind, Singapore Airlines is preparing to reduce its A350-900ULR schedule to reflect that only six of these seven aircraft will be in service at any given time.
From May 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025, Singapore Airlines plans to operate fewer of these jets on some of its longest flights, Mainly Miles reports. The company will maintain daily flights from Singapore to both New York and Newark, but will otherwise make changes to its A350-900ULR network.
- Over the next nine months, Singapore Airlines will replace its seven weekly A350-900ULR flights to San Francisco with an A350-900.
- Over the next nine months, Singapore Airlines will replace its three weekly A350-900 flights to Los Angeles with the A350-900ULR.
As you can see, these A350-900ULRs will go from operating 21 flights per week to operating 17 flights per week. The airline confirmed that these aircraft will undergo scheduled maintenance during this period. There’s nothing really surprising here, but there are some interesting speculations that we thought would be fun to discuss.
Will Singapore Airlines update the A350-900ULR cabin?
In July 2023, Executive Traveler reported that Singapore Airlines was planning to reconfigure its A350-900ULR fleet. The source of this information was not shared, but it was passed off as fact rather than speculation.
Please note that when major maintenance is performed on an aircraft, it essentially involves removing and reinstalling the entire interior of the aircraft. When you put these factors together, you have to wonder if these two things are related.
If Singapore Airlines is planning to update the cabins of its A350-900ULR and is undergoing extensive maintenance on these jets, it would be perfectly logical to complete both projects at the same time.
For comparison, Singapore Airlines’ A350-900ULR is a super-premium version with just 161 seats, including 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy seats.
What changes would we see if Singapore Airlines updated its A350-900ULR (again, this is a big “if” and purely speculative)?
Singapore Airlines may just be keeping the same seats and changing the seat breakdown for each cabin. I understand that business class tends to sell better than premium economy, but could airlines make business class cabins larger and premium economy cabins smaller?
For that matter, will Singapore Airlines ever introduce first class on these jets? By reducing the size of premium economy and introducing a smaller first class cabin, the airline will generate more revenue. It seems possible, and I think there is definitely a demand for it.
Another potential scenario is that the airline could eventually introduce a new business class product on these jets. There has long been talk of Singapore Airlines introducing new business class seats, which were originally scheduled to be introduced on its 777-9 aircraft in 2020. But with the plane delayed for at least five years, will Singapore Airlines finally make its debut? How about this cabin on the A350-900ULR instead?
No one knows how this will play out, but I think there’s a good chance that the A350-900ULR won’t come back from maintenance in exactly the same condition it was in when it arrived. For what it’s worth, Singapore Airlines has a short history. Details of cabin updates will be announced shortly before the plane is ready for flight (Lufthansa may learn something).
conclusion
Singapore Airlines will soon undergo maintenance on its Airbus A350-900ULR, which is used to operate the world’s longest routes. Singapore Airlines will reduce its A350-900ULR schedule for nine months, allowing it to take one aircraft out of service at a time.
Singapore Airlines claims this is simply to perform routine maintenance, but we can’t help but wonder if there will be other updates to these cabins, such as changes to the cabin layout or the introduction of a new business class. I can’t go in.
Do you think Singapore Airlines will just perform maintenance on the A350-900ULR or do you think there will be significant changes to the cabin?