Singapore Airlines fleet

The Singapore Airlines fleet features exclusively wide-body aircraft from four aircraft families: the Boeing 777, Airbus A380, Airbus A350, and the Airbus A330.^[1] As of 31 October 2016, there were 107 aircraft registered in the Singapore Airlines fleet.^[2]

Current fleet

As of 31 October 2016 the Singapore Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[2]

Boeing 777

Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWA), the first of the -300ER variant delivered on 23 November 2006, taking off from Zürich Airport.

Singapore Airlines' 777-212s were the first to enter service, with the first having been delivered on 5 May 1997. On 10 December 1998, Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 777-300. The airline announced the order of 19 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in August 2004 with the order signed on 23 December 2004, during which an unused option for the Boeing 777 family was converted into an order for Boeing 777-300ER. Singapore Airlines became the world's largest operator of the Boeing 777 when it took delivery of its 58th such aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, on 6 May 2005.^[10] It has since been surpassed by Emirates, which currently has 130 examples in its fleet. The airline's new Boeing 777-300ERs entered commercial service on 5 December 2006.

On 9 July 2013, Singapore Airlines, in collaboration with two design firms, James Park Associates and DesignworksUSA, unveiled the next generation of cabin products for First, Business, and Economy class, which will first enter service onboard new Boeing 777-300ERs. London was the first city served with the new product in September 2013.^[11] The product was later extended to all Boeing 777-300ERs.^[12] Singapore Airlines also introduced its new Premium Economy product on 9 August 2015 on the Boeing 777-300ER.

Airbus A330

Airbus A330-300 landing at Perth Airport

Singapore Airlines introduced the Airbus A330-300 in January 2009, with the delivery of the first of an initial batch of aircraft on operating leases from AWAS.^[13] It was the first aircraft in the fleet to feature a new regional business class product with 30 lie-flat leather seats in a 2-2-2 configuration,^[14] which has since been retrofitted on other regional aircraft in the fleet.

Five further A330s were delivered in 2009,^[13] progressively replacing older Boeing 777-200s on medium-haul routes,^[14] and the fleet stood at 19 examples by June 2011.^[15] All the aircraft were acquired on five-year leases with the option to extend if necessary,^[16] designed to fill the airline's capacity requirements until the delivery of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s.^[14]

The airline committed to an additional 15 A330 aircraft in June 2011, which were delivered between 2013 and 2015, continuing to replace older Boeing 777s in the fleet.^[15][16] The A330 fleet was the second largest by type in the airline as of 31 August 2016 (after the Boeing 777 fleet) with 27 aircraft in service.^[2] In January 2016 the airline confirmed its intention to eventually replace all A330 aircraft with Airbus A350s in a medium-range configuration by 2019.^[4]

Airbus A350

Airbus A350-900 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Singapore Airlines placed an order for 30 Airbus A350-900 aircraft in 2006, with a further 30 orders placed in 2013.^[17] The airline took delivery of the first of the aircraft in February 2016^[2][18] and flew its delivery flight to Singapore on 2 March.^[19] The airline began operating regular services using the A350 on the Singapore-Amsterdam route from 9 May 2016.^[20]

On 13 October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced that it had placed orders for seven Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra-Long Range), which will see the return of non-stop flights between Singapore and both New York and Los Angeles.^[21] The A350-900ULR will be configured with approximately 170 seats, compared to 253 in Singapore Airlines' standard A350-900, and will be fitted with the airline's all-new business class seat design due in 2018.^[22]

The Airbus A350 aircraft is the replacement aircraft for existing Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-200ER and Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Airbus A380

Airbus A380 wearing a 50th anniversary of Singapore livery departing Singapore Changi Airport (May 2015)

An Airbus A380-800 at Zurich Airport in 2010

Singapore Airlines became the first airline to operate the Airbus A380-800 on 25 October 2007, after a series of delays.^[23][24] The airline placed orders for nineteen A380s with six options. The first flight was a return trip from Singapore to Sydney, with a flight designation of SQ380 to signify the first commercial flight of the A380.^[25] To mark this moment in aviation history, SIA auctioned all the tickets in a special agreement with eBay, beginning on 27 August 2007 for two weeks, and donated all the proceeds to charity.^[26] Close to $1.3 million was raised for charity through the auction.^[27]

The airline also uses the A380 to serve commemorative or seasonal flights. Singapore Airlines became the first to operate commercial A380 flights into Beijing from 2 to 8 August 2008 to meet higher passenger traffic during the Beijing Summer Olympic Games; and operated the A380 seasonally to Osaka in August 2012.^[28] On 9 August 2015, a Singapore Airlines A380 took part in the Singapore National Day Parade as part of Singapore's 50th anniversary celebrations. The aircraft was painted with a special livery, retaining it through to the end of the year, and operated a special Charity Flight on 29 May 2015.^[29]

In 2012, Singapore Airlines agreed to order five more A380s, to be delivered from 2017.^[30] They will feature new Suites, Business Class and Economy cabins, as well as Premium Economy seats which are already being rolled out on existing A380s.^[31] In 2016 the airline confirmed that one A380 would be returned to its leasing company in October 2017 at the end of its ten-year lease, with a decision still to be made regarding retention of four additional A380 aircraft whose leases expire between January and June 2018.^[8]

Fleet History

An Airspeed Consul (VR-SCD) – the first aircraft type operated by Malayan Airways, which was the forerunner of Singapore Airlines

The Singaporean Concorde (G-BOAD) at Heathrow in 1980

Since 1937, the predecessors of Singapore Airlines operated the Airspeed Consul, Boeing 707, Boeing 737, Bristol Britannia, Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-4 Skymaster, de Havilland Comet 4, Fokker F27, Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation and the Vickers Viscount. After its incorporation as Singapore Airlines Limited on 28 January 1972, the airline acquired seven Boeing 707s and five Boeing 737s from MSA on 30 September 1972.^[32]

Its first purchase since incorporation was for another second-hand Boeing 707 that was delivered on 1 October 1972. The first Boeing 747-200 for the airline was delivered soon after on 31 July 1973, which also marked SIA's first direct delivery of a new aircraft. Boeing 727s were delivered from 30 August 1977, Boeing 747-300s from 29 April 1983, and Boeing 757s from 12 November 1984.^[33] The airline ordered its first aircraft from Airbus, the A300B4 in 1979,^[34] which joined the fleet in 1980. Other Airbus models flown include the Airbus 310 from 1984 and the Airbus 340-300 from 26 October 1996.

The airline ordered the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on 16 January 1990, involving 5 firm orders and 15 options, to operate long-haul routes with demand deemed too thin for the Boeing 747.^[35] When it was revealed that the aircraft's performance was below expectations in terms of range and fuel burn, the order was cancelled in favour of the Airbus A340-300 with 20 orders. The cancellation was seen as particularly damaging to McDonnell Douglas due to the company's reputation.^[36] Airbus in turn suffered a setback, however, when rival Boeing successfully negotiated to take SIA's existing A340-300 fleet as well as any still on order in exchange for ten orders for the Boeing 777 in 1999,^[37] with Airbus calling the move an "act of desperation" on Boeing's part.^[38]

In 1977, and from 1979 to 1980, British Airways operated a Concorde (G-BOAD)^[39] which was dual-liveried with Singapore Airlines' livery on the port side and British Airways' livery on the starboard side. It was used on the London to Singapore via Bahrain service. The service was withdrawn for financial reasons and complaints about noise from the Malaysian government.^[40]

In September 2009, the Airbus A380 marked a milestone with the airline when with the tenth aircraft delivered its fleet of A380s exceeded that of the Boeing 747-400 for the first time.^[41]

References

Notes

Online

• Singapore Airlines Fleet Information
• Airbus Commercial Orders and Deliveries
• Singapore Airlines confirms Airbus A350 'medium-range' config