Here’s our regular monthly update of the Singapore Airlines fleet for March 2019. A fourth A350 Regional was delivered in early March, but otherwise it was a quiet month for the fleet with no other deliveries, only a few movements in and out of maintenance.
As always, we take a look at how the 122 registered aircraft reported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) are distributed across the fleet, which are in active service and which are set for disposal.
Headline numbers
Here’s how the Singapore Airlines fleet totals look at 4th March 2019.
| CAAS Database: | 122 | ||
| For disposal: | -2 | ||
| Recent deliveries: | +1 | ||
| In Service: | 121 | ||
| In maintenance, or delivered but yet to enter service: | -7 | ||
| Active: | 114 |
The official registered aircraft data in combination with analysis of actual flight data over the last few weeks allows us to determine the actual ‘in service’ fleet of 121 planes at 4th March 2019, 114 of which are currently active.
Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 28th February 2019.
Singapore Airlines Fleet at 4th March 2019
This table shows the Singapore Airlines fleet including how many of each aircraft type are legally registered (‘Registered’), available to the airline (‘In Service’) and currently operating revenue passenger flights (‘Active’).
| Type & Layout |
Registered | In Service | Active |
| A330-300 30 J (2009 RJ) 255 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
19 | 18 | 17 |
| A350-900 42 J (2013 J) 24 W (2015 W) 187 Y (2013 Y) (full details) |
21 | 21 | 20 |
| A350-900 Regional 40 J (2018 RJ) 263 Y (2017 Y) (full details) |
4* | 4 | 3 |
| A350-900 ULR 67 J (2013 J) 94 W (2018 W) (full details) |
7 | 7 | 7 |
| A380-800 v1 12 R (2006 R) 60 J (2006 J) 36 W (2015 W) 333 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
6 | 6 | 6 |
| A380-800 v2 12 R (2006 R) 86 J (2006 J) 36 W (2015 W) 245 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
8 | 8 | 6 |
| A380-800 v3 6 R (2017 R) 78 J (2017 J) 44 W (2015 W) 343 Y (2017 Y) (full details) |
5 | 5 | 5 |
| 777-200 38 J (2009 RJ) 228 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
8 | 7 | 7 |
| 777-200ER 26 J (2006 J) 245 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
5 | 5 | 5 |
| 777-300 8 F (2006 F) 50 J (2009 RJ) 226 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
5 | 5 | 5 |
| 777-300ER 4 F (2013 F) 48 J (2013 J) 28 W (2015 W) 184 Y (2013 Y) (full details) |
27 | 27 | 25 |
| 787-10 36 J (2018 RJ) 301 Y (2017 Y) (full details) |
8 | 8 | 8 |
| Total | 123* | 121 | 114 |
Correct at 4th March 2019.
* Includes one aircraft delivered in early March, not reflected in the CAAS registered aircraft database.
Differences between registered, in service and active aircraft in the table:
No longer in service (but still legally registered)
- A330-300 9V-STT has already stopped flying for return to lessor (onwards soon to Evelop Airlines in Spain).
- 777-200 9V-SQJ has already stopped flying for disposal.
Additional to the above, not currently active
- A330-300 9V-STU has been withdrawn from service, with unknown fate. It appears increasingly likely it is also in the process of return to lessor, though we are keeping it in the ‘in service’ column until we know for sure.
- A350-900 9V-SMA is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A350-900 Regional 9V-SHD has been delivered but has not yet entered revenue service.
- A380-800 v2 9V-SKS is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A380-800 v2 9V-SKT is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- 777-300ER 9V-SWM is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- 777-300ER 9V-SWT is undergoing maintenance and cabin refit in Singapore.
Changes this month
Since February 2019 (and since the CAAS database at 31st January 2019) the following changes have been recorded:
Airbus A330-300
- No changes, with the A330 fleet standing at 19 aircraft registered, 18 in service and 17 active.
Airbus A350-900
- Following repairs to one of its doors, 9V-SMS returned to service on 16th February operating a flight to Jakarta. In total it was out of action for 20 days.
- One aircraft, 9V-SMA, entered maintenance in Singapore on 18th February. With the exception of unexpected technical issues, this appears to be the first A350 in the fleet to undergo a routine longer term maintenance visit – after 3 years of service.
- The registered A350-900 fleet stands at 21, with 20 aircraft active.
Airbus A350-900 Regional
- 9V-SHC, delivered at the beginning of last month, entered commercial service to Jakarta on 9th February.
- One aircraft, 9V-SHD, was delivered on 2nd March. This is not yet reflected in the CAAS database (at 28th February). It has yet to enter service.
- The registered A350-900 Regional fleet stands at 4, with 3 aircraft active.
Airbus A350-900ULR
- The final A350-900ULR delivered on 15th December last year, 9V-SGG, finally entered commercial service on 14th February to Los Angeles, after an unexplained two-month ground time.
- The registered A350-900ULR fleet stands at 7 aircraft, with all 7 active at 4th March 2019.
Airbus A380
- One aircraft, 9V-SKT, entered routine maintenance at Changi on 29th January after a flight from Sydney. This had not been noted in our February update.
- 9V-SKS remains in routine maintenance in Singapore.
- Currently 19 aircraft registered, 19 in service and 17 active.
Boeing 777-200
- No changes, with 8 aircraft registered and 7 active.
Boeing 777-200ER
- 9V-SVJ, which was ferried to the USA on 4th February for storage, was formally de-registered in February.
- Currently 5 aircraft registered and active.
Boeing 777-300
- No changes, with 5 aircraft registered and active.
Boeing 777-300ER
- One aircraft, 9V-SWM, entered routine maintenance in Singapore on 13th February.
- Another plane, 9V-SWG, previously in routine maintenance since 14th January, re-entered service on 14th February to Sydney.
- Currently 27 aircraft registered, 27 in service and 25 active.
Boeing 787-10
- No changes, with 8 aircraft registered and active.
The 9th Boeing 787
The airline’s 9th Boeing 787-10, 9V-SCI, had its first test flight in Charleston on Friday last week (1st March). Delivery would typically follow one to two weeks later, suggesting the aircraft will fly to Singapore this month despite there being no stated plan to add any further 787-10s until next financial year (i.e. after 1st April).
This earlier than expected delivery would appear to tie in with some additional Boeing 787-10 flights to Hong Kong (SQ871/872) and Bangkok (SQ978/981) running daily from 31st March, as we highlighted in the latest update to our 2018 RJ seats tracker page last week.
In fact the temporary withdrawal of the 787-10 on the Delhi route from the same date already accounts for this, and our analysis shows the schedule can still comfortably be flown with eight 787-10s even from 31st March.
That means 9V-SCI doesn’t appear to be an essential addition to the fleet this month, barring any unannounced changes in aircraft types.
The 10th SIA 787-10, 9V-SCJ, is undergoing final assembly and will roll off the production line next week. First flight and delivery should be in April.
A further five Boeing 787-10s on the current production list have SQ’s name on them, running to early 2020, which would potentially result in a total fleet of 15 such aircraft by this time next year. We’ll get a more accurate proposed total at the next SIA investor update.
Source: 787 Blogger
More Airbus A350s
On the A350 side, the fifth A350 Regional (9V-SHE) is booked for April 2019 delivery. The jet is already on the Toulouse flightline and awaiting first flight.
Four additional A350-900s for Singapore Airlines (configuration unconfirmed, but likely to be the Regional variant) are already on the final assembly line in Toulouse and should be joining the fleet in the next few months.
Beyond that a further 10 A350s for Singapore Airlines have been assigned construction numbers which fall approximately within the 2019 delivery window, though as with the 787s we’ll get more accurate analysis of which ones are due and in which configuration at the next SIA investor update.
It certainly appears that the Airbus A350 fleet will eclipse the Boeing 777 fleet this year, to become the largest in Singapore Airlines, probably sometime in Q3.
Source: A350XWB Production
Full details
As usual you can see full details of each aircraft type in the Singapore Airlines fleet at the following links, including aircraft registrations specific to each configuration.
- Airbus A330
- Airbus A350 (3 versions)
- Airbus A380 (3 versions)
- Boeing 777-200 (2 versions)
- Boeing 777-200ER
- Boeing 777-300
- Boeing 777-300ER
- Boeing 787-10
If the seat types and routes interest you more – see our Seats Guide. Don’t forget we list the planned seat types for every Singapore Airlines service by flight number, so you can choose your next trip with confidence. See the following pages:
First Class seat types by route and flight number
Business Class seat types by route and flight number
Stay tuned for the next fleet update in early April 2019.
(Cover Photo: Aero Icarus)
So no plans to replace the old 777-200ER in the IST-SIN route with A350 or maybe 787-10?
Still no plans announced yet.
No plan on A380 retrofit?
There’s certainly a plan, but we don’t know it in any detail at this stage. First refurbed aircraft is still due on the Sydney route from September. SKS and SKT are in maintenance now, it could be one of them, but it’s guesswork right now.
If we get some news, we’ll be sure to share it.
Just a heads up – looks like 9V-SCI was contractually delivered yesterday. 787 Blogger shows it in the delivered list now. Since you mentioned they were pulling the 787 off the Delhi route and adding in Hong Kong and Bangkok from the end of March, any chance they are going to surprise us with another destination?
Thanks Emily for the heads up. They may do that, or they may reduce the aircraft utilisation. The April schedule, while possible with 8 aircraft, would be 15.2 hours per day of flying per plane, which is a little on the high side.
Also the Delhi flight SQ401/402 is only shifting to the 777-200 until 30th April, then the 787-10 is back so they will need 9 787s by then anyway.
Awesome site buddy. Keep it up !! Great information in great detail. My go to airlines blog as a Star Alliance flyer.