Regulars in Business Class on Singapore Airlines flights to and from Seoul are getting a nice upgrade from May this year. As little as one month ago this route was being served by three Airbus A330s with 2009 Regional Business Class seats, and a single Boeing 777-300ER with 2013 Business Class seats.
This month one of those A330 flights was upgraded to the new Regional A350 with the latest 2018 Business Class product, and from 1st May the airline is replacing the other two flights in one fell swoop, this time with the Boeing 787-10.
Schedule
Here’s how the current Singapore Airlines schedule looks to and from Seoul. All flights operate daily on this route.
Until 30th April 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ608 | SIN0010 – ICN0745 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ612 | SIN0225 – ICN0950 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ600 | SIN0800 – ICN1535 | 359 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ602 | SIN1440 – ICN2215 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ607 | ICN0900 – SIN1420 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ611 | ICN1120 – SIN1655 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ609 | ICN1610 – SIN2130 | 359 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ603 | ICN2345 – SIN0505* | 333 | 2009 RJ |
* Next day
From 1st May 2019 onwards the SQ608/607 and SQ602/603 flight pairings are set to be operated by the Boeing 787-10 instead of the Airbus A330, as highlighted below.
From 1st May 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ608 | SIN0010 – ICN0745 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ612 | SIN0225 – ICN0950 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ600 | SIN0800 – ICN1535 | 359 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ602 | SIN1440 – ICN2215 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ607 | ICN0900 – SIN1420 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ611 | ICN1120 – SIN1655 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ609 | ICN1610 – SIN2130 | 359 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ603 | ICN2345 – SIN0505* | 787 | 2018 RJ |
* Next day
Business Class seat types
The replacement of the A330s with 787-10s will mean three out of four flights per day on this route will feature the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, with the remaining flight operated by the Boeing 777-300ER offering the popular long-haul 2013 Business Class seat.
The Boeing 777 flight (SQ612/611) also offers the 2013 First Class (see our recent review) and a Premium Economy cabin.
From 1st May 2019 all Seoul services will therefore offer flat-bed, direct aisle access seats in Business Class, a big advantage for this 6 hour 30 minute flight, some of which are overnight services.
We flew on the first Singapore Airlines commercial flight with the new 2018 RJ seat from Singapore to Bangkok, and it’s a great product. In fact the same seat is used by several airlines as their long-haul Business Class, so it’s truly a step up for regional routes.
The changes also represent a big capacity boost for the Singapore – Seoul route. SIA was offering 7,833 seats per week in each direction on this city pair earlier this year, when three A330s and a 777-300ER were operating, including 966 seats in Business Class.
From 1st May 2019 the newer and larger planes will provide a total of 8,687 seats per week on the service, an 11% increase, with 1,120 seats in Business Class, a 16% increase.
That bodes well for award availability.
Asiana’s changes
The news comes hot on the heels of Asiana upgrading its Singapore – Seoul services with similar flat-bed Business Class sets on the Airbus A350 from 26th April, just five days before SIA will introduce 787s on the route.
That’s unlikely to be a coincidence – even though Asiana is a Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines will be keen to showcase its best products on this route and doesn’t want to be one-upped by the South Korean carrier.
Redemption rates
Here are the KrisFlyer redemption rates you’ll pay by cabin on this route.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore – Seoul | ||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 25,000 | 45,000 |
| Premium Economy* | 34,500 | n/a |
| Business | 47,000 | 70,000 |
| First* | 70,000 | 120,000 |
* Available only on 777-300ER flights
You can also use miles you have in other Star Alliance programs to book these flights, including in the Business Class cabin. Example rates are 20,000 miles in Economy and 36,000 miles in Business using Lifemiles or 20,000 miles in Economy and 35,000 miles in Business with Lufthansa Miles & More.
Sometimes Singapore Airlines restricts award availability to Star Alliance and partner airline programs for its newer Business Class seats, but this hasn’t happened yet on this route, so you may want to take advantage sooner rather than later.
Where else is the 2018 RJ seat flying?
Our 2018 Regional Business Class Tracker page has been updated to reflect the additional flights with this cabin operating on the Seoul route from May.
Shorter routes include Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, with longer flights like Adelaide, Perth and Tokyo also featuring these new seats.
Further routes are likely as additional A350 Regional and 787-10 aircraft continue to arrive this year, replacing older aircraft in the fleet (mainly A330s we understand) throughout 2019.
Summary
New Boeing 787-10 aircraft deliveries to SIA are starting to pick up again, and this is the latest city to see regular service from the aircraft.
To have the Seoul route go from 75% angled beds in Business Class with a 2-2-2 configuration to being 100% served with direct aisle access 1-2-1 flat-bed seats in the space of just a couple of months is a fast upgrade, no doubt partly related to recent announcements from Asiana of a superior product from that airline on the same city pair.
Capacity increases brought about by these larger aircraft should also improve award availability especially in Business Class, but most importantly there will no longer be a need to pick your flight to or from Seoul carefully.
From May this year you’ll get a great seat no matter which service you choose.
(Cover Photo: Boeing)
Nice upgrade there, more looking forward to the second Taipei flight to get upgraded from 2009RJ though!
Hopefully it will happen this year. Fingers crossed!
For the third daily Osaka service (SQ 620 / SQ 621), fingers crossed that it will switch to the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner as well, including one Perth service (SQ 223 / SQ 214).
I think it’s a great product… for anyone who’s either not very tall or not very wide.. Sadly I do not fall into this category.. and many friends and family who also are not in this category, all agree.. these seats are very tight and very claustrophobic.. also, for some mind-trick reason, although the bulkhead seats do have more physical space (so says the tape measure), these seats are also more claustrophobic than the other seats, probably because of the full height wall in front and ‘privacy panels’ that wind up giving me a sensation of being stuck in bottom of a well..
To me, for any distance up to HKG, where I don’t see myself requiring to lay flat to sleep, I’d (I can’t believe I’m saying this) prefer the old A330… I’d personally only prefer these seats if I’m looking at stacking a few zzzs, 5-6+ hour flights..
Oh well..
Booked myself SIN-ICN-MNL for 21k miles+bonus in business class. SIN-ICN on SQ 350. Was expecting Asiana 772 for ICN-MNL, sadly still A330 now. Almost a round trip for immediate return.
How did you book it? Please share