Singapore Airlines Fleet: May 2019

While engine issues continue to keep two of Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 787-10s out of action, it was generally a more settled month for the fleet towards the end of April.

We learned of the planned departure of at least five more A330s this year, but perhaps the biggest news is a reshuffle of the upcoming A350 delivery allocation to include five aircraft in the standard 3-class configuration, in a mix of otherwise regionally-configured aircraft.

You can read on to learn more about that, but we’ll start with the usual fleet overview. There were 125 registered aircraft in the Singapore Airlines fleet as reported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on 30th April 2019. Additionally one new aircraft was delivered since that date, and is therefore reflected in our analysis.

As always, we look at how these planes 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 6th May 2019.

	CAAS Database:	125
	For disposal:	-3
	Recent Deliveries:	+1
	In Service:	123
	In maintenance, or delivered but yet to enter service:	-6
	Active:	117

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 123 planes at 6th May 2019, 117 of which are currently active.

Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 30th April 2019.

Singapore Airlines Fleet at 6th May 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)	18	17	17
A350-900 42 J (2013 J) 24 W (2015 W) 187 Y (2013 Y) (full details)	21	21	21
A350-900 Regional 40 J (2018 RJ) 263 Y (2017 Y) (full details)	5	5	5
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	5
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	6	6
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	26
787-10 36 J (2018 RJ) 301 Y (2017 Y) (full details)	11*	11	9
Total	126*	123	117

Correct at 6th May 2019.
* Includes one aircraft delivered in early May, 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-STO has already stopped flying for return to lessor, onwards to Star Alliance carrier Brussels Airlines.
• 777-200 9V-SQJ has already stopped flying for disposal.
• 777-200 9V-SRP has already stopped flying for disposal.

Additional to the above, not currently active

• A380-800 v1 9V-SKH is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
• A380-800 v2 9V-SKS is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
• A380-800 v2 9V-SKT is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
• 777-300ER 9V-SWN is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
• 787-10 9V-SCD is grounded in Singapore due to Rolls-Royce engine issues.
• 787-10 9V-SCI is grounded in Singapore due to Rolls-Royce engine issues.

Changes this month

Since March 2019 (and since the CAAS database at 31st March 2019) the following changes have been recorded:

Airbus A330-300

• 9V-STT was formally de-registered in April and was ferried to its new operator Evelop Airlines in Spain as EC-NBP.

• Since the weekend the aircraft started operating London to New York flights on wet-lease to Norwegian Air (another airline plagued by 787 Rolls-Royce engine issues), with SIA’s original seats still installed.

• 9V-STO flew its last flight for SIA from Taipei to Singapore on 2nd April. Onward to Brussels Airlines as OO-SFF.
• The registered A330 fleet stands at 18 aircraft, with 17 in service and active.

Airbus A350-900

• One aircraft, 9V-SMB, re-entered service following routine maintenance on 5th April with a flight to Tokyo-Haneda. Like -SMA, it was out of service for just a couple of weeks.
• Another aircraft, 9V-SMM, entered routine maintenance on 28th April 2019 after a flight from Melbourne. It was another short stint in the hangar with this aircraft returning to service this morning, headed for Rome.
• The registered A350-900 fleet stands at 21, with 21 active.

Airbus A350-900 Regional

• 9V-SHE was delivered on 6th April and entered commercial service to Adelaide on 14th April.
• The registered A350-900 Regional fleet stands at 5, all of which are active.

Airbus A350-900ULR

• No changes, with 7 aircraft registered and active.

Airbus A380

• One aircraft, 9V-SKG, re-entered service following routine maintenance on 10th April, to Delhi.
• The same day (10th April), 9V-SKH entered routine maintenance at Changi after a flight from Melbourne.
• 9V-SKT remains in routine maintenance in Singapore.
• 9V-SKS remains in routine maintenance in Singapore.
• These latter two aircraft have been out of service for 6 months and 3 months respectively, and it looks increasingly likely that at least one of them is now undergoing refits of the 2017 cabin products.
• Currently 19 aircraft registered, 19 in service and 16 active.

Boeing 777-200

• One aircraft, 9V-SRP, stopped flying for disposal, joining -SQJ with the same fate. It last flew into Changi from Hong Kong on 11th April.
• Currently 8 aircraft registered and 6 active.

Boeing 777-200ER

• No changes, with 5 aircraft registered and active.

Boeing 777-300

• No changes, with 5 aircraft registered and active.

Boeing 777-300ER

• One aircraft, 9V-SWM, re-entered service on 26th April 2019 – to Beijing. The aircraft had previously been ferried to Thailand following routine maintenance, for repainting in Star Alliance colours. It now operates with that livery.
• 9V-SWN entered routine maintenance on 15th April 2019 after a flight from London Heathrow.
• Currently 27 aircraft registered, 27 in service and 26 active.

Boeing 787-10

• Premature cracking in the high pressure turbines on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines fitted to SIA’s 787-10s resulted in many of the aircraft being grounded in early April 2019.
• Two aircraft remain grounded at Changi as of 6th April: 9V-SCD and -SCI.
• 9V-SCJ was delivered on 26th April, and commenced commercial service on 28th April to Bali. That’s one of the quickest introductions we’ve seen from delivery to service entry from Singapore Airlines (unlike some other airlines, they tend to tinker with their new planes for a week or two, for whatever reason). Fleet constraints due to Rolls-Royce engine issues presumably necessitated quicker introduction.
• 9V-SCK was delivered on 3rd May, not reflected in the CAAS database yet as it occurred this month. The aircraft also entered service much more rapidly than usual for SIA, flying to Osaka just two days later on 5th May.
• Currently 11 aircraft registered, with 9 active.

Farewell A330s

We got some more information on end of lease dates for a number of A330s in the fleet, with the following aircraft set to leave over the next few months:

• 9V-STO – already stopped flying
• 9V-STV – leaving June 2019
• 9V-STU – leaving July 2019
• 9V-STY – leaving September 2019
• 9V-STZ – leaving by the end of 2019

As we mentioned last month 9V-STU is wearing a Star Alliance colour scheme temporarily as its lease was extended by only three months. This was actually designed to assist fleet capacity due to SilkAir’s six grounded 737 MAX aircraft, but it also happily coincided with the 787-10 engine issues as well.

If you’re wondering how much an arrangement like this costs, the lease rate for a brand new A330-300 is around US$750,000 a month. A six year old one like this should be at least a third less than that however.

By the end of 2019 the A330 fleet will have dwindled to 13, or potentially fewer, with the entire fleet due to leave the airline by late 2020. That means we’ll soon become used to seeing around one of these aircraft per month leaving for pastures new.

3-class A350s are back

The next A350, 9V-SHF, is already at the delivery centre in Toulouse and should fly to Singapore within the coming days.

As the 34th example to join Singapore Airlines it marks the halfway point of the total order for 67 such aircraft. With some older 777s likely to be leaving and more A350s arriving, we still predict the A350 will become the largest fleet in the airline by late 2019.

Thanks to AIB Family Flights, we have a recently updated list of assigned registrations for the next 14 Airbus A350s destined for Singapore Airlines. These help us to know the cabin configuration chosen, and there’s been some interesting changes made to ‘Plan A’.

MSN	Registration		Config	Delivery
	Original	New
305	9V-SHF	9V-SHF	Regional	May 2019
309	9V-SHG	9V-SHG	Regional	Jun 2019
316	9V-SHH	9V-SHH	Regional	Jul 2019
322	9V-SHI	9V-SHI	Regional	Aug 2019
328	9V-SHJ	9V-SHJ	Regional	Sep 2019
329	9V-SHK	9V-SMV	Standard	Q4 2019
341	9V-SHL	9V-SMW	Standard	Q4 2019
344	9V-SHM	9V-SMY	Standard	Q4 2019
348	9V-SHN	9V-SMZ	Standard	Q4 2019
364		9V-SJA	Standard	Q1 2020
369		9V-SHK	Regional	Q1 2020
371		9V-SHL	Regional	Q1 2020
379		9V-SHM	Regional	Q1 2020
385		9V-SHN	Regional	Q1 2020

Delivery dates are provisional / estimated.

As you can see the next five aircraft joining the fleet will be the regional variant, however after that the original plan to continue with four further aircraft in this configuration has been changed, with the aircraft swapped out for five A350s in the standard 3-class configuration.

After that the next four will revert to the regional configuration.

Note that SIA is continuing the standard configuration registrations with the -SJ* series once it runs out of -SM* letters. The SJ registration series was last used for the airline’s Airbus A340-300s.

There are no more A350 ULR deliveries proposed in the current financial year, though SIA still has the option to convert future deliveries if it wishes.

This production schedule runs to approximately March 2020, meaning we should see at least one A350 delivery per month between now and then.

As we expected the majority of deliveries this year will still be the regional variant, however the five standard 3-class aircraft are an interesting addition and may suggest the last remaining five 777-200ERs are next in line for the chop.

Could we finally see the Istanbul route switch to the 2013 J seats this year? We understand it cannot use the regional aircraft, as they lack the required crew rest compartment. A 3-class A350 seems the logical choice for the route.

787 deliveries

With two 787-10s recently delivered and the 12th one (9V-SCL) due in June according to 787 Blogger, there is then an approximate three month gap before the next three aircraft start to arrive in late 2019.

That’s probably a relief for SIA, as it gives them time to work with Rolls-Royce to get the engine issues resolved while taking additional A350s, which currently have no such problems with their Trent XWB engines.

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 June 2019.

(Cover Photo: Edwin Leong)