| Note 8th June 2019: Introduction of the new A380 products on the Sydney route has been postponed by one week, and will now start from Note 16th June 2019: Introduction on SQ231/222 has been pushed back again to 20th June 2019. |
In a schedule update yesterday evening, Singapore Airlines finally revealed the route for its first refitted Airbus A380, one of 14 older jets planned to be kitted out with the very latest Suites and Business Class products.
Like many that have gone before it, Sydney is the chosen destination, with the airline doubling down on the new A380 cabins each day from 10th 20th June 2019 by shifting the SQ231/222 flight pairing to the latest fit.
It’s short lived though, as the flight switches back to an older A380 on the Sydney schedule after 1st August 2019, with a new destination on the cards after that for the newest jet.
What we know
The first aircraft refitted with the new cabin products will set course for Sydney as SQ231, a flight currently operated by an A380 Version 1, in the early hours of 10th June 2019. That’s less than 11 days from now.
It was a long time coming, with the airline proposing a complete refit of the 14 older aircraft would be finished by the end of 2020.
That timetable now seems optimistic, with at least 12 more planes to finish in the next 18 months, but rolling out the first aircraft is an important milestone.
The schedule
This is how the current schedule of five daily flights looks between Singapore and Sydney:
Current schedule SIN-SYD (until 9th June 2019)
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ231 | SIN0045 – SYD1025 | 388 | 2006 R / 2006 J |
| SQ241 | SIN0710 – SYD1650 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ211 | SIN0935 – SYD1915 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ288 | SIN1030 – SYD2010 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ221 | SIN2020 – SYD0555* | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
* Next day. All flights operate daily.
Current schedule SYD-SIN (until 9th June 2019)
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ212 | SYD0755 – SIN1415 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ232 | SYD1100 – SIN1730 | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
| SQ222 | SYD1500 – SIN2120 | 388 | 2006 R / 2006 J |
| SQ242 | SYD1805 – SIN0020* | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ288 | SYD2120 – SIN0515* | 77W | 2013 F / J |
* Next day. All flights operate daily.
And here’s how it looks from 10th 20th June 2019:
New schedule SIN-SYD (10th 20th June 2019 to 1st August 2019)
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ231 | SIN0045 – SYD1025 | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
| SQ241 | SIN0710 – SYD1650 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ211 | SIN0935 – SYD1915 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ288 | SIN1030 – SYD2010 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ221 | SIN2020 – SYD0555* | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
* Next day. All flights operate daily.
New schedule SYD-SIN (10th 20th June 2019 to 1st August 2019)
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ212 | SYD0755 – SIN1415 | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ232 | SYD1100 – SIN1730 | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
| SQ222 | SYD1500 – SIN2120 | 388 | 2017 R / 2017 J |
| SQ242 | SYD1805 – SIN0020* | 77W | 2013 F / J |
| SQ288 | SYD2120 – SIN0515* | 77W | 2013 F / J |
* Next day. All flights operate daily.
The later overnight option from Singapore to Sydney (perfect for a good sleep on board), and the mid afternoon Sydney to Singapore flight (perfect for a lazy morning in your hotel before you have to head to the airport), now have the latest aircraft confirmed on these dates.
If you’re lucky enough to be booked in Suites, or even the Business Class cabin, between 10th 20th June 2019 and 1st August 2019 on this route – you’re in for a treat.
These flights will now feature the latest A380 cabin products, joining the SQ221/232 pairing, which was the first to receive them back in 2017. Check out what we thought of the new Suites in our comprehensive review.
Click here to read our review of the Singapore Airlines A380 New Suites
Business Class also gets an upgrade on these aircraft, with 78 of the latest seats installed in a 1-2-1 configuration, including some ‘double bed’ options at the middle pairs.
Click here to read our review of the Singapore Airlines A380 New Business Class
What else we know
The rest of the A380 flying program with 2017 (i.e. new / refitted) products, to London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney (SQ221/232) and Zurich, is unaffected by this schedule addition.
This change must therefore only be possible because the sixth aircraft with the new cabin products installed is entering service. There are simply insufficient gaps in the current schedule for the five newest aircraft (SKU-SKZ) to support this extra flight on a daily basis.
Which plane is it?
As we understand from our sources, 9V-SKS and 9V-SKT are are the first two A380s being refitted with the new cabin products.
SKS apparently had some additional maintenance requirements, hence its long downtime now in excess of 6 months, and it’s suggested that this will be the first refitted aircraft to enter service in less than two weeks from now.
Whichever of the pair it is, the interesting question will be what tweaks, if any, Singapore Airlines has applied to the cabins. There were some design criticisms, especially in Suites, so we’ll be keen to see how these have been addressed.
Award availability
If you were hoping to jump on a saver award ticket in Suites on this flight after it switches to the new cabin products, unfortunately it is either unavailable or waitlisted in the saver category during this period, in both directions.
In Business Class you can pick up saver awards on SQ231/222 in June and July, not too surprising with the new aircraft version equipped with 78 seats in this cabin, a 30% increase over the aircraft it is replacing.
If you can secure an award, here are the KrisFlyer redemption rates you’ll pay by cabin on this route:
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore – Sydney | ||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 28,000 | 55,000 |
| Premium Economy | 47,000 | n/a |
| Business | 62,000 | 90,000 |
| First / Suites | 85,000 | 155,000 |
What’s next?
After this relatively short stint on the Sydney route the refitted aircraft picks up a brand new roster from August 2019. Stay tuned for the latest destinations in an upcoming post.
(Cover Photo: Peter Gronemann)
Got a call from SG airlines. My flight on 11th June is now being changed back to the 12 seater configuration! So might want to see what happened to the newly refitted one!
Oh that’s a shame for your flight. Looks like the SYD schedule now gets the new fit from 17th June so they have pushed it back by a week.
The first refitted aircraft was due for a test flight on 4th June then postponed until today, according to SQTalk, but still hasn’t flown so it sounds like there are last minute issues to resolve.
yeah what a shame…would have wanted to check out if they did any modifications to the aircraft F class layout and report to you all.
Hi Andrew, my waitlisted flight to Sydney from Singapore next year 31 July 2019 is up for confirmation. Do you think it will be the new suites products?
Which flight number?
Hi Andrew, I’m on SQ222 & SQ308 in August next year, what do you think my chances are of having the new suites are?
Impossible to tell at this stage unfortunately. Neither flight has been guaranteed to have the new products at this stage but fingers crossed for at least one of them.
Has there been any further updates? I’m flying on 222 in may and 288 on the way back in.
SQ222 is the older 2006 J seats in May, SQ288 is the 2013 J seats on the 777-300ER. See our full list of seats by route by date here. Hope it helps!