It was a busy month for new aircraft deliveries in the Singapore Airlines fleet, with three A350 Regionals and one 787-10 joining. These two aircraft types form the backbone of the drive to replace a swathe of older A330s, 777-200s and 777-200ERs in the fleet this financial year.
Perhaps the biggest news this month though is that the first refitted Airbus A380 (9V-SKS) is finally finished, making a test flight at Changi yesterday evening after more than 7 months out of commercial service.
Originally due to fly to Sydney on the second daily A380 flight in the early hours of 10th June, the introduction has been postponed by a week and it will now join that route from 17th June instead (though of course the refitted aircraft could be deployed on any A380v3 route from that date).
Let’s begin with the usual fleet overview. There were 128 registered aircraft in the Singapore Airlines fleet as reported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on 31st May 2019. Additionally two new aircraft have been delivered since that date, and they are therefore reflected in our analysis.
This article examine how the aircraft 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 8th June 2019.
| CAAS Database: | 128 | ||
| For disposal: | -5 | ||
| Recent Deliveries: | +2 | ||
| In Service: | 125 | ||
| In maintenance, or delivered but yet to enter service: | -9 | ||
| Active: | 116 |
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 125 planes at 8th June 2019, 116 of which are currently active.
Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 31st May 2019.
Singapore Airlines Fleet at 8th June 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 | 16 | 15 |
| 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) |
8 | 8 | 7 |
| 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) |
7 | 7 | 6 |
| A380-800 v3 6 R (2017 R) 78 J (2017 J) 44 W (2015 W) 343 Y (2017 Y) (full details) |
6 | 6 | 5 |
| 777-200 38 J (2009 RJ) 228 Y (2006 Y) (full details) |
8 | 5 | 5 |
| 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) |
12 | 12 | 9 |
| Total | 130 | 125 | 116 |
Correct at 8th June 2019.
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.
- A330-300 9V-STV has already stopped flying for return to lessor.
- 777-200 9V-SQJ has already stopped flying for disposal.
- 777-200 9V-SRP has already stopped flying, onwards to NokScoot as HS-XBF.
- 777-200 9V-SRQ has already stopped flying, onwards to NokScoot as HS-XBG.
Additional to the above, not currently active
- A330-300 9V-SSE is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A350-900 9V-SHH has been delivered today (8th June) but has yet to enter commercial service.
- A380-800 v1 9V-SKI is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A380-800 v3 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.
- 787-10 9V-SCL has been legally delivered, but is yet to fly from Charleston to Singapore.
Changes this month
Since May 2019 (and since the CAAS database at 30th April 2019) the following changes have been recorded:
Airbus A330-300
- 9V-STV left service as expected at the end of May, operating its last flight for SIA from Bali to Singapore with touchdown at Changi in the early hours of 31st May. Onward operator is unknown.
- 9V-SSE has stopped flying (last service BKK-SIN 25th May). We presume this is for maintenance downtime. For one thing it is one of the newer A330s in the fleet, and its initial 5 year lease would not expire until January 2020.
- The registered A330 fleet stands at 18 aircraft, with 16 in service and 15 active.
Airbus A350-900
- 9V-SMN had one of the (now routine) mini maintenance checks, out of service for the blink of an eye for just a week from 5th May to 12th May.
- 9V-SMJ also had a maintenance visit, out of service from 28th May to 6th June.
- The registered A350-900 fleet stands at 21, with 21 active.
Airbus A350-900 Regional
- 9V-SHF was delivered on 11th May and entered commercial service to Brisbane on 16th May.
- 9V-SHG was delivered just a week later, on 18th May, and entered commercial service to Brisbane on 26th May.
- 9V-SHH was delivered today (8th June). It is currently flying on its delivery flight from Toulouse to Singapore and will likely enter commercial service around a week from now.
- The registered A350-900 Regional fleet is now 8, with 7 active.
Airbus A350-900ULR
- No changes, with 7 aircraft registered and active.
Airbus A380
- 9V-SKH re-entered service to Bombay on 18th May after a five week maintenance period.
- 9V-SKI entered routine maintenance at Changi on 21st May after a flight from Beijing.
- 9V-SKS remains in routine maintenance in Singapore, but completed a test flight yesterday. The revised window arrangement confirms refit with the 2017 cabin products as an A380 Version 3.
- 9V-SKT remains in routine maintenance in Singapore. It is highly likely to also be having the 2017 cabin products fitted, however until this is confirmed we continue to list it as an A380 Version 2.
- Currently 19 aircraft registered, 19 in service and 16 active.
Boeing 777-200
- 9V-SRP, previously marked as for disposal having last flown into Changi from Hong Kong on 11th April, will in fact join NokScoot as HS-XBF.
- 9V-SRQ stopped flying after a flight from Perth on 11th May, onwards to NokScoot as HS-XBG.
- Currently 8 aircraft registered and 5 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
- No changes with 27 aircraft registered and 26 active.
Boeing 787-10
- 9V-SCL was legally delivered to Singapore Airlines in early June. It flew from Charleston under a Boeing test flight number yesterday on what looks like some kind of customer acceptance flight, already bearing its new registration. It should fly to Singapore this month.
- Currently 12 aircraft registered, and 9 active.
Upcoming fleet changes
We summarised the latest analyst briefing to SIA investors last month, outlining the fleet development plan to 2020. Here’s a recap of the numbers, though in this case we have changed the starting point to reflect the in-service fleet at today’s date and taken account of fleet movements in the current financial year that have already happened.
| Aircraft Type | Passenger Fleet Totals | |||
| 8 Jun ’19 | Leaving | Joining | 31 Mar ’20 | |
| A330-300 | 16 | – 8 | 8 | |
| A350-900* | 21 | + 5 | 26 | |
| A350-900 Regional* | 8 | + 7 | 15 | |
| A350-900 ULR* | 7 | 7 | ||
| A380-800 | 19 | 19 | ||
| 777-200 | 5 | – 4 | 1 | |
| 777-200ER | 5 | – 4 | 1 | |
| 777-300 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 777-300ER | 27 | 27 | ||
| 787-10 | 12 | + 3 | 15 | |
| All Types | 125 | – 16 | + 15 | 124 |
As you can see there are an additional 8 A330s, 4 777-200s and 4 777-200ERs set to leave the fleet between now and March 2020, in addition to those already listed as having left service.
Bear in mind that the fleet development plan is not ‘set in stone’. It is re-stated in November with any relevant tweaks for the second half of the financial year, and even then can be changed (for example, a 787 not listed for delivery in FY18/19 was in fact delivered in March 2019).
Airbus A330s
In addition to 9V-STO and 9V-STV, which are already leaving, we expect the following departures this financial year:
- 9V-STU – leaving approximately July 2019
- 9V-STY – leaving approximately September 2019
- 9V-STZ – TBC
Plus five others with registrations yet to be announced (probably the rest of the ST series, and one SS series, though that’s purely a guess on our part – it will depend on individual lease agreements).
Airbus A350s
With the delivery of 9V-SHH today, the next two deliveries are also set to be regional variants:
- 9V-SHI
- 9V-SHJ
Followed by five ‘standard’ configuration 3-class aircraft:
- 9V-SMV
- 9V-SMW
- 9V-SMY
- 9V-SMZ
- 9V-SJA
Then five more A350 Regionals:
- 9V-SHK
- 9V-SHL
- 9V-SHM
- 9V-SHN
- Unassigned (probably 9V-SHO)
All those 12 deliveries will happen between now and March 2020, so there will be a minimum of one A350 per month arriving in the fleet between now and then.
No additional A350 ULR aircraft are currently planned to join the fleet.
Boeing 777s
A total of 8 777-200 series aircraft (4 777-200s and 4 777-200ERs) will leave the fleet between now and March, in addition to the three already withdrawn from service and listed for removal.
Boeing 787s
With 9V-SCL already technically delivered (but yet to fly to Changi), only three more aircraft are listed to arrive in the next nine months.
- 9V-SCM (approx. August 2019)
- 9V-SCN (approx. September 2019)
- 9V-SCO (approx. December 2019)
Looking ahead to the following financial year, the 16th Singapore Airlines 787-10 (9V-SCP) will be the 1,000th Boeing 787 built.
We can probably expect a special livery, like that which adorned 9V-SMU (the 747-400), which was the 1,000th Boeing 747 built.
Don’t get too excited though, 9V-SCP isn’t due for delivery until approximately May 2020.
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.
With the latest 2017 cabin products rolling out on more routes including Delhi and Mumbai, do also check out our 2017 Suites and Business Class Tracker page for all the latest updates.
We also list the planned seat types for every Singapore Airlines service by flight number, so you can choose your next trip with confidence. It’s recently been updated to the end of March 2020:
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 July 2019.
Don’t miss further monthly Singapore Airlines fleet updates. Get an email notification as soon as they are online, including alerts when we publish other articles too, by joining our growing list of email followers.
|
(Cover Photo: Aero Icarus)