Back in May this year we were writing about Singapore Airlines’ Perth route gaining two more Airbus A350 Regional flights from June and July respectively. We predicted at the time that the final card to fall, the sole remaining A330 flight on the route, would inevitably swap to the new cabin products by the end of the year, and it turns out we were right.
That’s a great relief because I also recall promising to eat my hat if it didn’t happen!
The news marks only the second Singapore Airlines 787 flight to Australia, the other being the existing SQ215/216 service, also serving the Perth route.
The schedule
This route is currently served four times per day by Singapore Airlines, once using a 787-10, twice using A350 Regionals and finally once with an older A330.
Current schedule
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Days |
| SQ225 | SIN0005 – PER0515 | 333 | Daily |
| SQ213 | SIN0740 – PER1250 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ223 | SIN0930 – PER1440 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ215 | SIN1845 – PER2355 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ216 | PER0110 – SIN0635 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ224 | PER0625 – SIN1145 | 333 | Daily |
| SQ226 | PER1405 – SIN1935 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ214 | PER1710 – SIN2235 | 359 R | Daily |
The SQ225/224 flight pairing was originally due to change from the current A330-300 operation to a 777-200ER on 1st October 2019, however this has now been changed to the 787-10 from the same date for the remainder of the published schedule.
From 1st October 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Days |
| SQ225 | SIN0005 – PER0515 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ213 | SIN0740 – PER1250 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ223 | SIN0930 – PER1440 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ215 | SIN1845 – PER2355 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ216 | PER0110 – SIN0635 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ224 | PER0625 – SIN1145 | 787 | Daily |
| SQ226 | PER1405 – SIN1935 | 359 R | Daily |
| SQ214 | PER1710 – SIN2235 | 359 R | Daily |
All 2018 Regional Business Class
The news will be warmly welcomed by regular fliers on the route, not least because the A330 is still flying the sole overnight option from Singapore to Perth. That’s not an ideal situation with angled beds and a 2-2-2 configuration meaning not all passengers have direct aisle access.
Those concerns will be forgotten from 1st October 2019, with a consistent Business Class (and Economy Class) product on all four flights.
It makes Perth the ninth Singapore Airlines destination to be exclusively served with the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, with the full list from 1st October being:
- Adelaide
- Bengaluru
- Colombo
- Fukuoka
- Guangzhou
- Kolkata
- Malé
- Nagoya
- Perth
Remember the 2018 RJ seat is still flying on plenty more routes than that (those are just the exclusive ones), check our updated Tracker Page for the latest information if you want to see where else it’s flying.
Of course you can see which seats are flying across the entire Singapore Airlines network on our updated Business Class seats by route page too.
787 vs A350
Not only does this news give the Perth route full Regional Business Class coverage whichever flight you choose from October, there’s a good spread of choice between the 787 and the (slightly wider) A350 cabin.
We haven’t tried the 2018 RJ on the A350 yet, but several regulars have told us it feels more spacious than on the 787 with an additional curvature ‘gap’ at the window seats and wider aisles. There’s also a three-row ‘mini cabin’, if that’s your thing, and the passenger-to-toilet ratio is quite a bit better on the A350 (13:1 vs 18:1 on the 787).
Yes, you can start to get really picky now!
KrisFlyer redemption
Perth is already quite a good route to pick up saver award space most of the year and this equipment swap from October will provide six more seats per day in Business Class and 46 more in Economy Class in each direction.
That should be good news for award availability. Here’s a reminder of the KrisFlyer redemption rates you’ll pay by cabin on this route.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Singapore – Perth | ||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy | 20,000 | 37,000 |
| Business | 36,500 | 65,000 |
If you already hold or intend to book a firm ticket in an eligible Economy booking class, here’s how many miles it will then cost you to upgrade to Business Class, assuming saver upgrade award availability.
| Upgrade using KrisFlyer miles | |
| Upgrading to → |  Business |
| Existing booking ↓ | |
| Economy Standard (Class: M, H, W) |
31,000 |
| Economy Flexi (Class: Y, B, E) |
26,000 |
These are both far too close to the full saver Business redemption rate for our liking, so unless your company is paying for your eligible ticket down the back we’d recommend an outright Business redemption.
Reviews
We have two comprehensive reviews from our firsthand experience of the 2018 Regional Business Class; one of the window seats and a shorter but still detailed look at the ‘couple’ middle pairs, which are available at alternate rows on aircraft with this product installed.
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Those will help you learn what to expect from these new products if you haven’t flown them before.
Summary
Singapore to Perth was one of the first routes to receive SIA’s 787 with the new Regional Business Class product in May 2018, and less than 18 months later it’s the same aircraft type completing the full transition to those seats on all four daily flights serving the city pair.
Particularly good news is that the overnight flights in both directions on this route will now boast a more comfortable sleep, and that I don’t have to eat a hat.
(Cover Photo: Paul Schmid)
Never flown SQs A350 R before but I understand that unlike the long haul A350s and 787s, the A350 R is not fitted with the Panasonic wifi and therefore you can’t use boingo for free wifi. All these small differences!
Correct, same problem on the 787!