An Airbus A350 squeezed in as the sole new aircraft delivery for Singapore Airlines in the last few hours of October, with three brand new aircraft still expected to arrive this year. Meanwhile the active A330 fleet dwindled to single digits and SIA announced that two older Boeing 777-200ERs will be staying in the fleet longer than originally planned.
There were 130 registered aircraft in the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet as reported by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on 31st October 2019. Here’s how the aircraft are distributed across the fleet, which are in active service and which are set for disposal.
Headline numbers
Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 10th November 2019.
| CAAS Database: | 130 | ||
| For disposal: | -5 | ||
| In Service: | 125 | ||
| In maintenance, or delivered but yet to enter service: | -5 | ||
| Active: | 120 |
The official registered aircraft data in combination with analysis of actual flight movements over the last few weeks allows us to determine the actual ‘in service’ fleet of 125 planes at 10th November 2019, 120 of which are currently active.
Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 31st October 2019.
Singapore Airlines Fleet at 10th November 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 |
Registered | In Service | Active |
A330-300 (full details) |
13 | 11 | 9 |
A350-900 (full details) |
25 | 25 | 25 |
| A350-900 Regional (full details) |
10 | 10 | 10 |
| A350-900 ULR (full details) |
7 | 7 | 7 |
A380-800 v1 (full details) |
6 | 6 | 6 |
| A380-800 v2 (full details) |
7 | 7 | 5 |
| A380-800 v3 (full details) |
6 | 6 | 6 |
777-200 (full details) |
5 | 3 | 3 |
| 777-200ER (full details) |
5 | 4 | 4 |
777-300 (full details) |
5 | 5 | 5 |
| 777-300ER (full details) |
27 | 27 | 26 |
787-10 (full details) |
14 | 14 | 14 |
| Total | 130 | 125 | 120 |
Correct at 10th November 2019.
Differences between registered, in service and active aircraft in the table:
No longer in service (but still legally registered)
- A330-300 9V-STQ has already stopped flying for return to lessor. Onward operator unknown.
- A330-300 9V-STU has already stopped flying for return to lessor. Onward operator unknown.
- 777-200 9V-SQJ has already stopped flying for disposal.
- 777-200 9V-SQL has already stopped flying for disposal.
- 777-200ER 9V-SVN has already stopped flying for disposal.
Additional to the above, not currently active
- A330-300 9V-SSA is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A330-300 9V-SSB is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A380-800 v2 9V-SKN is undergoing maintenance in Singapore.
- A380-800 v2 9V-SKT is undergoing maintenance and cabin refit in Singapore.
- 777-300ER 9V-SWA is undergoing maintenance and Wi-Fi upgrade in Singapore.
Changes this month
Since October 2019 (and since the CAAS database at 30th September 2019) the following changes have been recorded:
Airbus A330-300
- 9V-SSA entered routine maintenance at Changi on 2nd November after a flight from Hong Kong.
- 9V-SSB entered routine maintenance at Changi on 4th November after a flight from Bali.
- 9V-STR, which stopped flying in July, was deregistered on 18th October and is now C-GKUH with Air Canada. It departed Changi on 27th October with an Air Canada flight number to Vancouver via Tokyo, but just a day later was flown to the Arizona desert. Air Canada presumably intend to start operating it at a later date.
- 9V-STY, which stopped flying in August, was deregistered in October and is now 9H-STY with HiFly Malta. It was ferried to Malta and then on to Lisbon on 2nd November 2019.
- The registered A330 fleet stands at 13 aircraft, with 11 in service and 9 active.
Airbus A350-900
- 9V-SMZ, originally expected for delivery in November, snuck in a few hours before the end of October landing into Changi at 7pm on 31st. It entered commercial service on 4th November to Kuala Lumpur.
- Currently 25 aircraft registered, all of which are active.
Airbus A350-900 Regional
- No changes, with 10 aircraft registered and active.
Airbus A350-900 ULR
- No changes, with 7 aircraft registered and active.
Airbus A380
- 9V-SKF, sent for maintenance in Kuala Lumpur on 1st October, re-entered service on 19th October to Hong Kong.
- 9V-SKN entered maintenance at Changi on 16th October, following a flight from London.
- Currently 19 aircraft registered and 17 active.
Boeing 777-200
- 9V-SQL stopped flying after a flight from Melbourne on 18th October. It was the final Australia / NZ flight to feature the older 2009 Regional Business Class seats.
- 9V-SRO, which stopped flying in August, was deregistered on 11th October and is now N519BC registered to Boeing Aircraft Holding Company. It departed Changi on 18th October to storage in Arizona.
- Currently 5 aircraft registered with 3 active.
Boeing 777-200ER
- 9V-SVN, which stopped flying in September, has performed a couple of test flights, a short one on 22nd October, which was discontinued almost immediately, then a longer 2.5 hour one on 5th November. It is for disposal.
- Currently 5 aircraft registered, with 4 active.
Boeing 777-300
- No changes, with 5 aircraft registered and active.
Boeing 777-300ER
- 9V-SWA entered routine maintenance and Wi-Fi system upgrading at Changi on 26th October after a flight from Shanghai.
- 9V-SWJ, in maintenance since late September, re-entered service to Sydney on 18th October.
- Currently 27 aircraft registered, with 26 active.
Boeing 787-10
- No changes, with 14 aircraft registered and active.
Upcoming fleet changes
Earlier this week Singapore Airlines provided updated guidance to investors on its fleet development, retaining two additional Boeing 777-200ERs beyond March 2020 compared with the original plan announced in May 2019.
Here’s how the current in service fleet looks in comparison to the fleet development plan set for the end of the current financial year on 31st March 2020.
| Aircraft Type | Passenger Fleet Totals | |||
| 10 Nov ’19 | Leaving | Joining | 31 Mar ’20 | |
| A330-300 | 11 | – 3 | 8 | |
| A350-900 | 25 | + 1 | 26 | |
| A350-900 Regional | 10 | + 5 | 15 | |
| A350-900 ULR | 7 | 7 | ||
| A380-800 | 19 | 19 | ||
| 777-200 | 3 | – 2 | 1 | |
| 777-200ER | 4 | – 1 | 3 | |
| 777-300 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 777-300ER | 27 | 27 | ||
| 787-10 | 14 | + 1 | 15 | |
| All Types | 125 | – 8 | + 7 | 126 |
The fleet development plan is subject to change.
Over the next six months or so there are still an additional 3 A330s, 2 777-200s and a single 777-200ER set to leave the fleet, in addition to those already listed as having left service.
7 additional deliveries over the same period will comprise a single 3-class A350-900, 5 A350-900 Regionals and a single 787-10 to replace the above aircraft.
What the extra two Boeing 777-200ERs now staying in the fleet will be used for after the end of March 2020 isn’t known, since the last scheduled flight with the aircraft type is planned for 29th March 2020.
One possibility is that the group may be holding on to some of these 777-200ER aircraft to insure against the impact of SilkAir’s 737 MAX grounding. The type is currently being used to Phuket, for example, replacing a SilkAir flight.
It may also relate to the recent announcement that SilkAir Boeing 737-800s will be refitted with flat-bed seats in Business Class next year, causing an added capacity constraint which requires the Boeing 777-200ERs to stay in service a little longer.
No sign of 9V-SKT
The second Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 to be refitted with the latest 2017 cabin products, 9V-SKT, was due to start flying again by now in advance of A380 Version 3 deployment on the daily Tokyo SQ637/638 flight from 1st January 2020.
That hasn’t happened so there is clearly some more delay for this aircraft, however we should still see it emerge soon as the 7th A380 in the fleet with the new Suites and Business Class products.
The aircraft has now been out of service for (a ridiculous) 9.5 months, more than 10% of its life. Qantas on the other had is completing its A380 cabin refits in 8 weeks, though admittedly those are slightly less complex.
The glacial rate of progress with these refits is starting to cast serious doubt as to whether SIA will realistically install the new cabins to all its A380s, some of which would be nearly 18 years old by the time the project was completed in 2025 at the current 2 per year conversion pace.
The original plan to finish the retrofit work to all 14 older A380 aircraft by the end of 2020 is now completely impossible.
Upcoming deliveries
On the Boeing 787-10 side there is only one more delivery scheduled for this financial year.
- 9V-SCO: A 787-10 (due mid-December 2019)
Airbus A350 deliveries seem to be moving slightly further forward than we expected, with the next two scheduled to be:
- 9V-SJA: A 3-class A350-900 in November 2019 to support the Istanbul route.
- 9V-SHK: A Regional A350-900 in December 2019 to support the Osaka route.
That leaves 4 more A350 Regionals to arrive in the January-March 2020 period – 9V-SHL to -SHN and probably 9V-SHO, though the latter has not been assigned a registration yet the aircraft has been rolled out and the window blanking confirms a Regional cabin fit.
FY20/21 deliveries
There looks to be a 3-month gap in A350 deliveries for the airline after March 2020, with 11 aircraft then starting to arrive in quick succession in the July – December 2020 period.
The specific variant for these aircraft has not been confirmed yet, but the bulk of them are expected to be in Regional configuration. That will likely mean we’ll finally see the back of the A330s by late 2020, with the newest aircraft, 9V-SSI, coming to the end of its 5-year lease in approximately October next year.
As far as the Boeing 787-10 is concerned, 9V-SCP is due in approximately May 2020. It will be the 16th example for the airline and will also be the 1,000th Boeing 787 built. That may warrant a special sticker, like the 10,000th Airbus one on 9V-SMF and the 1,000th Boeing 747 one on the (then) 9V-SMU.
Beyond that aircraft we don’t currently have any visibility of the Boeing 787 delivery schedule for the rest of 2020.
For those looking forward to the Boeing 777-9, which comes promised with brand new industry-leading cabin products, delivery has already slipped into 2022.
Full details
As always 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.
You can also check our tracker pages for the new 2017 A380 cabin products and 2018 Regional cabin products, outlining the flights they are planned to operate across the network:
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 currently up to date through 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 December 2019.
As always, thanks to AIB Family Flights, A350XWB Production and 787 Blogger for their tireless work, which greatly assists our monthly updates.
I really enjoy your guys website – been using it so many times when flying SQ.
It says that from 1th January 2020 the NRT-SIN flight will have the new A380 cabin. I booked for october next year now, and the seat map says its the old A380 – will it be updated later you guys think to the new one, or is the NRT-SIN flight with the new cabin just until march before they change it to a different plane with old cabin again?
The NRT flight has the new config until 24th October 2020, then switches to the Version 2 with the old cabins from 25th October 2020.
That might just be a provisional allocation for next winter season though, so changes are likely.