Following an eight-month refit, 9V-SKN is finally flying again with the new 2017 cabin products on board, bringing the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 ‘Version 3’ fleet to eight aircraft in total.
While in the current climate this doesn’t mean any ‘new routes with new Suites’ to get excited about (there are currently no routes with any Suites), it should bode well for securing the latest seats once SIA’s A380s finally return to the skies, with 42% of the carrier’s superjumbo fleet now boasting the latest fit.
How do we know?
Yesterday afternoon 9V-SKN operated a 2-hour 15-minute test flight from Changi, a requirement after this length of time on the ground given the heavy maintenance work typically performed alongside the refit itself.
We were lucky that BK Tan was at Changi and able to report to us that he had eyeballed the aircraft, confirming it indeed now has the new forward upper deck and main deck window arrangement confirming its refit as a Version 3 A380.
That’s because the full complement of windows is installed at the forward main deck section, previously housing First Class Suites but now set aside for Premium Economy Class, and there are additional blanked out windows upstairs for the latest Suites.