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Singapore Airlines Fleet & Storage Report: August 2020

SQ A350ULR Zoom Small (Singapore Airlines)

The slow increase in Singapore Airlines flights over the last few months sees the airline moving towards around 8% of usual capacity levels by October 2020, with the carrier currently deploying around 56 of its passenger aircraft on a mixture of both regular and cargo-only flights based on the last two weeks.

Operation of the airline’s less efficient Boeing 777-300 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft types has been almost completely eliminated since our last update, even on cargo flights, with the airline concentrating its services on Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s almost across the board.

Meanwhile another Airbus A380 has made its way to Alice Springs for long-term storage and SIA has restored six former NokScoot Boeing 777-200s into its registered fleet, following the demise of that carrier a couple of months ago.

Five SIA aircraft types remain firmly out of service, including all Airbus A330s and Airbus A380s.

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Headline numbers

Here are the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 12th August 2020.

CAAS Database: 131
For disposal: -7
In Service: 124
In maintenance / stored: -68
Active: 56

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 (available to the airline) of 124 planes at 12th August 2020, 56 of which are currently active.

Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 31st July 2020.

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Singapore Airlines Fleet at 12th August 2020

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 or cargo flights (‘Active’).

Type
Registered In Service Active
A330-300
!A330v3.png(full details)
8
8 0
A350-900
!A359.png(full details)
26 26 23
A350-900 Regional
!A359.png(full details)
15
15 14
A350-900 ULR
!A359.png(full details)
7 7 0
A380-800 v1
!A388.png(full details)
6 6 0
A380-800 v2
!A388.png(full details)
5 5 0
A380-800 v3
!A388.png(full details)
8 8 0
777-200
!B772.png(full details)
7 0 0
777-200ER
!B772.png(full details)
3 3 0
777-300
!B773.png(full details)
4 4 1
777-300ER
!B773.png(full details)
27 27 4
787-10
!B78X.png(full details)
15 15 14
Total 131 124 56

Correct at 12th August 2020.

Here are the differences between the registered and in service fleet totals in the table above:

No longer in service (but still legally registered)

  • 777-200 9V-SQJ has already stopped flying for disposal.
  • 777-200s 9V-SRG, -SRH, -SRL, SRJ, SRP and SRQ are ex-NokScoot aircraft and re-joined the Singapore Airlines registered fleet in July 2020. They are all stored in Alice Springs and will not operate again for the airline. For eventual disposal.

Fleet activity

Only five aircraft types remain in service with the airline, as shown in the table below outlining the number in use at each of our recent fleet update ‘snapshots’.

SIA fleet activity timeline
Aircraft Apr
2020
May
2020
Jun
2020
Aug
2020
Airbus A350 16 14 21 23
Airbus A350 Regional 10 9 12 14
Boeing 777-300 4 3 2 1
Boeing 777-300ER 18 18 11 4
Boeing 787-10 15 15 15 14

Almost all Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10s are now in consistent use, while the deployment of Boeing 777-300s and -300ERs has been progressively reduced to almost zero in recent weeks.

Here’s a graphical look at the active vs. stored fleet, including the average daily utilisation of the active aircraft during the last 14 days.

Type Active / Inactive Average Daily Utilisation
A330-300 □□□□□□□□ 0%
A350 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■□□□ 88% 7.9h
A350 R ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■□ 93% 6.2h
A350 ULR □□□□□□□ 0%
A380 □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ 0%
777-200 □□□□□□ 0%
777‑200ER □□□ 0%
777-300 ■□□□ 25% 1.5h
777-300ER ■■■■□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ 15% 1.4h
787-10 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■□ 93% 7.6h
Active Aug20v2
(click to enlarge)

The average daily utilisation of active aircraft is lowest for the few Boeing 777-300 and -300ERs that remain flying, at around 1.5 hours per day. Those fly only a handful of times a week based on data from the last 14 days.

Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s on the other hand are far busier, with the active aircraft in those fleets clocking up six to eight hours per day on average.

This still falls short of usual utilisation rates for these aircraft however, in the order of 11-12 hours per day.

Five aircraft types in the Singapore Airlines fleet remain in storage this month and are not currently being flown at all, which has been the case since early April 2020:

  • Airbus A330
  • Airbus A350 ULR
  • Airbus A380
  • Boeing 777-200
  • Boeing 777-200ER

Fleet disposals

Three aircraft permanently left the Singapore Airlines fleet since our last update:

  • 777-200 9V-SQN, which was re-registered to Boeing Aircraft Holding Co. as N785BC on 10th June 2020 and flew to Phoenix Goodyear Airport for storage on 18th June 2020.
  • 777-200ER 9V-SVM, which was re-registered to Boeing Aircraft Holding Co. as N784BC on 17th July 2020 and flew to Phoenix Goodyear Airport for storage on 23rd July 2020.
  • 777-300 9V-SYI, which was re-registered to Boeing Aircraft Holding Co. as N792BC on 21st July 2020 and flew to Phoenix Goodyear Airport for storage on 30th July 2020.

While the 777-200s were expected, this marks the first Boeing 777-300 disposal from the fleet in over three years, suggesting the four remaining aircraft (three of which are now stored as you’ll see below) are on borrowed time.

A seats 2
The 2006 First Class seats on SIA’s Boeing 777-300s are now unlikely to return to service, with the fleet already down to four aircraft. (Photo: MainlyMiles)

Fleet additions

No new aircraft deliveries this month, however the demise of NokScoot meant Singapore Airlines took back six Boeing 777-200s in July 2020, aircraft it owns outright and which were on operating leases to the Thai low-cost carrier.

NokScoot Aircraft
returned to SIA

(July 2020)
Registration Previous Registration Age
(years)
Nok_ScootNokScoot ScootScoot
9V-SRG HS-XBB 9V-OTF 19.2
9V-SRH HS-XBC 19.1
9V-SRJ HS-XBD 18.6
9V-SRL HS-XBE 18.0
9V-SRP HS-XBF 16.9
9V-SRQ HS-XBG 16.9

The SIA Group took a one-off charge of S$127m in Q1 of FY20/21, from write downs of the NokScoot’s seven Boeing 777-200s, including provisions for liquidation costs.

The one remaining aircraft, HS-XBA (formerly 9V-SRF) has not been transferred back to the Singapore register as of 31st July 2020. It will presumably follow in the next update.

The flying network

August to October 2020 sees the busiest passenger schedule for Singapore Airlines services since most flights were cut in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By October 2020, 29 passenger routes will be served with over 160 weekly services offered. The latest cities on the list include Milan, Istanbul and Perth.

SQ Routemap AugOct APAC
(click to enlarge)
SQ Routemap AugOct EURUS
(click to enlarge)

There are also five SilkAir routes by early September, plus 12 Scoot routes, though in both cases there is some overlap with existing SIA destinations.

Fun fact: For every passenger flight operated by Singapore Airlines at the moment there are three cargo-only flights using passenger aircraft, covering a much wider network of cities.

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The storage report: August 2020

Here’s how the fleet activity looked on 10th August 2020, which gives us an indication of which aircraft are stored (last flew 14+ days ago), compared to those in ‘active storage’ (last flew more recently).

Last flew > 60 days ago
Last flew 14-59 days ago
Last flew < 14 days ago

‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s last revenue passenger or cargo-only flight.

Airbus A330-300

All the airline’s available A330 aircraft remain stored in Singapore. None have flown for well over two months.

!A330v3 Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-STC SIN 2 Apr 20 130
9V-SSC SIN 27 Mar 20 136
9V-SSD SIN 31 Mar 20 132
9V-SSE SIN 27 Mar 20 136
9V-SSF SIN 13 Mar 20 150
9V-SSG SIN 23 Mar 20 140
9V-SSH SIN 28 Mar 20 135
9V-SSI SIN 25 Nov 19 259

9V-SSI has not made an appearance, even on a test flight, since sustaining tail damage during a landing accident in November 2019.

Airbus A350-900

Only three of SIA’s Airbus A350-900s (in 3-class long-haul configuration) are stored at Changi, with the other 23 aircraft deployed on at least one flight in the last 14 days.

On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying six times per week.

!A359 Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SMA SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SMB SIN 27 Jun 20 44
9V-SMC SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMD SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SME SIN 15 Mar 20 148
9V-SMF SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMG SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMH SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMI SIN 6 Aug 20 4
9V-SMJ SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMK SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SML SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMM SIN 27 Jul 20 14
9V-SMN SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMO SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMP SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMQ SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMR SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMS SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMT SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SMU SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SMV SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SMW SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMY SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SMZ SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SJA SIN 10 Aug 20 0

Airbus A350-900 Regional

In our last update there were only three Airbus A350-900 Regional aircraft in storage, but currently only one is now not flying, with 14 active in the last two weeks.

On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying eight times per week.

!A359R Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SHA SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHB SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHC SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SHD SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHE SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHF SIN 24 Jul 20 17
9V-SHG SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SHH SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SHI SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHJ SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHK SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SHL SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SHM SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SHN SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SHO SIN 8 Aug 20 2

Airbus A350-900 ULR

All the airline’s 7 Airbus A350-900 ULR aircraft remain stored in Singapore, having not flown any passenger services since March 2020.

These aircraft have all conducted short functional check flights at Changi over recent weeks, however there appears to be no intention to return them to any form of service.

!A359 ULR Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SGA SIN 25 Mar 20 138
9V-SGB SIN 22 Mar 20 141
9V-SGC SIN 30 Mar 20 133
9V-SGD SIN 25 Mar 20 138
9V-SGE SIN 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SGF SIN 27 Mar 20 136
9V-SGG SIN 23 Mar 20 140

Non-stop SIA flights to and from Los Angeles continue to be operated by 3-class long-haul Airbus A350-900s, which are coping with the non-stop westbound LAX-SIN flight against the headwinds without issue, probably due to low payload allowing more fuel to be carried.

Fun fact: Airbus A350-900 ULRs have a deactivated forward cargo hold, reducing the aircraft’s cargo carrying capacity by over 50% compared to the airline’s other A350s. That makes them unsuited to cargo-only operations.

Airbus A380-800

Seven of the airline’s flagship Airbus A380 aircraft are now in long-term storage at Alice Springs, with the other 12 aircraft stored at Changi.

No revenue flights with the A380s have been flown since March 2020, and they are not being used in the current schedule through 24th October 2020.

!A388 Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SKF SIN 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SKG SIN 25 Mar 20 138
9V-SKH SIN 22 Mar 20 141
9V-SKI SIN 20 Mar 20 143
9V-SKJ SIN 20 Mar 20 143
9V-SKK ASP 21 Mar 20 142
9V-SKL SIN 27 Mar 20 136
9V-SKM SIN 21 Mar 20 142
9V-SKN SIN 15 Oct 19 300
9V-SKP ASP 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SKQ ASP 26 Mar 20 137
9V-SKR SIN 19 Mar 20 144
9V-SKS SIN 12 Mar 20 151
9V-SKT ASP 18 Mar 20 145
9V-SKU SIN 25 Mar 20 138
9V-SKV SIN 28 Mar 20 135
9V-SKW ASP 26 Mar 20 137
9V-SKY ASP 27 Mar 20 136
9V-SKZ ASP 30 Mar 20 133

9V-SKN has now been refitted to Version 3 cabin configuration, with the latest Suites and Business Class seats, bringing the variant to a total of eight A380s. It’s unclear whether any further aircraft will be refitted.

Boeing 777-200

SIA’s recently inherited set of six Boeing 777-200s from NokScoot are now stored in Alice Springs.

!B772 Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SRG ASP 1 Feb 20 191
9V-SRH ASP 23 Mar 20 140
9V-SRJ ASP 7 Jun 20 64
9V-SRL ASP 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SRP ASP 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SRQ ASP 15 Jun 20 56

Last flight and number of days shown reflects last passenger service with NokScoot. These aircraft are almost certainly for disposal.

Boeing 777-200ER

All 3 of the airline’s Boeing 777-200ERs are stored in Alice Springs, likely to be a long-term arrangement, with 9V-SVM having now left the fleet.

!B772ER Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SVB ASP 17 Mar 20 146
9V-SVC ASP 19 Mar 20 144
9V-SVE ASP 21 Mar 20 142

In its full-year analyst briefing, Singapore Airlines effectively wrote off the Boeing 777-200 and -200ERs, with no chance for their return to the active fleet.

Boeing 777-300

9V-SYL has stopped flying, leaving only a single Boeing 777-300 (9V-SYJ) operating occasional cargo-only flights.

!B773 Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SYF SIN 10 Apr 20 122
9V-SYH SIN 5 May 20 97
9V-SYJ SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SYL SIN 17 Jun 20 54

Boeing 777-300ER

Singapore Airlines has stopped flying 13 of the 18 Boeing 777-300ERs that were operating in May 2020, meaning only 5 are now active in the last two weeks with 22 stored at Changi, having not flown for over a month in most cases.

These aircraft are now dedicated to cargo-only operation in the current schedule through 24th October 2020, having ceased passenger services in June 2020.

!B773ER Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SWA SIN 29 Mar 20 134
9V-SWB SIN 24 Mar 20 139
9V-SWD SIN 19 Mar 20 144
9V-SWE SIN 3 Aug 20 7
9V-SWF SIN 21 Jun 20 50
9V-SWG SIN 30 May 20 72
9V-SWH SIN 9 Jul 20 32
9V-SWI SIN 6 May 20 96
9V-SWJ SIN 4 May 20 98
9V-SWK SIN 4 May 20 98
9V-SWL SIN 6 May 20 96
9V-SWM SIN 2 May 20 100
9V-SWN SIN 30 Jul 20 11
9V-SWO SIN 2 Apr 20 130
9V-SWP SIN 29 Mar 20 134
9V-SWQ SIN 2 Aug 20 8
9V-SWR SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SWS SIN 5 Apr 20 127
9V-SWT SIN 26 Jun 20 45
9V-SWU SIN 30 Apr 20 102
9V-SWV SIN 13 Jun 20 58
9V-SWW SIN 13 Jun 20 58
9V-SWY SIN 6 Aug 20 4
9V-SWZ SIN 27 Jun 20 44
9V-SNA SIN 25 Jul 20 16
9V-SNB SIN 16 Mar 20 147
9V-SNC SIN 14 Jun 20 57

Looking at the last 7 days in isolation, only 3 Boeing 777-300ERs are more recently active, suggesting additional aircraft are potentially being stored at the time of writing.

Boeing 787-10

Only one of SIA’s 15 Boeing 787-10s is currently inactive, with the remainder flying a mixture of passenger and cargo-only flights.

On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying 11 times per week.

!B78X Label
Aircraft Location Last flew Days ago
9V-SCA SIN 23 Jul 20 18
9V-SCB SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SCC SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SCD SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCE SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SCF SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCG SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCH SIN 8 Aug 20 2
9V-SCI SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCJ SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SCK SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCL SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCM SIN 9 Aug 20 1
9V-SCN SIN 10 Aug 20 0
9V-SCO SIN 3 Aug 20 7
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Alice Springs storage

29 Singapore Airlines Group aircraft are now in long-term storage at Alice Springs airport in Australia, where the hot, dry climate is far more conducive to preservation.

SQ Group at ASP (Steve Strike)
SIA Group aircraft in storage at Alice Springs include Airbus A380s and Boeing 777-200ERs. (Photo: Steve Strike)

These include SilkAir’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, which have been grounded since last year, and some Scoot aircraft.

SIA and Scoot aircraft
stored in Alice Springs
Airline Aircraft Total
Singapore_Airlines Airbus A380 7
Boeing 777-200 7*
Boeing 777-200ER 3
SilkAir Boeing 737 MAX 8 6
Scoot Airbus A320 3
Boeing 787-8 3

* One remains registered to NokScoot as HS-XBA as of 31st July 2020

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Cargo flights have plateaued

Last month we updated our analysis of the airline’s current cargo-only operations, now a significant part of the business for SIA.

We noted that these flights seem to have reached a steady level, following two months of increases, with around 140 cargo-only departures from Changi each week using the passenger fleet and 34 dedicated freighter departures.

“On the cargo front, the significant reduction in belly hold capacity globally has resulted in strong demand for freighter services. We have accordingly focused our efforts on maximising freighter utilisation, and continuing to supplement freighter capacity with the deployment of passenger aircraft operating cargo-only flights to meet the demand from global supply chains.”

Singapore Airlines trading update, 8th May 2020

SQ A350 AKL Cargo (Jordan Tan)
Airbus A350 9V-SMU visiting Auckland for a cargo-only service on 8th June 2020. The airline has since returned to the city with two passenger flights each week. (Photo: Jordan Tan)

Check out our latest analysis to see where these aircraft are flying, including cargo-only flights with passenger aircraft to Johannesburg, Brisbane, Colombo and Beijing.

Future aircraft deliveries

The SIA Group still has large order books with Airbus and Boeing for its fleet modernisation and replacement strategy over the next few years. These comprise:

Orders May 2020 v3
(click to enlarge)

Additionally, Scoot is taking 10 Airbus A321neo aircraft through leasing companies over the coming years.

Singapore Airlines is currently in negotiations with Airbus and Boeing to reduce its new aircraft intake, potentially spreading out this large commitment for 140 additional new aircraft across a longer time period.

“We continue to engage aircraft manufacturers to negotiate adjustments to the delivery stream of existing aircraft orders and the schedule of progress payments to reduce near-term cash outflows. We have reached an agreement with Airbus on some of these matters and discussions with Boeing are ongoing. This will help to moderate fleet growth in the near term.”

Singapore Airlines Q1 financial update

At least 12 Airbus A350s and 3 Boeing 787-10s alone were originally scheduled to join the fleet during this financial year. We wouldn’t be surprised to see those totals more than halved, given what other airlines seem to be negotiating with the manufacturers.

SQ A350 Pushback (Alan Wilson)
The bulk of new aircraft deliveries this year was scheduled to be for the Airbus A350, though far fewer are now expected to arrive than first planned. (Photo: Alan Wilson)

There’s still no official word from the airline on how its capital expenditure on new aircraft purchases has been reduced yet, but we’ll be sure to report once they do so, hopefully with some concrete fleet numbers.

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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.

If the seat types and routes interest you more – see our Seats Guide.

Stay tuned for the next fleet (and aircraft storage) update in September 2020.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)

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1 comment

  1. Just a note you might want to add – SQ is scheduled to operate cargo flights for medical supplies and health/humanitarian items for World Food Programme with support from Temasek Foundation. So cargo-flights ought to go up in numbers.

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