A slow but progressive increase in Singapore Airlines flights over the last few months will see the airline operating at around 11% of its usual capacity levels by the end of November 2020, with the carrier currently deploying nearly 60 of its passenger aircraft on a mixture of both regular and cargo-only flights, based on data for the last two weeks.
The airline continues to focus operation on its latest and most fuel efficient Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft types, with minimal Boeing 777 flying and other variants in either temporary or long-term storage.
As with previous updates, five aircraft types in the fleet remained firmly out of service in September, including all Airbus A330s and Airbus A380s.
Headline numbers
Here are the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 30th September 2020.
| CAAS Database: | 132 | ||
| For disposal: | -11 | ||
| In Service: | 121 | ||
| In maintenance / stored: | -64 | ||
| Active: | 57 |
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 121 planes at 30th September 2020, 57 of which are currently active.
Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 31st August 2020.
Singapore Airlines Fleet at 30th September 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 (full details) |
8 |
8 | 0 |
A350-900 (full details) |
26 | 26 | 24 |
| A350-900 Regional(full details) |
15 |
15 | 13 |
| A350-900 ULR(full details) |
7 | 7 | 0 |
A380-800 v1 (full details) |
6 | 6 | 0 |
| A380-800 v2(full details) |
5 | 5 | 0 |
| A380-800 v3(full details) |
8 | 8 | 0 |
777-200 (full details) |
8 | 0 | 0 |
| 777-200ER(full details) |
3 | 0 | 0 |
777-300 (full details) |
4 | 4 | 1 |
| 777-300ER(full details) |
27 | 27 | 7 |
787-10 (full details) |
15 | 15 | 12 |
| Total | 132 | 121 | 57 |
Correct at 30th September 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. Stored in Singapore.
- 777-200s 9V-SRF, -SRG, -SRH, -SRL, SRJ, SRP and SRQ are ex-NokScoot aircraft and re-joined the Singapore Airlines registered fleet in July and August 2020. They are all stored in Alice Springs and will not operate again for the airline. For eventual disposal.
- 777-200ERs 9V-SVB, -SVC and -SVE 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 (2020) | |||||
| Aircraft | Apr |
May |
Jun |
Aug |
Sep |
| Airbus A350 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 23 | 24 |
| Airbus A350 Regional | 10 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 13 |
| Boeing 777-300 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 18 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| Boeing 787-10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 |
Almost all Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10s are now in consistent use, while the deployment of Boeing 777-300s and -300ERs continues to be minimal based on 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 | ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■□□ | 92% | 8.3h |
| A350 R | ■■■■■■■■■■■■■□□ | 93% | 7.8h |
| A350 ULR | □□□□□□□ | 0% | — |
| A380 | □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ | 0% | — |
| 777-200 | □□□□□□□□ | 0% | — |
| 777-200ER | □□□ | 0% | — |
| 777-300 | ■□□□ | 25% | 3.6h |
| 777-300ER | ■■■■■■■□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ | 26% | 1.4h |
| 787-10 | ■■■■■■■■■■■■□□□ | 80% | 9.1h |
Utilisation of the single Boeing 777-300 in service jumped from 1.5 hours per day to 3.6 hours per day between August and September, as the aircraft (9V-SYJ) began regular passenger Surabaya flights and at flew least one charter to Kathmandu.
The small number of active Boeing 777-300ERs continue to fly only a handful of times a week based on data from the last 14 days, generating the lowest average daily utilisation of 1.4 hours.
Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s on the other hand are far busier, with the active aircraft in those fleets clocking up eight to nine hours per day on average, an increase compared to our last snapshot over two weeks in August.
All of these rates still fall short of usual daily utilisation 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
After three older Boeing 777 aircraft left the fleet in the August 2020 update, things have settled a little with no permanent disposals this month.
We expect further Boeing 777-300s (non-ERs) will be on their way out in the coming months, sealing the fate of SIA’s 2006 First Class cabin product.
Fleet additions
This month there were no new aircraft deliveries, however one additional aircraft was transferred from NokScoot (9V-SRF, formerly HS-XBA). This was expected because only six of the former Thai low-cost carrier’s seven aircraft had been returned at the last update, though all seven are SIA-owned.
Here’s the latest summary of NokScoot aircraft returned to Singapore Airlines as of September 2020.
| NokScoot Aircraft returned to SIA (September 2020) |
|||
| Registration | Previous Registration | Age (years) |
|
 NokScoot |
 Scoot |
||
| 9V-SRF | HS-XBA | — | 19.6 |
| 9V-SRG | HS-XBB | 9V-OTF | 19.5 |
| 9V-SRH | HS-XBC | — | 19.4 |
| 9V-SRJ | HS-XBD | — | 18.9 |
| 9V-SRL | HS-XBE | — | 18.3 |
| 9V-SRP | HS-XBF | — | 17.2 |
| 9V-SRQ | HS-XBG | — | 17.2 |
As you can see these aircraft range from 17 to nearly 20 years old (Singapore Airlines rarely keeps aircraft more than 15 years from new).
They will not return to the fleet and as such the SIA Group took a one-off charge of S$127m in Q1 of FY20/21, from write downs of these aircraft, including provisions for liquidation costs of NokScoot.
The flying network
October and November 2020 will boast the busiest passenger schedule for Singapore Airlines services since most flights were cut in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By late November 2020, 31 passenger routes will be served with over 200 weekly flights offered. The latest cities on the list include Taipei, Surabaya and Johannesburg.
Given the frequencies on offer, this network will remain at around 11% of the airline’s usual capacity by the end of November 2020, despite almost half the airline’s usual destinations being served.
There are also six SilkAir routes by early October (Penang will be the latest), plus 20 Scoot routes, though in both cases there is some overlap with existing SIA destinations.
A large chunk of Singapore Airlines flights using passenger aircraft continue to only fly cargo (with some earmarked only to do so), necessitating an increased fleet compared to the headline ‘capacity’ percentage.
The storage report: September 2020
Here’s how SIA’s passenger fleet activity looked on 30th September 2020, which gives us an indication of which aircraft are stored (last flew 14+ days ago), compared to those either active or 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 Airbus A330 aircraft remain stored in Singapore. None have flown passenger flights for close to six months.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-STC | SIN | 2 Apr 20 | 181 |
| 9V-SSC | SIN | 27 Mar 20 | 187 |
| 9V-SSD | SIN | 31 Mar 20 | 183 |
| 9V-SSE | SIN | 27 Mar 20 | 187 |
| 9V-SSF | SIN | 13 Mar 20 | 201 |
| 9V-SSG | SIN | 23 Mar 20 | 191 |
| 9V-SSH | SIN | 28 Mar 20 | 186 |
| 9V-SSI | SIN | 25 Nov 19 | 310 |
9V-SSC conducted a two-hour test flight on 6th July 2020 and is therefore probably being prepared for return to lessor. The A330s are all due to leave in the next year or so and will almost certainly not operate passenger flights for the airline again.
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 two of SIA’s Airbus A350-900s (in 3-class long-haul configuration) are stored at Changi, or potentially undergoing maintenance, with the other 24 aircraft deployed on at least one flight in the last 14 days.
On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying six flights per week.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SMA | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMB | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMC | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMD | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SME | SIN | 15 Mar 20 | 199 |
| 9V-SMF | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMG | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMH | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMI | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SMJ | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMK | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SML | SIN | 26 Sep 20 | 4 |
| 9V-SMM | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMN | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SMO | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMP | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMQ | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMR | SIN | 2 Sep 20 | 28 |
| 9V-SMS | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMT | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMU | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SMV | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SMW | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SMY | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SMZ | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SJA | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
Airbus A350-900 Regional
In our last update there was only one Airbus A350-900 Regional aircraft in storage, but currently two are not flying, with all 13 active in the last fortnight.
On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying ten flights per week.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SHA | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHB | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHC | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHD | SIN | 26 Sep 20 | 4 |
| 9V-SHE | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHF | SIN | 24 Jul 20 | 68 |
| 9V-SHG | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHH | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHI | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHJ | SIN | 20 Aug 20 | 41 |
| 9V-SHK | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHL | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SHM | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHN | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SHO | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
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 been conducting short functional check flights at Changi, however there appears to be no intention to return them to regular passenger service.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SGA | SIN | 25 Mar 20 | 189 |
| 9V-SGB | SIN | 22 Mar 20 | 192 |
| 9V-SGC | SIN | 30 Mar 20 | 184 |
| 9V-SGD | SIN | 25 Mar 20 | 189 |
| 9V-SGE | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SGF | SIN | 27 Mar 20 | 187 |
| 9V-SGG | SIN | 23 Mar 20 | 191 |
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, due to low payload allowing more fuel to be carried.
Fun fact: In August 2020, SIA’s A350-900s operating to and from Los Angeles had an average 16.8% load factor, equivalent to 43 passengers per flight.
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 30th November 2020.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SKF | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SKG | SIN | 25 Mar 20 | 189 |
| 9V-SKH | SIN | 22 Mar 20 | 192 |
| 9V-SKI | SIN | 20 Mar 20 | 194 |
| 9V-SKJ | SIN | 20 Mar 20 | 194 |
| 9V-SKK | ASP | 21 Mar 20 | 193 |
| 9V-SKL | SIN | 27 Mar 20 | 187 |
| 9V-SKM | SIN | 21 Mar 20 | 193 |
| 9V-SKN | SIN | 15 Oct 19 | 351 |
| 9V-SKP | ASP | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SKQ | ASP | 26 Mar 20 | 188 |
| 9V-SKR | SIN | 19 Mar 20 | 195 |
| 9V-SKS | SIN | 12 Mar 20 | 202 |
| 9V-SKT | ASP | 18 Mar 20 | 196 |
| 9V-SKU | SIN | 25 Mar 20 | 189 |
| 9V-SKV | SIN | 28 Mar 20 | 186 |
| 9V-SKW | ASP | 26 Mar 20 | 188 |
| 9V-SKY | ASP | 27 Mar 20 | 187 |
| 9V-SKZ | ASP | 30 Mar 20 | 184 |
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 seven Boeing 777-200s from NokScoot are now stored in Alice Springs, with one registered aircraft hibernating at Changi.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SQJ | SIN | 10 Aug 18 | 782 |
| 9V-SRF | ASP | 30 Nov 19 | 305 |
| 9V-SRG | ASP | 1 Feb 20 | 242 |
| 9V-SRH | ASP | 23 Mar 20 | 191 |
| 9V-SRJ | ASP | 7 Jun 20 | 115 |
| 9V-SRL | ASP | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SRP | ASP | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SRQ | ASP | 15 Jun 20 | 107 |
Last flight and number of days shown reflects last passenger service with NokScoot in the case of SRF to SRQ. All these aircraft are 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.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SVB | ASP | 17 Mar 20 | 197 |
| 9V-SVC | ASP | 19 Mar 20 | 195 |
| 9V-SVE | ASP | 21 Mar 20 | 193 |
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
Only a single Boeing 777-300 (9V-SYJ) continues to operate occasional cargo-only flights and some passenger services to and from Surabaya.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SYF | SIN | 10 Apr 20 | 173 |
| 9V-SYH | SIN | 5 May 20 | 148 |
| 9V-SYJ | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SYL | SIN | 17 Jun 20 | 105 |
Boeing 777-300ER
Only 7 of SIA’s 27 Boeing 777-300ERs were active over the last two weeks, with 20 stored at Changi, having not flown for 3-4 months in most cases.
These aircraft are now dedicated to cargo-only operation in the current schedule through 30th November 2020, having ceased passenger services in June 2020.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SWA | SIN | 29 Mar 20 | 185 |
| 9V-SWB | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 190 |
| 9V-SWD | SIN | 19 Mar 20 | 195 |
| 9V-SWE | SIN | 20 Sep 20 | 10 |
| 9V-SWF | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SWG | SIN | 30 May 20 | 123 |
| 9V-SWH | SIN | 21 Sep 20 | 9 |
| 9V-SWI | SIN | 6 May 20 | 147 |
| 9V-SWJ | SIN | 4 May 20 | 149 |
| 9V-SWK | SIN | 4 May 20 | 149 |
| 9V-SWL | SIN | 6 May 20 | 147 |
| 9V-SWM | SIN | 2 May 20 | 151 |
| 9V-SWN | SIN | 26 Sep 20 | 4 |
| 9V-SWO | SIN | 2 Apr 20 | 181 |
| 9V-SWP | SIN | 29 Mar 20 | 185 |
| 9V-SWQ | SIN | 20 Sep 20 | 10 |
| 9V-SWR | SIN | 27 Sep 20 | 3 |
| 9V-SWS | SIN | 5 Apr 20 | 178 |
| 9V-SWT | SIN | 26 Jun 20 | 96 |
| 9V-SWU | SIN | 30 Apr 20 | 153 |
| 9V-SWV | SIN | 13 Jun 20 | 109 |
| 9V-SWW | SIN | 13 Jun 20 | 109 |
| 9V-SWY | SIN | 25 Sep 20 | 5 |
| 9V-SWZ | SIN | 22 Aug 20 | 39 |
| 9V-SNA | SIN | 25 Jul 20 | 67 |
| 9V-SNB | SIN | 16 Mar 20 | 198 |
| 9V-SNC | SIN | 14 Jun 20 | 108 |
Boeing 787-10
Three of SIA’s 15 Boeing 787-10s are 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 13 flights per week.
 |
|||
| Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
| 9V-SCA | SIN | 23 Jul 20 | 69 |
| 9V-SCB | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCC | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCD | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCE | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SCF | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCG | SIN | 29 Sep 20 | 1 |
| 9V-SCH | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCI | SIN | 24 Aug 20 | 37 |
| 9V-SCJ | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCK | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCL | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 2 |
| 9V-SCM | SIN | 16 Sep 20 | 14 |
| 9V-SCN | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
| 9V-SCO | SIN | 30 Sep 20 | 0 |
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.
These include SilkAir’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, which have been grounded since mid-2019, and some Scoot aircraft.
| SIA Group aircraft stored in Alice Springs |
||
| Airline | Aircraft | Total |
 |
Airbus A380 | 7 |
| Boeing 777-200 | 7 | |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 3 | |
 |
Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 6 |
 |
Airbus A320 | 3 |
| Boeing 787-8 | 3 | |
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:
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.
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.
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
- 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.
Stay tuned for the next fleet (and aircraft storage) update in October 2020.
(Cover Photo: Mathieu Marquer)