Singapore Airlines Fleet & Storage Report: October 2020

This month Singapore Airlines took its first new aircraft deliveries since February 2020, with not just one but four Airbus A350 Regionals winging their way from Toulouse in the last couple of weeks. Meanwhile another Airbus A330 was returned off lease and the operating schedule of revenue services occupied around half the passenger fleet, 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.

That said, a few Airbus A380s have been reactivated for the airline’s latest on-ground activities, repurposed as restaurants and accommodating around 3,500 of the airline’s fans lucky enough to secure a ticket for the events running over two weekends.

In terms of the flying fleet though, five aircraft types remained firmly out of service in October, including all Airbus A330s and Airbus A380s.

Headline numbers

Here are the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 25th October 2020.

	CAAS Database:	132
	For disposal: Recent disposals: Recent deliveries:	-11 -1 +4
	In Service:	124
	In maintenance / stored: Newly delivered:	-66 -4
	Active:	54

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 25th October 2020, 54 of which are currently active.

Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 30th September 2020.

Singapore Airlines Fleet at 25th October 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)	7	7	0
A350-900 (full details)	26	26	24
A350-900 Regional (full details)	19	19	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	4
787-10 (full details)	15	15	12
Total	135	124	54

Correct at 25th October 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 at 30th September)

• A330-300 9V-SSC was deregistered in early October 2020.
• 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’.

An aircraft is considered ‘active’ if it has flown at least one passenger or cargo-only flight in the last 14 days.

SIA fleet activity timeline (2020)
	A350	A350R	B773	B77W	B787	Total
Apr	16	10	4	18	15	63
May	14	9	3	18	15	59
Jun	21	12	2	11	15	61
Aug	23	14	1	4	14	56
Sep	24	13	1	7	12	57
Oct	24	13	1	4	12	54

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.

Utilisation of the single Boeing 777-300 in service increased again this month, starting at just 1.5 hours per day in August to 3.6 hours per day in September and 4.2 hours per day in October, as the aircraft (9V-SYJ) added regular Bangkok flights to its regular Yangon and Surabaya schedule.

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, mostly cargo-only services to and from Beijing, generating the lowest average daily utilisation of 1.6 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, as they were in September.

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

Interestingly, despite the airline announcing reinstatement of the world’s longest passenger flight between Singapore and New York next month, the seven Airbus A350 ULRs in the fleet will remain in storage at Changi with 3-class Airbus A350s instead used for the service.

This will allow the airline to offer Economy Class on the route, also prioritising cargo while passenger volumes remain low, though overall the aircraft will be significantly weight restricted especially on the New York – Singapore flight.

Fleet disposals

Airbus A330-300 9V-SSC was deregistered in early October and returned to its lessor, San Francisco-based BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management.

It is now registered in Guernsey and flew from Changi to Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE) with registration 2-SSCA on 15th October 2020, where it will likely be stored.

The aircraft was delivered new to Singapore Airlines on 25th July 2014. It last flew passengers on 27th March 2020, from Surabaya to Singapore as SQ931, as the airline moved to almost completely shut down operations due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fleet additions

After nearly eight months without any new aircraft deliveries, October 2020 was a relatively busy month with Singapore Airlines taking delivery of four new Airbus A350 Regional aircraft in the space of less than a week.

9V-SHP and -SHQ arrived at Changi on 16th October 2020, followed just five days later by 9V-SHR and -SHS on 21st October 2020.

These deliveries bring SIA’s total Airbus A350 fleet to 52 aircraft, by far the largest in the airline, 19 of which are in the regional configuration.

It’s not clear if SIA intends to bring these four aircraft into service anytime soon. At the time of writing they have not yet flown any revenue flights.

Fun fact: These deliveries make Singapore Airlines the joint-largest operator of the Airbus A350 worldwide, with Qatar Airways also having 52 in its fleet.

Almost all of the airline’s Airbus A350 fleet is in regular service, with the exception of the 7 ULR aircraft which remain stored at Changi, due to their premium-heavy, cargo-light configuration.

The flying network

November and December 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 the end of the year, 35 passenger routes will be served with over 300 weekly flights offered. The latest cities on the list include Fukuoka, Brunei and New York.

Given the limited frequencies on offer, this network will still only represent around 15% of the airline’s usual capacity by the end of the year, despite around half the airline’s usual destinations being served.

There are also eight SilkAir routes by December, plus 18 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 fly cargo (with some earmarked only to do so), necessitating an increased fleet compared to the headline ‘capacity’ percentage.

The storage report: October 2020

Here’s how SIA’s passenger fleet activity looked on 22nd October 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 seven months.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-STC	SIN	2 Apr 20	203
9V-SSD	SIN	31 Mar 20	205
9V-SSE	SIN	27 Mar 20	209
9V-SSF	SIN	13 Mar 20	223
9V-SSG	SIN	23 Mar 20	213
9V-SSH	SIN	28 Mar 20	208
9V-SSI	SIN	25 Nov 19	332

As mentioned earlier in the article, 9V-SSC was returned to its lessor in October. 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	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMB	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMC	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMD	SIN	20 Oct 20	2
9V-SME	SIN	15 Mar 20	221
9V-SMF	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMG	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMH	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMI	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMJ	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMK	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SML	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SMM	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMN	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMO	SIN	20 Oct 20	2
9V-SMP	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMQ	SIN	19 Oct 20	3
9V-SMR	SIN	3 Sep 20	49
9V-SMS	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMT	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMU	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMV	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMW	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMY	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SMZ	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SJA	SIN	22 Oct 20	0

Airbus A350-900 Regional

There continue to be two Airbus A350-900 Regional aircraft in storage / maintenance, in addition to the four recently delivered aircraft, which have yet to enter service (assuming they will do so in the near future).

Overall 13 of this variant were flying over the last two weeks, each operating an average of ten flights per week.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-SHA	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHB	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHC	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SHD	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SHE	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHF	SIN	24 Jul 20	90
9V-SHG	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHH	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHI	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SHJ	SIN	20 Aug 20	63
9V-SHK	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHL	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHM	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SHN	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SHO	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SHP	SIN	Yet to enter service
9V-SHQ	SIN	Yet to enter service
9V-SHR	SIN	Yet to enter service
9V-SHS	SIN	Yet to enter service

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. As we mentioned earlier in the article, this will also be the case for the airline’s reinstated non-stop New York services from November 2020.

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 31st December 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. We toured through the aircraft only yesterday as part of the Restaurant A380 @Changi experience, with photos shared on our Facebook post below.

It’s unclear whether any further SIA A380 aircraft will be refitted.

You can read our recent review of the Restaurant A380 @Changi dining experience in Suites Class here.

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	804
9V-SRF	ASP	30 Nov 19	327
9V-SRG	ASP	1 Feb 20	264
9V-SRH	ASP	23 Mar 20	213
9V-SRJ	ASP	7 Jun 20	137
9V-SRL	ASP	24 Mar 20	212
9V-SRP	ASP	24 Mar 20	212
9V-SRQ	ASP	15 Jun 20	129

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.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-SVB	ASP	17 Mar 20	219
9V-SVC	ASP	19 Mar 20	217
9V-SVE	ASP	21 Mar 20	215

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 and Bangkok.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-SYF	SIN	10 Apr 20	195
9V-SYH	SIN	5 May 20	170
9V-SYJ	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SYL	SIN	17 Jun 20	127

Boeing 777-300ER

Only 4 of SIA’s 27 Boeing 777-300ERs were active over the last two weeks, with 23 stored at Changi, having not flown for 3-4 months in most cases.

These aircraft are now mostly dedicated to cargo-only operation in the current schedule through 31st December 2020, having ceased almost all passenger services in June 2020.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-SWA	SIN	29 Mar 20	207
9V-SWB	SIN	24 Mar 20	212
9V-SWD	SIN	19 Mar 20	217
9V-SWE	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SWF	SIN	28 Sep 20	24
9V-SWG	SIN	30 May 20	145
9V-SWH	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SWI	SIN	6 May 20	169
9V-SWJ	SIN	4 May 20	171
9V-SWK	SIN	4 May 20	171
9V-SWL	SIN	6 May 20	169
9V-SWM	SIN	2 May 20	173
9V-SWN	SIN	5 Oct 20	17
9V-SWO	SIN	2 Apr 20	203
9V-SWP	SIN	29 Mar 20	207
9V-SWQ	SIN	18 Oct 20	4
9V-SWR	SIN	27 Sep 20	25
9V-SWS	SIN	5 Apr 20	200
9V-SWT	SIN	26 Jun 20	118
9V-SWU	SIN	30 Apr 20	175
9V-SWV	SIN	13 Jun 20	131
9V-SWW	SIN	13 Jun 20	131
9V-SWY	SIN	19 Oct 20	3
9V-SWZ	SIN	22 Aug 20	61
9V-SNA	SIN	25 Jul 20	89
9V-SNB	SIN	16 Mar 20	220
9V-SNC	SIN	14 Jun 20	130

On average the four active Boeing 777-300ERs in the fleet are flying only two flights per week.

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.

One aircraft, 9V-SCI, was relocated to Victorville, California on 6th October 2020. The aircraft is one of 8 worldwide affected by a manufacturing defect in its tail, and will be repaired by Boeing in the USA.

No other 787s in Singapore, including those registered to Scoot, are affected.

On average, each active aircraft in this fleet is currently flying 12 flights per week.

Aircraft	Location	Last flew	Days ago
9V-SCA	SIN	23 Jul 20	91
9V-SCB	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCC	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCD	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCE	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SCF	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCG	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCH	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCI	VCV	24 Aug 20	59
9V-SCJ	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCK	SIN	21 Oct 20	1
9V-SCL	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCM	SIN	16 Sep 20	36
9V-SCN	SIN	22 Oct 20	0
9V-SCO	SIN	16 Oct 20	6

Alice Springs storage

29 Singapore Airlines Group aircraft are currently 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 136 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.

Cathay Pacific recently announced it had deferred its Boeing 777-9 order to “beyond 2025”, so we expect to hear similar news from SIA, perhaps as part of the upcoming half-year financial results in early November 2020.

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 November 2020.

(Cover Photo: Lucas Wunderlich)