Singapore Airlines Fleet: March 2021

This month saw Singapore Airlines mark the start of a new era as far as its aircraft fleet is concerned, with the introduction of its first narrow-body (single-aisle) passenger aircraft in over 30 years. That came about as the first four of nine ex-SilkAir Boeing 737-800s entered service with the mainline division.

An additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft also returned to Changi from Alice Springs, meaning half that fleet has now been brought home to undergo the long-awaited cabin refits, including flat-bed seats in Business Class.

Meanwhile the wide-body fleet renewal process continued, with a pair of Boeing 777-300s leaving, another A330 set for departure to pastures new, and a trio of brand new Airbus A350 Regionals looking primed for imminent delivery.

Fleet totals

Here are the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 28th March 2021.

	CAAS Database:	134
	Recently deregistered: Recently delivered: For disposal:	-1 +1 -24
	In Service:	110
	In maintenance / stored:	-30
	Active:	80

The official registered aircraft data in combination with recent retirement announcements and analysis of actual flight movements over the last few weeks allows us to determine the actual ‘in service’ fleet (available to the airline) of 110 planes at 28th March 2021, 80 of which were recently active.

  Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at 28th February 2021.

SIA Passenger Fleet at 28th March 2021

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	4	0	0
A350-900	26	26	26
A350-900 Regional	19	19	17
A350-900 ULR	7	7	7
A380-800 v1	6	0	0
A380-800 v2	4	3	0
A380-800 v3	9	9	0
737-800	4	4	4
777-200	8	0	0
777-200ER	3	0	0
777-300	2	0	0
777-300ER	27	27	11
787-10	15	15	15
Total	134	110	80

Following confirmation that all the airline’s remaining Airbus A330s, Boeing 777-200s, Boeing 777-200ERs and Boeing 777-300s will not be returning to the fleet after COVID-19, in addition to seven older Airbus A380s, we have removed these from the ‘In Service’ column.

This reflects a future fleet of 110 aircraft, plus future near-term deliveries of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10s.

There will also be an unknown number of Boeing 737 MAX 8s joining the fleet in 2021, as the SilkAir merger enters its final stage, while five more Boeing 737-800s will be temporarily added.

Fleet activity

Four aircraft types are currently in service with the airline, as shown in the table below outlining the number in use at each of our monthly fleet update ‘snapshots’, from April 2020 to date.

SIA fleet activity timeline (2020)
	A350			B773	B77W	B787	Total
	LH	R	ULR
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
Nov	25	17	—	—	10	14	66
Dec	26	18	3	—	9	14	70

SIA fleet activity timeline (2021)
	A350			B738	B77W	B787	Total
	LH	R	ULR
Jan	26	18	6	—	9	15	74
Feb	25	17	6	—	9	15	72
Mar	26	17	7	4	11	15	80

Almost all Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-10s remain in consistent use, alongside the four recent Boeing 737-800 deliveries, while the deployment of Boeing 777-300ERs has risen to around a 40% of that fleet.

Overall the airline was actively using a total of 80 aircraft in March 2021, its highest total since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Here’s a graphical look at the active vs. stored fleet.

Here’s a look at how busy each aircraft fleet has been, based on active aircraft over the seven-day period from 21st March to 27th March 2021.

Type	Total flights per week	Average per active aircraft
		Flights per week	Daily utilisation
A350	191	8	12.1h
A350 R	189	11	9.2h
A350 ULR	191	5	11.4h
737-800	26	7	2.1h
777-300ER	86	8	2.7h
787-10	187	12	9.8h

Airbus A350s are the current ‘workhorses’ in terms of daily flying hours, though the Boeing 787s are operating the highest number of flights per aircraft per week.

Boeing 737s are back in the SIA fleet

Three Boeing 737-800s were formally registered to Singapore Airlines as of 28th February 2021:

• 9V-MGA
• 9V-MGB
• 9V-MGD

9V-MGA entered service first, on 4th March, followed by 9V-MGD on 7th March and 9V-MGB on 11th March, all three of which made their inaugural passenger flights with SIA to and from Phuket.

On 17th March, 9V-MGE also joined the fleet as the fourth Boeing 737-800, launching flights to and from Phnom Penh.

The current route network for the Boeing 737-800s covers four cities, with six more set to join over the coming months and further announcements likely.

Recently confirmed additions include a daily Kuala Lumpur service from mid-April, supplementing a daily Boeing 777-300ER flight on the route, plus Penang flights from the start of the northern winter season.

There is also the potential for frequency increases on the Phuket route, following news that the resort island plans to open for tourism from July 2021.

Ultimately nine Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be joining Singapore Airlines from SilkAir, with the others set for disposal as the regional wing is gradually wound up in the months ahead.

SilkAir Boeing 737-800 aircraft moving to SIA

Registration	Age (years)	Current Livery	Status
9V-MGA	7.1		Transferred to SIA
9V-MGB	7.0		Transferred to SIA
9V-MGC	6.9		Due in SIA
9V-MGD	6.8		Transferred to SIA
9V-MGE	6.6		Transferred to SIA
9V-MGF	6.5		For sale
9V-MGG	6.4		For sale
9V-MGH	6.4		For sale
9V-MGI	6.1		For sale
9V-MGJ	5.9		For sale
9V-MGK	5.8		Due in SIA
9V-MGL	5.6		Due in SIA
9V-MGM	5.5		Due in SIA
9V-MGN	5.5		Due in SIA
9V-MGO	4.9		For disposal
9V-MGP	4.8		For sale
9V-MGQ	4.4		For sale

The SIA Group has put seven of the eight aircraft set for disposal on the market recently through UK-based agent Skytech-AIC, as listed in the table above.

The aircraft are listed as available from July 2021, suggesting the SilkAir merger is set to be completed soon.

Another 737 MAX has been brought home

Just this week the third of six SilkAir Boeing 737 MAX aircraft has been returned to Singapore from storage in Alice Springs.

SIA recently confirmed that these aircraft are now undergoing their cabin refits in the hangar at Changi, in preparation for their return to service once local regulators approve their recertification.

The MAXs are expected to eventually replace SIA’s Boeing 737-800s, for a consistent product and service offering across the narrow-body and wide-body fleets.

SIA Boeing 737 MAX 8 Fleet

Registration	Delivered	Last commercial flight	Current Location
9V-MBA	1 Oct 2017 (age 3.5 yrs)	11 Mar 2019 MI985 WUH-SIN	SIN
9V-MBB	7 Nov 2017 (age 3.4 yrs)	11 Mar 2019 MI755 HKT-SIN	ASP
9V-MBC	19 Dec 2017 (age 3.3 yrs)	10 Mar 2019 MI985 WUH-SIN	SIN
9V-MBD	13 Apr 2018 (age 3.0 yrs)	12 Mar 2019 MI413 KTM-SIN