Singapore Airlines is finally taking delivery of wide-body passenger aircraft again this week, for the first time in seven months, with a brand new Airbus A350 and a brand new Boeing 787-10 touching down at Changi, ready to enter service in April.
That’s great news for the airline’s ability to continue expansion as travel demand rebounds post-pandemic, and we expect three more A350s and three more 787-10s to arrive in the coming months.
The carrier’s active passenger fleet now stands at over 120 aircraft, practically the same as pre-COVID, though that’s still around 30 aircraft short when you consider that SilkAir has now been fully merged into the mainline operation.
Fleet totals
Here are the Singapore Airlines passenger fleet totals at 31st March 2023.
CAAS Database: | 147 | ||
Recently delivered: For disposal: Yet to enter service: |
+1 -13 -1 |
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In Service: | 134 | ||
In maintenance / stored: |
-10 |
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Active: | 124 |
The official registered aircraft data in combination with confirmed 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 134 planes at 31st March 2023, 124 of which were recently active.
That’s 12% more than this time last year, when around 110 passenger aircraft were active in the fleet.
Click here to see the official CAAS list of registered aircraft in Singapore at February 2023.
SIA Passenger Fleet at 31st March 2023
The following 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 flights (‘Active’).
Type |
Registered | In Service | Active |
A350-900 LH![]() |
31 | 30 | 29 |
A350-900 MH![]() |
24 |
24 | 24 |
A350-900 ULR![]() |
7 | 7 | 7 |
A380-800![]() |
15 | 12 | 9 |
737-800![]() |
9 |
7 | 6 |
737-8 MAX![]() |
16 | 16 | 15 |
777-200![]() |
5 | 0 | 0 |
777-300ER![]() |
26 | 23 | 19 |
787-10![]() |
15 | 15 | 15 |
Total | 148 | 134 | 124 |
All the airline’s remaining registered Boeing 777-200s will not be returning to the fleet, in addition to three older Airbus A380s, three Boeing 777-300ERs and two Boeing 737-800s.
These are therefore excluded from the ‘In Service’ column.
This reflects a future fleet of 134 aircraft, plus future deliveries of Airbus A350s, Boeing 737-8 MAXs, Boeing 787-10s and Boeing 777-9s still on order.
New deliveries have restarted
Singapore Airlines has suffered a four-month drought of new aircraft deliveries, picking up the keys to its most recent Boeing 737 MAX back in November 2022.
That comes despite a strong order book, but unfortunately also at a time of further Boeing 787 delivery postponements by regulators, which we touched on in our recent article summarising the mess that has been the Dreamliner’s design and production.
This has led SIA to postpone entry into service of several Boeing 787-10s that had been due to arrive in the fleet over the last year, while the carrier’s Boeing 777-9 deliveries now look set to be arriving a full five years late.
Luckily this week there are two brand new wide-body deliveries to report on, in the form of an Airbus A350 and (yes, at last!) a Boeing 787-10.
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900
This week’s delivery
Reg. | Variant | Delivered | Service Entry |
9V-SJF | Long Haul | 29 Mar 2023 |
Pending (Apr 2023) |
9V-SJF arrived at Changi shortly after 1pm on 30th March 2023, having been formally delivered to the carrier in Toulouse the previous day.

The aircraft is a three-class long-haul variant of the type, and as with most new A350s arriving in the fleet we expect it to enter service in the coming days once the engineers here have ‘kicked the tyres’ a bit, and all the relevant safety equipment and literature has been put in place.
Only three more passenger Airbus A350s are due for delivery to Singapore Airlines, all of which will be the Long Haul variant and all of which should happen this year:
- 9V-SJG
- 9V-SJH
- 9V-SJI

After that, SIA will start taking delivery of seven Airbus A350 freighters from late 2025, which will replace the carrier’s ageing Boeing 747-400 freighters over in the cargo division.
Singapore Airlines Boeing 787-10
This week’s delivery
Reg. | Delivery | Service Entry |
9V-SCS | 31 Mar 2023 |
Pending (Apr 2023) |
It’s been a long time since Singapore Airlines took delivery of a new Boeing 787-10 – in fact it has been over three years, with the last example arriving in November 2019.
Thankfully 9V-SCS is now in line for delivery, with its flight from Charleston to Changi (via Nagoya for refuelling) originally scheduled to touch down here at 11.30pm on 1st April 2023, but pushed back by a few hours, so it will now arrive at 3.30am on 2nd April 2023.

This is the first Boeing 787 delivery to Singapore Airlines for over 40 months.
As you may notice, it’s also an out-of-sequence delivery, with 9V-SCP, -SCQ and -SCR originally due to arrive first, but following months of storage for these jets it seem like -SCS was simply the ‘most ready’, and Singapore Airlines is no doubt tired of waiting for these planes, after numerous delays.
9V-SCP and -SCQ have both been on test flights recently, and will hopefully be delivered in the coming weeks.
One delivered Boeing 737-8 MAX remains elusive
Singapore Airlines took delivery of six new Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft in 2022, and promptly put all these aircraft into revenue service… except one.
9V-MBL was delivered on 26th February 2022, then was repainted from SilkAir colours into the Star Alliance colour scheme (photo here) in April 2022, but for some reason has never been brought into service.
This is the first SIA narrow-body aircraft to receive the Star Alliance colours and it would be nice to see it in action, especially as its deployment could help accelerate the removal of the ex-SilkAir Boeing 737-800s, with their inferior cabin products.
It’s still a mystery why 9V-MBL remains parked.
The final Airbus A380 is still in refit
Only one of SIA’s future 12-strong fleet of Airbus A380s still needs to have the latest cabin products fitted before it re-enters service, and that’s 9V-SKP.
This one has been in the hangar since October 2022, and based on previous refit timescales we should see it enter the fleet as the final superjumbo returning post-COVID by around mid-2023.

The A380 is now being used extensively on the network, including to Hong Kong, London, Sydney and Shanghai.
Further expansion for the A380s in 2023 includes Melbourne, Delhi and a second daily Sydney service, though the Singapore – Frankfurt – New York route sadly downgrades to a Boeing 777-300ER this summer.
Fleet activity by registration
Here’s a breakdown of the SIA fleet of passenger aircraft based on recent revenue passenger or cargo-only flight activity, based on an analysis conducted on 31st March 2023.
Airbus A350s
All but two of the 31-strong Airbus A350-900 Long Haul fleet was active in March 2023, with 29 aircraft flying revenue services over the last two weeks.
9V-SML is in maintenance, while 9V-SJF has yet to enter service.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SMA | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMB | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMC | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SMD | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SME | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMF | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMG | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMH | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMI | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMJ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMK | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SML | SIN | 12 Mar 23 | 19 |
9V-SMM | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMN | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMO | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMP | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMQ | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SMR | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMS | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMT | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SMU | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMV | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SMW | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SMY | SIN | 29 Mar 23 | 2 |
9V-SMZ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SJA | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SJB | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SJC | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SJD | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SJE | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SJF | SIN | To enter service |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
All 24 Airbus A350-900 Medium Haul aircraft were flying recently.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SHA | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHB | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHC | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHD | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHE | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SHF | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHG | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHH | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHI | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHJ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHK | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHL | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHM | SIN | 25 Mar 23 | 6 |
9V-SHN | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHO | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHP | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHQ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHR | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHS | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHT | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHU | SIN | 25 Mar 23 | 6 |
9V-SHV | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHW | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SHY | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
All of the airline’s Airbus A350-900 ULR aircraft are in service, covering regular San Francisco, New York JFK and Newark flights.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SGA | SIN | 28 Mar 23 | 3 |
9V-SGB | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SGC | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SGD | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SGE | SIN | 29 Mar 23 | 2 |
9V-SGF | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SGG | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
Airbus A380s
A total of nine Airbus A380s are currently in regular service, with 9V-SKP the final superjumbo under refit, as mentioned above.
9V-SKN and 9V-SKT are already in the new configuration, but are undergoing maintenance at Changi.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SKF | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 1,102 |
9V-SKK | ASP | 21 Mar 20 | 1,105 |
9V-SKL | ASP | 27 Mar 20 | 1,099 |
9V-SKM | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SKN | SIN | 17 Mar 23 | 14 |
9V-SKP | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 1,102 |
9V-SKQ | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SKR | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SKS | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SKT | SIN | 17 Nov 22 | 134 |
9V-SKU | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SKV | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SKW | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SKY | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SKZ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
Boeing 737-800s
7 out of the 9 Boeing 737-800s that moved across from SilkAir to Singapore Airlines remain in regular service with the mainline carrier, with 9V-MGA and -MGB now deemed surplus to requirements and set for disposal, as revealed in May 2022.
9V-MGC appears to be in maintenance, but as we recently noticed, with only two routes on the cards for these jets this summer there may be scope for further retirements earlier than the planned 2025 wind-down for this unpopular fleet.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-MGA | SIN | 5 May 22 | 330 |
9V-MGB | SIN | 21 May 22 | 314 |
9V-MGC | SIN | 17 Mar 23 | 14 |
9V-MGD | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MGE | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MGK | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MGL | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MGM | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-MGN | SIN | 28 Mar 23 | 3 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
SilkAir’s last passenger flight was on 6th May 2021, from Kathmandu to Singapore. Don’t miss our tribute to the regional subsidiary’s rich 29-year history.
Boeing 737-8 MAX
As mentioned earlier, 15 out of 16 SIA Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft are now in regular service, with only 9V-MBL to join the fold in its Star Alliance livery.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-MBA | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-MBB | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBC | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBD | SIN | 19 Mar 23 | 12 |
9V-MBE | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBF | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBG | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-MBH | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBI | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBJ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBK | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBL | SIN | To enter service | |
9V-MBM | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBN | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBO | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-MBP | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
9V-MBD might be in maintenance, given its 12-day break from service.
Boeing 777-200
Boeing 777-200s will not return to the SIA fleet, with the five aircraft still owned by the airline in storage at Alice Springs or Changi.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SRG | ASP | 1 Feb 20 | 1,154 |
9V-SRH | ASP | 23 Mar 20 | 1,103 |
9V-SRJ | ASP | 7 Jun 20 | 1,027 |
9V-SRL | ASP | 24 Mar 20 | 1,102 |
9V-SRP | SIN | 24 Mar 20 | 1,102 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
Boeing 777-300ERs
19 of SIA’s 26 registered Boeing 777-300ERs were active over the last two weeks, and increase of two compared to our December 2022 update, no doubt thanks to continued Boeing 787 delivery delays.
The other 7 aircraft are stored at Changi (5) or Alice Springs (2), though as we already reported 9V-SWD, -SWE and -SWF will not rejoin the fleet, leaving only 4 to be activated again.

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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SWB | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWD | SIN | 19 Mar 20 | 1,107 |
9V-SWE | SIN | 1 Feb 21 | 788 |
9V-SWF | SIN | 28 Sep 20 | 914 |
9V-SWG | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWH | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWI | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWJ | ASP | 4 May 20 | 1,061 |
9V-SWK | ASP | 1 Aug 21 | 607 |
9V-SWL | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWM | SIN | 24 Dec 21 | 462 |
9V-SWN | SIN | 24 Dec 21 | 462 |
9V-SWO | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWP | SIN | 29 Mar 23 | 2 |
9V-SWQ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWR | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWS | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SWT | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SWU | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SWV | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SWW | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SWY | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SWZ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SNA | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SNB | SIN | 21 Mar 23 | 10 |
9V-SNC | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
Boeing 787-10s
All of SIA’s 15 Boeing 787-10s are currently active.
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Aircraft | Location | Last flew | Days ago |
9V-SCA | SIN | 30 Mar 23 | 1 |
9V-SCB | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCC | SIN | 29 Mar 23 | 2 |
9V-SCD | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCE | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCF | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCG | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCH | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCI | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCJ | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCK | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCL | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCM | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCN | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
9V-SCO | SIN | 31 Mar 23 | 0 |
‘Last flew’ dates relate to the aircraft’s most recent revenue flight.
As mentioned above, 9V-SCS will be the newest addition in the days ahead.
Alice Springs storage
There are still 10 SIA group aircraft in storage at Alice Springs, as outlined in the following table.
SIA Group aircraft stored in Alice Springs |
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Airline | Aircraft | Total |
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Airbus A380 | 2 |
Boeing 777-200 | 4 | |
Boeing 777-300ER | 2 | |
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Airbus A320 | 2 |
Some of these (like the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft) should be returned to service, while some others (like the Boeing 777-200s) will eventually be sold.
The A380s will likely be scrapped in Alice Springs – there is simply no future for these aircraft except for their spare parts sadly.
Future orders
Here’s how the latest total SIA Group orders for fleet modernisation and replacement looks, after taking account of the recent delivery of Airbus A350 9V-SJF and the imminent delivery of Boeing 787-10 9V-SCS.
SIA Group Orders
(incl. via lessors)

Delivery of Boeing 777-9s, which will sport the airline’s latest Suites and Business Class products, has slipped to 2025 at the earliest, with 2026 looking like a more realistic prospect now that SIA has been issued its first line production slots.
Summary
New aircraft deliveries are back for SIA in 2023, with one A350 Long Haul and, perhaps more significantly, a Boeing 787-10 both winging their way to Changi to join the fleet and help the airline restore capacity post-COVID.
The arrival of a new Boeing 787-10, almost unbelievably, will be the first of its kind for the airline in over three years.
We expect at least a further three Airbus A350s and three Boeing 787-10s to arrive this year, further bolstering the airline’s ability to restore pre-COVID capacity, and even expand service to various markets.
Stay tuned for the next fleet update later in 2023.
(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)
MBL & SKT are in hangar right now
Hi, do you think it impacts business class seat redemption availability?
If I’ve a stack of Citipoints for redemption and I’m keen on Biz class travel to Europe/US, which frequent flyer program would you advise I redeem miles with for best value? Thanks!
Interesting that there are 3 B777-F in the group orders list that are not mentioned in the article, are these the ones in the DHL/SIA JV? But not a real part of SQ’s official order list?
The lack of new plane deliveries whether delayed or not has certainly not affected SIA’s bottom line…and all Classes of travel and Routes have seen substantial price increases …and Business Class fares have been doubled ( at least ) for almost a year…
There is no valid or logical reason for such large and across the board price hikes…other than like most other Corporations the opportunity to make greater profits was taken because nobody could or wanted or were able to stop them as they deflected the blame for their opportunism for other things .. And so they went for it at the expense of the majority who fund Everything but most of which have the least protections or support against Greed and the actions of this Selfish Minority that will never stop wanting more of that which they don’t already have …despite it being the most already