Back in March 2021, Singapore Airlines introduced the first of nine Boeing 737-800s into its operating fleet, as it finalised the complete integration of full-service regional subsidiary SilkAir into the mainline operation, a process that concluded in May of that year.

As many of our readers know all too well, these ex-SilkAir Boeing 737-800s underwent only a superficial cabin refresh when they joined the SIA fleet, doing little to disguise their outdated design compared to SIA’s more luxurious interiors.

That makes them relatively unpopular with passengers, primarily due to their older recliner-style Business Class seats instead of lie-flat beds, making them less private and less comfortable on longer flights.

The Economy Class cabin also lacks seat-back entertainment, and there is no Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the aircraft, leaving passengers disconnected during their journeys – sometimes for close to six hours.

There’s good news in store though, with these aircraft already returning to their lessors – a process that will conclude this year – and Singapore Airlines now seems to have set a date for the final passenger service with the type.

Final SIA 737-800 flights

Based on the latest schedule data, Singapore Airlines’ final Boeing 737-800 passenger service is set to take place on 25th October 2025, with its last scheduled flights on that day operating as follows:

This will see the last Boeing 737-800 aircraft in Singapore Airlines operation touching down back in Changi from Kathmandu at 6.20am on 26th October 2025, as SQ441.

From that day onwards, all Penang and Kathmandu flights (the last two cities to see Boeing 737-800 operation) are programmed to use the Boeing 737-8 MAX.

Somewhat ironically for a predominantly short-haul aircraft, Kathmandu is actually the longest route for SIA’s 737-800s, clocking in at up to 5 hours 30 minutes.

Soon, only two routes will see the Boeing 737-800s

SIA’s four remaining active Boeing 737-800s are currently operating the following schedule, with 56 weekly round-trip flights from Changi to five cities on the network, which continues through to late March this year.

• Kathmandu: 7/wk
• Kuala Lumpur: 14/wk
• Penang: 14/wk
• Phuket: 14/wk
• Siem Reap: 7/wk

However, from the start of the northern summer scheduling season on 30th March 2025, 737-800 operation is whittled down to just two routes.

• Kathmandu: 7/wk
• Penang: 28/wk

From May 2025, Penang drops to 21 Boeing 737-800 flights per week, then further to 14 per week from September 2025, as more of these aircraft leave the fleet and are replaced with new Boeing 737-8 MAX jets.

That leaves a final schedule from 1st September 2025 to 25th October 2025 with just three daily round-trip Boeing 737-800 flights (two to Penang and one to Kathmandu), all of which can theoretically be operated by a single aircraft.

SIA’s Boeing 737-800 fleet

The current Singapore Airlines fleet of active Boeing 737-800 aircraft has now reduced to just four aircraft, as shown in the table below.

Singapore Airlines Active Boeing 737-800 Fleet
Reg.	Age (Feb 2025)	Owner*	Lease Expiry*
9V-MGK	9.7 yrs	Merced Capital	2025
9V-MGL	9.5 yrs	Merced Capital	2025
9V-MGM	9.4 yrs	Merced Capital	2025
9V-MGN	9.4 yrs	Merced Capital	2026

* Source: Cirium

We expect 9V-MGM and 9V-MGN will be the final aircraft to leave the fleet.

That follows SIA’s retirement of five Boeing 737-800s already – two in 2022, two in 2024, and one in 2025 – as outlined below.

Singapore Airlines Retired Boeing 737-800 Fleet
Reg.	Age (Feb 2025)	Final SIA pax flight	Fate
9V-MGA	11.1 yrs	5 May 2022	To REX Airlines as VH-8KH
	De-registered 27 Jul 2023
9V-MGB	11.0 yrs	21 May 2022	To REX Airlines as VH-8JS
	De-registered 22 Sep 2023
9V-MGC	10.8 yrs	22 Sep 2024	To Virgin Australia as VH-IJR
	De-registered 20 Jan 2025
9V-MGD	10.8 yrs	18 Nov 2024	To Virgin Australia as VH-IXK
	De-lease in progress
9V-MGE	10.6 yrs	21 Jan 2025	Unknown
	De-lease in progress

All flat-bed Business Class and fleet-wide Wi-Fi is in sight

The withdrawal of Boeing 737-800 aircraft from the Singapore Airlines fleet will bring four main improvements for the passenger experience:

• Flat-bed Business Class seats fleet-wide on all Singapore Airlines flights
  This was originally promised by early 2020, but the global Boeing 737 MAX grounding required the airline to reshuffle its narrow-body fleet plans, hence the five-year delay. Once the 737-800s have bowed out though, you can guarantee flat-bed comfort in Business Class on all SIA flights, even on the Boeing 737-8 MAXs.

• Free Wi-Fi fleet-wide on all Singapore Airlines flights
  Boeing 737-800s are the only aircraft in the SIA fleet that are not Wi-Fi equipped, so their retirement will mean all aircraft have in-flight connectivity – now free for all Suites, First Class, and Business Class passengers, plus KrisFlyer members flying in Premium Economy and Economy.

• Seat-back KrisWorld entertainment screens on all Singapore Airlines flights
  Boeing 737-800s are the only aircraft in the SIA fleet that do not have seat-back in-flight entertainment screens, either in Business Class or Economy Class. Their removal will therefore mean all passengers have the latest seat-back KrisWorld entertainment system to look forward to.

• Live TV on all Singapore Airlines narrow-body aircraft
  SIA aircraft fitted with the Panasonic connectivity system also boast the airline’s Live TV Service. This includes the Boeing 737-8 MAX, which means you’ll be guaranteed this feature on board all narrow-body Boeing 737 flights with the carrier in future, once the Boeing 737-800s have departed for pastures new. Live TV is also available on SIA’s Airbus A350 Long Haul / ULR, Boeing 787-10 and selected Boeing 777-300ERs.

The biggest of the improvements is surely the adoption of flat-bed Business Class seats fleet-wide, with the ex-SilkAir recliner seats soon to be a thing of the past.

We travelled to and from Phuket on a Boeing 737-800 in Business Class in late 2022, and our detailed review will help you know what to expect from that cabin, if you’re unlucky enough to have one of these in your calendar over the coming months.

Although service was good and we were well fed and watered, it’s safe to say this is a waste of miles with clunky manual seat controls, no privacy, no Wi-Fi connectivity and in-flight entertainment via an iPad that didn’t work on either sector of our journey!

The very minor refresh Singapore Airlines made to this cabin on the 737-800s is apparent in the ‘before and after’ shot below – we actually prefer the warmer tones used in the SilkAir fit, compared to the ‘Premium Economy grey’ SIA opted for.

As you can see, apart from new upholstery and cushions there’s no major change to the hard product, with little privacy and no flat-bed function, both features of the airline’s other Business Class products including those fitted to the newer Boeing 737-8 MAX.

Speaking of the MAX, since this is replacing the Boeing 737-800 in an almost one-for-one swap on the network, here are the details of the much-improved passenger experience on those jets, in both Business Class and Economy Class.

All of the MAXs have flat-bed seats in Business Class and seat-back in-flight entertainment screens plus device charging in Economy Class, so it’s a much closer experience to the wide-body fleet on these aircraft.

This might not be the end of the story

As you can see, the end of SIA’s Boeing 737-800 operation coincides exactly with the end of this year’s IATA northern summer scheduling season – on 25th October 2025.

Aircraft type allocations for the northern winter season, which this year runs from 26th October 2025 to 28th March 2026, are usually not finalised by SIA until around July or August, so there’s still a chance the airline will programme further Boeing 737-800 operation into the winter season too.

If that’s the case don’t worry – it won’t last too long.

Lease expiry on the final Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the fleet is set for January 2026, a deadline that would typically require the jet to be removed from service for de-lease preparations in the hangar around 1-2 months in advance.

We therefore expect any possible extended operation of the type to be limited to around November 2025 at the latest – if that were to happen.

Singapore Airlines has marked 25th October 2025 as the final day of its Boeing 737-800 operation, after a four-year stint with the type that was only necessary due to the extended Boeing 737 MAX grounding in 2019 and 2020.

Notably, this will mean flat-bed seats in Business Class on all of the carrier’s flights from November this year, not to mention free Wi-Fi and seat-back KrisWorld entertainment screens at every seat.

Singapore Airlines typically finalises aircraft type allocations for the northern winter season – which runs from 26th October 2025 to 28th March 2026 – in around July or August.

There’s therefore still a possibility that the airline may extend Boeing 737-800 operations into this period, but for now 25th October 2025 is D-Day for these ex-SilkAir jets.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)