If you’ve been flying with – or simply following – Singapore Airlines over the past few decades, you might recall something you no longer see on their aircraft as you prepare to board: a name proudly displayed on the forward fuselage.

This tradition of assigning a unique ‘mark’ or name to each aircraft type in the fleet was once a beloved detail, appreciated by aviation enthusiasts and frequent flyers alike. However, it began to fade away in 2003, during the early tenure of CEO Chew Choon Seng, as the airline adopted a more international branding.

Still, it’s the perfect excuse to take a nostalgic look back at this chapter in the airline’s history – and revisit the names these aircraft once proudly carried.

Airbus A300: Superbus

Singapore Airlines marketed the Airbus A300, a type it flew for a short period between 1980 and 1985, as the ‘Superbus’, with newspaper adverts in 1981 such as:

• Our new A300 Superbus departs Singapore for Kuala Lumpur daily at 9am
• From 1 April, SIA’s new A300 Superbus departs Singapore for Bangkok at 1.45pm daily

What’s not clear to us though is whether the aircraft ever actually received ‘Superbus’ titles on the fuselage. We haven’t been able to track down any photos showing it, so we assume this was used only as a marketing tagline.

Do let us know if that name did adorn the side of the A300s somewhere!

Airbus A310: 3TEN

Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A310s bore the somewhat uninspired ‘3TEN’ titles just below the flight deck windows on either side of the aircraft.

A total of 23 of these aircraft were deployed in the SIA fleet between 1984 and 2005.

Airbus A340-300: Celestar

The Airbus A340-300s were named ‘Celestar’, with the title used heavily in the aircraft’s branding when they joined the fleet in 1996.

For example, newspaper advertisements for daily non-stop flights to Sydney and Paris that year boasted of “The comfort of the Celestar A340, the most sophisticated Airbus in the world”.

The name always seemed a little perplexing to us, since pretty much all of the other aircraft names SIA used were more obviously meaningful, or self-explanatory.

One possibility we came up with was that it related to a previous Singapore Airlines trademark ‘Celestel’, the world’s first global sky telephone service, which launched in September 1991.

Perhaps the A340-300, which arrived in 1996, was the first aircraft type to be fully fitted with the system? This would make some sense as the aircraft was also the first in the fleet with a guaranteed KrisWorld IFE system at every seat.

Thanks to reader Kenneth, we now know that the name ‘Celestar’ was a result of an internal naming competition among SIA staff.

Airbus A340-500: LeaderShip

Singapore Airlines pioneered ultra long-haul services way back in June 2004, with a record-beating 15,300km non-stop service from Singapore to Newark, taking over 18 hours.

These services were made possible by a brand new fleet of five Airbus A340-500 aircraft, which the airline named ‘LeaderShip’.

Non-stop flights to Los Angeles followed, however the operating economics of using a four-engined aircraft at a time of record fuel prices later led to these services being discontinued in November 2013.

The ‘LeaderShip’ titles didn’t last long in fact, as CEO Chew Choon Seng did not favour the policy, and a revised livery design with larger ‘Singapore Airlines’ titles occupied the space formerly used for them.

Non-stop flights to Newark and Los Angeles restarted in late 2018, using the airline’s efficient new Airbus A350 ULR aircraft.

Boeing 747-200: Super B

Singapore Airlines referred to the Boeing 747-200B as the ‘Super B’ in its advertising, though this label appeared on the aircraft itself only in small lettering near the rear of the fuselage, alongside the aircraft type.

You can just make out the small titles at the back in this photo of a 747-200 landing in Los Angeles.

Boeing 747-300: BIG TOP

Singapore Airlines started operating the Boeing 747-300 in 1983, continuing to do so until 2001 with a 14-strong fleet of the type, before they were eventually replaced by the more advanced Boeing 747-400.

The aircraft had a significantly stretched upper deck compared to the Boeing 747-200, leading SIA to christen it ‘BIG TOP’.

The stretched upper deck accommodated 40 Business Class passengers in a 2-2 layout, compared to 16 passengers in the same format on the Boeing 747-200.

Fun facts:

• Three of SIA’s Boeing 747-300s were ‘Combi’ aircraft, with the rear section of the main deck converted into a cargo compartment, with its own side loading door. This reduced the passenger capacity from 380 to 304 and was used on ‘combi-cargo’ flights to Australia and Europe.
• The Boeing 747-300 allowed Singapore Airlines to launch what it promoted as “express daily BIG TOP one-stop services to London” in 1984. Non-stop London services only came with the advent of the Boeing 747-400, which could fly 2,500km further than the -300 without refuelling.
• The advent of the Singapore Airlines safety video came on the ‘BIG TOP’ 747-300s in May 1983. It was the first time SIA cabin crew had not performed the safety demonstration to passengers manually.

SIA’s 14 Boeing 747-300s really paved the way for a significant international expansion, then perfected by its 43 Boeing 747-400s. They retained the ‘BIG TOP’ titles until retirement.

Boeing 747-400: MEGATOP

Perhaps the most well known aircraft name in the Singapore Airlines fleet belonged to the airline’s large Boeing 747-400 fleet. With ‘BIG TOP’ already used, it was ‘MEGATOP’ chosen for what became by far SIA’s largest long-haul fleet of aircraft in the 1990s and 2000s.

The Star Alliance logo took the place of the old ‘BIG TOP’ titles, so the ‘MEGATOP’ branding was moved above the forward upper deck passenger windows.

The ‘MEGATOP’ titles were gradually removed from 2003. The final aircraft to have its ‘name’ scrubbed was Boeing 747-400 9V-SMU (a registration now used on an Airbus A350 Long Haul).

It lost its ‘MEGATOP’ titles in mid-2006, probably coinciding with a major maintenance check.

For a trip back in time, here’s SIA’s 1989 promotional video for the Boeing 747-400 MEGATOP.

Boeing 747-400F: MEGA ARK

Singapore Airlines went for a biblical reference for its Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft, referring to its fleet as ‘MEGA ARK’, presumably after the story of Noah’s Ark.

These titles were phased out around the same time as the Boeing 747-400 passenger fleet branding, gradually disappearing between 2003 and 2005.

Boeing 777-200/-200ER/-300: Jubilee

SIA’s first Boeing 777s arrived the same year the airline was celebrating its 50th anniversary since it was founded as Malayan Airways, which commenced operations with single pilot six-seater wartime planes on 1st May 1947, flying (then) domestic flights between home base Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.

Half a century later the airline marked the first delivery of its far more technologically advanced Boeing 777-200ER aircraft by naming the new fleet ‘Jubilee’.

The Boeing 777-300s, first delivered in 1998, also carried the ‘Jubilee’ name.

Never named

Some Singapore Airlines aircraft types never received a name, either because they left service before the naming policy began, or for the more recent types because they entered service after naming ceased.

Prior to naming:

• Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde (1977-1980, actually operated by British Airways, with SIA titles down one side)
• Boeing 707 (1972 – 1982)
• Boeing 727 (1977 – 1985, colloquially these were called ‘High Tails’)
• Boeing 737 (1972 – 1980)
• Boeing 757 (1984 – 1990)
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1975 – 1985)

Since naming ceased:

• Airbus A330 (2009 – 2020)
• Airbus A350 (2018 – present)
• Airbus A380 (2007 – present)
• Boeing 737-800 (2021 – present)
• Boeing 737-8 MAX (2021 – present)
• Boeing 777-300ER (2006 – present)
• Boeing 787 (2018 – present)

Other special colour schemes

The special 50th anniversary paint job made its way to several aircraft across the fleet in the late 1990s, including this Boeing 747-400 (9V-SMZ).

There were then the pair of ‘tropical’ liveried Boeing 747-400s, which had an elaborate paint scheme applied in September 1998 to promote the airline’s latest First and Business Class products.

Those were the long-gone ‘Skysuite’ First Class and Ultimo Blue / Purple recliners in Business Class. How times have changed!

Unfortunately one of these aircraft, 9V-SPK, crashed while attempting to takeoff on a closed runway at Taipei in October 2000.

Sister ship 9V-SPL, which also had the tropical livery, was removed from service and repainted back into standard SIA colours after the accident.

Finally in June and July 2015 a pair of the airline’s flagship Airbus A380s, 9V-SKI and 9V-SKJ, were painted in a commemorative livery to celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence.

The aircraft were returned to their usual colours by mid-2017.

Scoot naming

Today, the only Singapore Airlines division that continues the tradition of naming its aircraft is Scoot – though with a twist.

True to its playful brand identity, the low-cost carrier gives each of its aircraft a quirky, lighthearted name that reflects the carrier’s fun and cheeky marketing style.

Reflecting on the days when Singapore Airlines named its aircraft means rewinding the clock a couple of decades – a slightly sobering thought for some of us! Still, those unique names brought character to the fleet, and their quiet disappearance was a little sad to witness.

The exact reason behind the end of this tradition isn’t entirely clear, though it likely coincided with broader changes introduced by then-CEO Chew Choon Seng. Among them was the shift from the iconic ‘Raffles Class’ to the more globally recognisable – and arguably more practical – ‘Business Class’.

Did you ever fly on a named Singapore Airlines aircraft? And do you miss them? Share your memories with us in the comments below.

(Cover Photo: Chris Finney)