It’s been over four years since Singapore Airlines began flying a small fleet of nine Boeing 737-800s in its passenger operation, which came as the carrier finalised the complete integration of full-service regional subsidiary SilkAir into the mainline operation, a process that concluded in May 2021.

With only a superficial cabin refresh applied to these jets, it’s fair to say they haven’t been the most popular members of the fleet in recent years, but as we happily reported in May 2022, Singapore Airlines found two of the nine aircraft surplus to its requirements, quickly reducing the fleet to seven.

In even better news, the eventual delivery of more Boeing 737-8 MAXs has allowed the airline to remove even more of these older 737-800s from the fleet, and indeed there’s now only one such aircraft left in service – with the final date for its operation now confirmed for this Sunday – 26th October 2025.

That will finally bring all-flat-bed Business Class to the entire SIA passenger fleet, from the smallest aircraft to the largest, something the airline first promised would be achieved by early 2020 – a plan that was then heavily derailed by global Boeing 737-8 MAX groundings lasting nearly two years.

Final SIA Boeing 737-800 flights

As we mentioned above, there is only one Boeing 737-800 left in SIA’s operating fleet – and that’s 10-year-old 9V-MGN.

The aircraft has been exclusively flying between Singapore and either Penang or Kathmandu for the last few weeks, and that’s no different this week either, its final operating day being Saturday 25th October 2025, with the last flight touching down early on Sunday morning, as follows:

This will see the final Boeing 737-800 flight in Singapore Airlines operation touching down back in Changi from Kathmandu at 6.15am on Sunday 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, and in the case of Kathmandu also the Boeing 787-10 on selected days of the week.

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

SIA’s Boeing 737-800 fleet

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

Singapore Airlines Active Boeing 737-800 Fleet
Reg.	Age (Oct 2025)	Owner*	Lease Expiry*
9V-MGN	10.1 yrs	Merced Capital	2026

* Source: Cirium

That follows SIA’s retirement of eight Boeing 737-800s already – two in 2022, two in 2024, and four in 2025 – as shown below.

Singapore Airlines Retired Boeing 737-800 Fleet
Reg.	Age (Oct 2025)	Final SIA pax flight	Fate
9V-MGA	11.8 yrs	5 May 2022	To REX Airlines as VH-8KH now Garuda Indonesia as PK-GUH
	De-registered 27 Jul 2023
9V-MGB	11.7 yrs	21 May 2022	To REX Airlines as VH-8JS now Garuda Indonesia as PK-GUI
	De-registered 22 Sep 2023
9V-MGC	11.5 yrs	22 Sep 2024	To Virgin Australia as VH-IJR
	De-registered 20 Jan 2025
9V-MGD	11.4 yrs	18 Nov 2024	To Virgin Australia as VH-IXK
	De-registered 11 Mar 2025
9V-MGE	11.2 yrs	21 Jan 2025	To Jettime as OY-JYD
	De-registered 22 May 2025
9V-MGK	10.4 yrs	7 May 2025	To Qantas as VH-XZQ
	De-registered 2 Sep 2025
9V-MGL	10.2 yrs	7 Jul 2025	To Qantas as VH-XZR
	De-registered 7 Oct 2025
9V-MGM	10.1 yrs	7 Sep 2025	To Qantas
	De-lease in progress

9V-MGN will also join Qantas following de-lease from Singapore Airlines, like its three most recent predecessors -MGK, -MGL and -MGM.

For those who reminisce about these aircraft’s former lives with SilkAir, now is a good time to look back at the regional carrier’s colourful 29-year history, which we covered in our dedicated article at the time of the merger completion.

Boeing 737-800s were the mainstay of SilkAir’s fleet from around 2018 onwards.

Singapore Airlines didn’t intend to operate the 737-800

Interestingly, operating a small fleet of Boeing 737-800s was never ‘Plan A’ for SIA.

SilkAir’s 737-800s were originally destined for low-cost subsidiary Scoot, while SIA would only take the regional subsidiary’s Boeing 737-8 MAX jets and refit them with new Business Class seats.

That proposal ensured a more seamless cabin standard across the board, with brand new flat-bed seats in Business Class, Wi-Fi connectivity, and seat-back in-flight entertainment from tip-to-tail, and indeed the carrier promised fleet-wide flat-beds in this cabin from early 2020.

The plan was sadly derailed, when two fatal crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in late 2018 and early 2019 caused a global grounding of the aircraft type SIA had pinned its hopes to, as the carrier’s future full-service narrow-body model.

The result? SIA was forced to keep these older Boeing 737-800s flying in its full-service division for a lot longer than anticipated.

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

The withdrawal of Boeing 737-800 aircraft from the Singapore Airlines fleet this weekend 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 from next week 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 from next week, once the final Boeing 737-800 has 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 leave you in no doubt that the product doesn’t stand up to SIA’s other regional Business Class cabins.

Although service was good and we were well fed and watered, it’s safe to say this was 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 was 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.

Where are the MAXs flying?

With the growing Boeing 737-8 MAX fleet in Singapore Airlines taking over former Boeing 737-800 routes almost one-for-one, here’s our latest update on where you’ll find that type flying between now and late March 2026.

In total, one in four SIA flights (24%) will be operated by a Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft by the end of the upcoming winter timetable season, a proportion we forecast will increase to around a third of all SIA flights, once the final fleet of 29 such aircraft is delivered and in service.

Singapore Airlines will retire its last Boeing 737-800 aircraft from passenger service on the morning of Sunday 26th October 2025, after a four-year stint with the type that was only necessary due to the extended Boeing 737 MAX grounding in 2019 and 2020.

These aircraft – originally destined for Scoot after their time with SilkAir – proved unpopular with passengers due to their lack of seat-back entertainment, angled-recliner Business Class seats, and absence of Wi-Fi connectivity.

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

Will you miss the Boeing 737-800 in the Singapore Airlines fleet? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)