One of the most exciting aspects of Singapore Airlines’ new cabin product launches this year is a long-overdue brand new First Class cabin – originally destined for factory-fresh Boeing 777-9 aircraft some five years ago, but now making its debut on retrofitted Airbus A350 ULR aircraft instead, around a year from now.

With the ULRs plying daily New York JFK, Newark and San Francisco routes on a year-round basis, it’s been logical to assume that one of those cities would be first in line to progressively see the new products from Q1 2027, but a change is in store.

A schedule update taking effect from 1st November 2026 rules out San Francisco and has thrown a new contender into the ring, one which we think ticks many boxes for the operational launch itself: Los Angeles.

Why Los Angeles is now in the picture

Singapore Airlines currently operates its seven A350 ULR aircraft on three daily routes: Newark (SQ22/21), New York JFK (SQ24/23), and San Francisco (SQ34/33). This 42-flight weekly programme keeps six aircraft in near-constant use, with the seventh serving as an operational spare for disruptions.

However, to progressively refit this small fleet with new cabin products the airline needs to free up one aircraft at a time for around a month of hangar work. The only solution? Slim down the schedule.

From 1st November 2026, San Francisco’s daily ULR service will transfer to the regular A350 Long Haul fleet, while the three-times-weekly Los Angeles service (SQ36/35, currently A350 LH) will move onto the ULR aircraft. This reduces the ULR flying programme from 42 to 34 weekly flights, which can be comfortably handled by five aircraft while maintaining one spare, freeing up one at a time for refitting.

Here’s how the schedule looks.

SIA Airbus A350 ULR Flights
Route	Now 31 Oct 2026	1 Nov 2026 TBC
SQ36: SIN-LAX SQ35: LAX-SIN	— —	3/wk 3/wk
SQ24: SIN-JFK SQ23: JFK-SIN	7/wk 7/wk	7/wk 7/wk
SQ22: SIN-EWR SQ21: EWR-SIN	7/wk 7/wk	7/wk 7/wk
SQ34: SIN-SFO SQ33: SFO-SIN	7/wk 7/wk	— —
Total	42/wk	34/wk

This slimmed-down roster for the ULR fleet will need to be in force until all seven aircraft have been refitted with the latest cabin products, a process that will likely take until Q3/Q4 2027, but for now it applies until the end of the current published schedule in late March 2027.

The new cabin configuration

The refits will transform the A350 ULR cabin, headlined by an all-new four-seat First Class. Here’s how the seating layout will change on these jets:

Singapore Airlines Airbus A350 ULR
Cabin	Current	New	Change
First Class	—	4
Business Class	67	70	4%
Premium Economy	94	58	38%
Total Seats	161	132	18%

The addition of First Class and three extra Business Class seats comes at the expense of 36 Premium Economy seats, and that gives SIA one headache.

The newly fitted jets will have to be scheduled on specific flights, in order for the carrier to sell its new First Class product, and not to oversell its Premium Economy one!

The refit timeline

SIA’s retrofit plan calls for each refit to take around a month, though the first aircraft always needs longer, perhaps double that, as processes are refined.

We strongly suspect all seven A350 ULRs will be refitted in succession, allowing the airline to sell the new First Class and the revised capacity in other cabins across the sub-fleet’s routes as soon as possible. Managing last-minute aircraft swaps between old and new configurations would otherwise be a logistical headache.

This schedule shuffle enables refits to begin from the first week of November 2026, teeing up nicely for the cabin’s planned Q1 2027 debut.

The new First Class is of course the headline act. The new Business Class will already have entered service on some refitted A350 Long Haul aircraft from Q2 2026, and we expect perhaps as many as four or five of those aircraft will have the new seats by the time the ULRs start to enter the hangar – possibly more depending on the pace of the initial refits.

Sydney is a strong candidate for the Business Class debut on these A350 LH aircraft, with London also shaping up as an early contender, perhaps after a couple more aircraft have rolled out.

Will Los Angeles be first?

Singapore Airlines could introduce its first refitted ULR aircraft on Newark or New York JFK three days per week, but our money is on Los Angeles, for one simple reason: operational simplicity.

Los Angeles SQ36/35 operates on fixed days: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Crucially, all three weekly flights can be operated by the same dedicated aircraft, with the remaining four aircraft in the existing configuration comfortably managing Newark and JFK, while always keeping another ULR on top of that available as a spare, for disruptions.

The gaps between Los Angeles flights (14 hours, plus 38 hours once per week) also give the aircraft one full day off in Singapore each week, useful for addressing any teething issues with the new cabin product.

Operating the new aircraft to Newark or JFK three times a week (e.g. Mon, Wed, Fri) is possible, but more complex.

Due to the longer flight times involved, the airline can’t dedicate one aircraft to three fixed days on either of these routes without the operational spare aircraft being called into service, at least once a week.

That’s not ideal when you’re launching a brand new cabin product and want maximum fleet reliability in the middle of winter, when the weather in New York often causes schedule disruption.

With just one aircraft refitted, Los Angeles is the cleaner option.

Regardless, this situation should only last around four to six weeks. Once the second refitted aircraft rejoins the fleet, the schedule with new First Class seats can be progressively expanded.

If Los Angeles does get it first – New York won’t be far behind.

In any event, if you’re trying to snag the new First Class you can’t book it yet anyway, so a speculative booking is impossible. Watch for a schedule update shortly after the product launch in the coming months, especially if you’re keen to jump on the inaugural.

If you’re trying to snag the new Business Class, it’ll already be flying on other routes by then, on a few A350 LH aircraft already refitted, so you won’t have to wait until the ULRs have it to try that out.

Progressive rollout: our predictions

While it’s an approximate prediction on our part, here’s one pattern of how we might expect the new First Class deployment to develop, based on aircraft utilisation patterns, as aircraft emerge from the hangar post-retrofit:

Possible refitted A350 ULR deployment
Aircraft refitted	New First Class Routes
1 aircraft	LAX: 3x weekly
2 aircraft	LAX: 3x weekly JFK: 3x weekly
3 aircraft	LAX: 3x weekly JFK: 6x weekly
4 aircraft	LAX: 3x weekly JFK: daily EWR: 2x weekly
5 aircraft	LAX: 3x weekly JFK: daily EWR: 4x weekly
6 aircraft	Full new-cabin coverage on ‘slimmed’ ULR schedule
7 aircraft	Full new-cabin coverage on regular ULR schedule

Note: This is our speculative pattern based on fleet utilisation and operational logic – SIA hasn’t confirmed any details yet.

Once five aircraft are refitted, all JFK, Newark and Los Angeles flights can technically use the new configuration.

However, the ‘standby’ aircraft would still have the old seats at that stage, with no First Class installed, so we’re predicting the airline may not commit to that quite so soon, given there isn’t a single dedicated standby aircraft in reality; each aircraft in the fleet typically takes turns in that role throughout the week.

Once six aircraft are refitted, the entire slimmed-down schedule can confidently use the new cabin.

When the seventh aircraft emerges from the hangar, the airline has the option to return to its full regular ULR programme (daily San Francisco, daily JFK and daily Newark), if it wishes.

First Class returns to Newark – and eventually San Francisco?

If our predictions are right, Los Angeles may well be the launch city for the new First Class. Interestingly, this would likely be a temporary honour. Once the full fleet is refitted and the airline potentially returns to its original schedule around mid- to late 2027, Los Angeles would lose its ULR service and with it the new First Class, while San Francisco would gain it.

That said, Los Angeles will continue to see Singapore Airlines First Class on its daily SQ12/11 service via Tokyo, which uses the older Boeing 777 product.

The return of First Class to San Francisco would be welcome. The city last saw Singapore Airlines First Class in January 2022, when the carrier axed its Boeing 777-300ER service via Hong Kong in the midst of complex pandemic-era restrictions for transit passengers. Just don’t expect this reinstatement until all seven ULRs have been under the knife for retrofit.

Newark is another city with First Class history.

It last had Singapore Airlines First Class between 1998 and 2004, when the airline operated Singapore – Amsterdam – Newark service on the Boeing 747-400, though 21 years ago this flight made way for non-stop Airbus A340-500 links. That’s quite a wait for the return of this cabin on the route!

The new doored suites in the 2027 First Class will certainly represent a step-change from what was offered on the Newark route back then, but imagine the award space possibilities with 12 seats per flight – sadly a distant dream with today’s far smaller First Class configurations.

What can we expect from the new cabin products?

Singapore Airlines first announced that it would be retrofitting its Airbus A350 Long Haul and ULR aircraft with all-new First Class and Business Class products back in November 2024, but the carrier is giving relatively little away about the new seats at this early stage.

Instead, a launch event in the first half of 2026 will see the reveal of both products, including the First Class seats being added to the ULR jets.

What we know so far is that each closed-door suite has angled doors, and with four in total a single-row 1-2-1 configuration is likely.

The design also includes an elaborate blind built into the window shades, not dissimilar to those found on business jets.

Here’s SIA’s short teaser video of the new 2027 First Class seat.

Business Class will debut ahead of First Class, on Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft from Q2 2026, and here we can expect closing doors for suite-style privacy from the aisle, something that’s now practically de rigueur in the latest Business Class cabins.

Artist’s impressions don’t give too much else away at this stage, though we can see that there are alternating window-aligned and aisle-aligned seats at each row, in common with the airline’s latest Regional Business Class.

That opens up the opportunity for ‘honeymoon’ options at alternate rows in the middle section, potentially meaning double beds for couples.

In both cabins we expect modern touches like USB-C charging ports, wireless charging pads and bluetooth headphone connectivity, while IFE screens should also inch bigger, along with the general industry trend.

Wi-Fi will also get much faster, with a new Low Earth Orbit satellite system – likely Starlink – making its way to these aircraft during the refit process, as we reported back in November 2025.

Here’s SIA’s short teaser video of the new 2026 Business Class seat, so you can start to judge for yourself what to expect.

The airline is promising a wider upgrade – not just to its First and Business Class seats, but also to dining, amenities, and KrisWorld entertainment – in a move clearly designed to keep pace with (or hopefully exceed) top-tier competitors on long-haul routes.

KrisFlyer award rates

With just four First Class seats in the new A350 ULR cabin, Saver award availability will be rare at best. For those determined to try the new product, Advantage redemptions are likely to be more realistic, albeit requiring a hefty 262,000 miles to Los Angeles or 279,500 miles to New York JFK or Newark.

Access awards remain available at an eye-watering 471,500 miles (Los Angeles) or 503,000 miles (JFK/Newark) as long as commercial seats remain for sale. You’d need a substantial KrisFlyer balance to consider that, but hey, some people actually have one!

Here are the one-way KrisFlyer award rates you’ll pay for the Singapore – Los Angeles route, on three-class Airbus A350s (Economy, Premium and Business), four-class Boeing 777-300ERs that operate via Tokyo (Economy, Premium, Business and First) or the upcoming three-class Airbus A350 ULRs (Premium, Business and First).

KrisFlyer Redemption Rates One-Way Singapore ⇄ Los Angeles
Airline / Cabin		Saver	Advantage	Access
	Economy Class	44,000	79,000	102,500
	Premium Economy	79,000	n/a	102,500 to 126,500
	Business Class	112,500	148,000	185,000 to 296,000
	First Class	154,000	262,000	471,500

Here’s how the rates look for New York and Newark, where the three-class Airbus A350 ULRs (Premium, Business and First) will be added from 2027, and an additional Economy Class option is available on four-class Boeing 777-300ERs that operate via Frankfurt (Economy, Premium, Business and First).

KrisFlyer Redemption Rates One-Way Singapore ⇄ New York / Newark
Airline / Cabin		Saver	Advantage	Access
	Economy Class	46,000	84,500	110,000
	Premium Economy	84,500	n/a	110,000 to 135,000
	Business Class	117,000	165,000	206,500 to 330,000
	First Class	156,000	279,500	503,000

Note that there will still be no Economy Class option on the airline’s Newark route, as it will continue to be solely operated by the A350 ULR.

Singapore Airlines’ schedule reshuffle from November 2026 sets the stage for one of the airline’s most anticipated cabin product debuts in years. With Los Angeles joining the ULR network just as refits begin, and the operational logic favouring a dedicated single-aircraft route for the debut, we think LA has the edge over New York as the launch city for the new First Class.

Whether we’re right or not, one thing is certain – by late 2027, all three US destinations served by the A350 ULR fleet should have the new cabin products, with Newark regaining First Class for the first time in over two decades.

A likely-reinstated San Francisco route on full cabin refit completion means The City by the Bay will also pick up that cabin type for the first time since early 2022.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)