Singapore Airlines is set to boost First Class capacity on its Shanghai route from the start of next year, offering up to 14 First Class and Suites seats per day thanks to a second daily Boeing 777-300ER option rejoining the schedules.

That’s the result of an aircraft swap on one of the airline’s four daily Shanghai services, which sees the Boeing 777-300ER displacing the Boeing 787-10 on SQ836/825 from 1st January 2027, running through to the end of the northern winter season in late March.

Here’s how it breaks down for First Class and Suites on the route:

• Until 31st December 2026: 10 First Class and Suites seats per day (1 x 777-300ER + 1 x A380)
• 1st January 2027 to 27th March 2027: 14 First Class and Suites seats per day (2 x 777-300ER + 1 x A380)

The route’s other two daily rotations are unaffected, with the Airbus A380 continuing on SQ830/833 and the Airbus A350 Medium Haul on SQ826/827, the latter a two-class regional product with no First Class cabin.

The schedule

The key difference is the SQ836/825 upgauge from the Boeing 787-10 to the Boeing 777-300ER, on the early evening departure from Singapore and the post-midnight service out of Shanghai, timings currently served by a two-class aircraft with regional cabin products.

Singapore Shanghai
1 Jan 2027 – 27 Mar 2027

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ826 A350 MH
SIN 01:15		PVG 06:30
Duration: 05:15
	SQ828 777-300ER
SIN 07:20		PVG 12:45
Duration: 05:25
	SQ830 A380
SIN 09:20		PVG 14:35
Duration: 05:15
	SQ836 777-300ER
SIN 17:00		PVG 22:20
Duration: 05:20

– Former 787-10 flights upgraded to 777-300ER

Shanghai Singapore
1 Jan 2027 – 27 Mar 2027

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	SQ825 777-300ER
PVG 00:10		SIN 06:00
Duration: 05:50
	SQ827 A350 MH
PVG 08:20		SIN 14:10
Duration: 05:50
	SQ831 777-300ER
PVG 13:50		SIN 19:40
Duration: 05:50
	SQ833 A380
PVG 16:25		SIN 22:15
Duration: 05:50

– Former 787-10 flights upgraded to 777-300ER

Currently, First Class between Singapore and Shanghai is limited to two of the four daily flights: four seats on the 777-300ER (SQ828/831) and six Suites on the A380 (SQ830/833), for a maximum of 10 seats per day in each direction.

From 1st January 2027, the addition of a second 777-300ER on SQ836/825 lifts that to 14 First Class and Suites seats per day, spread across three of the four daily services, a 40% jump in premium capacity at the very front of the aircraft, and on a short 5.5-hour hop where you won’t be too short of time to enjoy it (well, relatively speaking).

The arrangement runs through to the end of the northern winter season, with the final upgraded SQ825 departing Shanghai shortly after midnight on 28th March 2027.

Business Class benefits too

Arguably just as significant as the First Class addition is what happens one cabin further back.

The Boeing 787-10 currently operating SQ836/825 features Singapore Airlines’ 2018 Regional Business Class, a product many of our readers find a little ‘tight’ compared to the airline’s long-haul offerings, especially for sleeping.

Its replacement brings the 2013 Business Class seat instead – a wider, full lie-flat long-haul product – and boosts the Business Class cabin from 36 to 48 seats on these flights.

That’s an especially welcome change on SQ825, the midnight-plus departure from Shanghai arriving into Changi at 6am, where a proper lie-flat rest in the long-haul cabin makes all the difference before a working day in Singapore.

The upgauge also adds a Premium Economy cabin (28 seats) on SQ836/825 for the first time in a while, taking the route to three daily services with the option. Only Economy Class sees a reduction, and quite a sharp one, from 301 seats on the Boeing 787-10 to 184 on the three-class Boeing 777-300ER.

2013 First Class

SIA’s 2013 First Class seat may not live up to ‘Suite standards’, but it remains one of our favourite products and we’ve always really enjoyed our trips in this cabin.

The intimate single-row section has only four seats in a 1-2-1 layout, including a large void behind the middle pair for the cabin crew to pass between the two aisles while remaining out of sight.

In mid-2018 we concluded our round-the-world trip in First Class on SQ1 from San Francisco to Singapore via Hong Kong in this excellent cabin, and had the chance to thoroughly review it including both a long-haul and short-haul experience across the two stages of the journey.

If you haven’t tried the product, while we probably don’t recommend parting with Advantage award rates, we don’t think you’d be disappointed if a Saver award comes up, and Shanghai’s 5.5-hour sector is a far more attainable redemption than the airline’s long-haul routes.

Here’s a more recent review of what you can expect in First Class post-pandemic, though practically all of the COVID restrictions in effect on this Frankfurt to Singapore flight in September 2021 have now been relaxed.

Aside from Suites on the A380, this First Class product is now the only one fitted to Singapore Airlines aircraft, following the retirement of older 2006 First Class seats on the carrier’s (non-ER) Boeing 777-300s.

2017 Suites

The Airbus A380 continues on its regular SQ830/833 rotation throughout this period.

The superjumbos offer Singapore Airlines’ six-suite 2017 Suites product, which remains arguably the most distinctive First Class experience in the sky, particularly the double bed configurations for couples.

Award availability

This additional First Class capacity on Shanghai flights means some dates have instantly-confirmable Saver awards in this cabin from January 2027, in both directions on the route, particularly on the newly-upgraded SQ836/825 timings.

For reference, KrisFlyer award rates in all cabins between Singapore and Shanghai (one-way) are as follows.

KrisFlyer Redemption Rates One-Way Singapore ⇄ Shanghai
Airline / Cabin		Saver	Advantage	Access
	Economy Class	20,500	44,000	63,000
	Premium Economy	36,000	n/a	51,500 to 63,500
	Business Class	45,000	75,000	97,000 to 154,500
	First / Suites Class	61,500	112,500	209,000

Taxes and fees apply in addition to miles and typically total around S$65 from Singapore to Shanghai and just S$17 in the return direction – making this one of the better-value routes on the network for award pricing.

Back to pre-COVID form

This change actually restores the Shanghai route’s product line-up to its pre-pandemic arrangement, though it’s taken some time to get here.

Back in November 2019, Singapore Airlines was operating two daily Boeing 777-300ERs, a daily Airbus A380 and a daily Boeing 787-10 between Singapore and Shanghai – near-identical to the pattern returning in January 2027, except that the fourth rotation (SQ826/827) is now flown by the Airbus A350 Medium Haul rather than the Boeing 787-10, albeit with the same 2018 Regional Business Class seats on board.

Doesn’t the 777 fleet shrink this year?

In May we reported that Singapore Airlines’ long-haul fleet is shrinking for the first time in six years, with one Boeing 777-300ER set to leave the fleet between now and the end of March 2027.

It clearly isn’t affecting Shanghai, which joins Amsterdam on the list of routes seeing additional 777-300ER deployment compared to last year.

Instead, the fleet contraction is being absorbed elsewhere, likely through aircraft swaps on routes where the A350 Long Haul can pick up the slack.

What about April 2027 onwards?

While northern summer 2027 schedules and aircraft allocation are far from certain at this stage, the current plan sees the A380 leave the Shanghai route from 28th March 2027, taking the First Class offering down to two daily 777-300ERs, a maximum of eight seats per day.

That comes as the route sees its usual ramp-up to five daily services in the summer months, with the remaining three flights currently showing regional products on the Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A350 Medium Haul.

That doesn’t mean the superjumbo won’t appear on the route next summer, because these schedules are provisional at this stage, so watch this space for possible developments there.

Singapore Airlines is restoring its Shanghai route to a pre-COVID premium line-up from 1st January 2027, with two daily Boeing 777-300ERs joining the Airbus A380 through to the end of the northern winter season, a 40% boost in First Class and Suites capacity, to 14 seats per day.

The upgauge of SQ836/825 from the Boeing 787-10 isn’t just a First Class story, either.

It swaps the 2018 Regional Business Class product for the wider 2013 long-haul seat on the early evening departure from Singapore and the post-midnight flight out of Shanghai, the latter arguably the timing that benefits most from a larger seat and bed, while it also adds a Premium Economy option on these services for the first time in years.

For award redemptions, that means a full additional cabin’s worth of First Class inventory per day to chase from January through to late March, on one of the airline’s most premium-heavy regional routes.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)