Singapore Airlines refreshes in-flight dining, including Christofle chinaware

There are some new dining options on the way for Singapore Airlines passengers over the next few weeks, with the carrier billing the changes as one “pillar” of a wider upgrade to its end-to-end travel experience, that will also include all-new First and Business Class cabins being unveiled in November 2026.

That much-anticipated (and somewhat delayed) reveal will also showcase a new KrisWorld entertainment system, new amenities, high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi and enhanced ground services, with today’s announcement effectively a sneak peek at one part of that overall package, rather than the main event.

“Guided by customer feedback, evolving preferences and emerging dining trends, we have reviewed every aspect of the experience – from menu design, seasonal ingredients, and cooking techniques to beverage selection, presentation, and cabin crew service.”

Yeoh Phee Teik, SVP Customer Experience, Singapore Airlines

There’s plenty of marketing gloss in the release, so here’s what’s actually changing, what isn’t, and when you’ll see it on board.

What’s changing, and when

SIA says the new dishes have already started rolling out progressively, while other changes will follow from November 2026.

• Now (progressively): over 100 new and refreshed dishes across all cabins, under a new SIA Chefs’ Selection banner
• From November 2026: new wines and spirits, Christofle chinaware in Suites, First and Business Class, Christofle glassware in Suites and First, and new service touches in Suites and First. A Premium Economy champagne switch is already under way.
• With the new First Class seat: “companion dining” for passengers travelling together

SIA Chefs’ Selection

At the centre of the announcement is SIA Chefs’ Selection, which the airline describes as a new in-flight menu category. It’s developed by SIA’s in-house and guest chefs together with its catering partners.

It doesn’t replace Book the Cook, which continues for Suites, First, Business and Premium Economy passengers on many routes, as do the regular in-flight menus and special meals. Chefs’ Selection is effectively a new label on part of your menu, not a reinvention of the whole thing.

The headline figure of “more than 100” dishes sounds generous, but that covers every cabin class across the whole network, and it counts “refreshed” dishes as well as new ones. SIA itself describes the Char Siew Wonton Noodle in Business Class as a long-standing customer favourite, for example.

For comparison, SIA’s March 2024 Premium Economy revamp alone introduced over 200 new appetisers, main courses and desserts for that one cabin.

SIA hasn’t said which dishes will appear on which routes, however you can preview the menu for your flight online up to six weeks before departure via the airline’s digital in-flight menu.

We checked the digital menus for a handful of flights departing Singapore on 29th September, and none of them carries an “SIA Chefs’ Selection” label yet.

The guest chefs contributing to the programme include:

• Monica Galetti (United Kingdom)
• Nandu Jubany (Spain)
• Sanjeev Kapoor (India)
• Sid Sahrawat (New Zealand)
• Yoshihiro Murata (Japan)
• Zhu Jun (China)

Murata and Kapoor have previously been part of SIA’s International Culinary Panel.

Same dish, different cabin

The most interesting idea here is that some dishes now come in several versions, stepping up in presentation, and sometimes ingredients, from Economy through to First and Suites cabins.

The prawn cocktail is one example. In Business Class it’s the “Retro Meets Modern Prawn Cocktail”, with prawns, cocktail sauce, Japanese cucumber, shaved fennel, rock melon and edible flowers. In Suites and First Class it becomes “Lobster Royale”, with steamed lobster tail in place of the prawns.

Selected desserts get the same treatment. The apple dessert is:

• an Apple and Oat Crumble Cake in Economy
• an Apple Crumble Flapjack in Premium Economy
• a Caramelised Apple Tart in Business Class
• an Apple Trompe-L’œil with Granny Smith sherbet in Suites and First

Cheng Tng, the traditional sweet soup, is reworked for each cabin in the same way. The Tandoor Roasted Paneer with Velvet Gravy is served in every cabin with the same accompaniments, with a seasoned filling added in the premium cabins.

It’s a neat way of showing the step up between cabins, and it presumably makes life simpler for the caterers too, with shared recipes and components.

Highlights by cabin

These are the SIA Chefs’ Selection dishes SIA has highlighted for each cabin. Not every dish will be available on every flight.

Suites and First Class

• Lobster Royale (appetiser)
• Citrus-Marinated Lobster with black bean quinoa, fennel, berries and lime dressing (appetiser)
• Fusion Harmony Rojak (appetiser)
• Lobster Bisque (soup)
• Poached Maine Lobster with Champagne Sauce (main course)
• Beef Short Rib Sambal Percik with Nasi Kerabu (main course)
• Sous-Vide Chicken Thigh Roulade with chicken and pearl barley broth (main course)
• Tandoor Roasted Paneer with Velvet Gravy (main course)
• Cheng Tng Gelée Tremblante (dessert)
• Apple Trompe-L’œil with Granny Smith sherbet and vanilla-poached apple (dessert)

Lobster fans are well catered for – it features in four of the ten dishes highlighted for these cabins. For where you’ll find Suites and First Class on the network, see our recently updated guide to SIA’s First Class and Suites cabins by route.

Business Class

• Fusion Harmony Rojak (appetiser)
• Retro Meets Modern Prawn Cocktail (appetiser)
• Char Siew Wonton Noodle (main course)
• Singapore Style Prawn Noodle Soup (main course)
• Roasted Cauliflower Steak with Chimichurri (main course)
• Jackfruit Opor with Blue Pea Rice (main course)
• Vegetarian Nasi Padang (main course)
• Tandoor Roasted Paneer with Velvet Gravy (main course)
• Classic Cheng Tng (dessert)
• Caramelised Apple Tart with Vanilla Mascarpone Chantilly (dessert)

Four of the six Business Class mains SIA has highlighted are meat-free. They include the jackfruit opor, effectively a vegetarian version of the First Class beef short rib, served with the same blue nasi kerabu.

Premium Economy

• Irish Lamb Stew (main course)
• Chicken Stroganoff with pilaf rice and roasted vegetables (main course)
• Tandoor Roasted Paneer with Velvet Gravy (main course)
• Apple Crumble Flapjack with Vanilla Anglaise (dessert)
• Cheng Tng Jelly (dessert)

Economy

• Roasted Chicken Breast with Black Pepper Sauce, lentil rice and cashew nuts (main course)
• Oriental-style Fish with Yellow Bean Sauce, Asian greens and rice (main course)
• Tandoor Roasted Paneer with Velvet Gravy (main course)
• Apple and Oat Crumble Cake with Vanilla Sauce (dessert)
• Cheng Tng Jelly (dessert)

Champagne, wine and spirits

SIA says it’s introducing new wine labels in Suites, First and Business Class, plus new spirits in every cabin, from November. The release also lists the champagnes on offer in each cabin.

To see how much of this is really new, we compared the release with the digital menus for a selection of flights departing Singapore this week.

Singapore Airlines Champagne by Cabin
Cabin	On menus this week*	Per SIA’s announcement
Suites First	2014 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne plus either Krug Grande Cuvée or 2016 Louis Roederer Cristal	Krug Grande Cuvée Louis Roederer Cristal Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Bollinger La Grande Année
Business	Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV	Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV Piper-Heidsieck Vintage
Premium Economy	Charles de Cazanove Brut Tradition NV or Champagne Victoire Brut Prestige NV	Champagne Victoire Brut Prestige NV

* Based on the digital menus for selected flights departing on 29th September 2026.

Suites and First Class

None of the five champagnes SIA lists for these cabins is new, and the release itself says customers “continue to enjoy” them. All five have been poured in SIA’s First Class and Suites cabins at various points over the last few years.

SIA added a third, rotating “guest” champagne alongside Krug Grande Cuvée and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne back in June 2023, and the line-up has evolved steadily since:

• May 2024: 2015 Bollinger La Grande Année joined as the guest champagne (our coverage)
• November 2024: 2007 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires returned (our coverage)
• December 2024: 2015 Louis Roederer Cristal replaced Krug on selected routes, making SIA the only airline pouring it (our coverage)

Since then, SIA has moved between two and three champagnes per flight depending on supply and season. It most recently restored a third in October 2025, when Bollinger La Grande Année returned alongside Blanc des Millénaires and either Krug or Cristal.

It’s back to two at the moment. Every First Class menu we checked this week lists the 2014 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, alongside Krug Grande Cuvée (e.g. to Sydney), or the 2016 Cristal (e.g. to London and Jakarta). Neither Blanc des Millénaires nor La Grande Année appears.

Their inclusion in SIA’s list suggests both will be back in the rotation. Hopefully that means a return to three options on every flight in time for the new cabin launch, though SIA hasn’t said so.

Business Class

Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve is the only champagne on the three Business Class menus we checked this week, but it’s about to make way for Piper-Heidsieck. Digital menus for flights from 1st October onwards show a 2019 or 2020 Piper-Heidsieck Brut Vintage in its place, apparently across the network.

SIA has swapped between the two houses in Business Class several times in recent years:

• October 2021: vintage Piper-Heidsieck (2012) arrived on selected long-haul routes (our coverage)
• January 2024: the 2014 vintage was poured network-wide (our coverage)
• September 2024: Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve returned network-wide (our coverage)
• December 2024: the 2018 vintage Piper-Heidsieck took over network-wide (our coverage)
• August 2025: the 2018 vintage returned for a further run
• October 2026: the 2019 / 2020 vintage appears to replace Charles Heidsieck network-wide for now

Piper-Heidsieck Vintage is a decent champagne, but given the choice we’d take the more complex, textured Charles Heidsieck, which scored an impressive 4.2 out of 5 on Vivino when it returned in 2024, and still does today.

SIA has historically poured one or the other in Business Class, rather than both on the same flight, so with the release listing both, Charles Heidsieck may still feature on rotation, even though it’s absent from October menus at the time of writing.

Premium Economy

As far as we can tell, the only genuinely new champagne label in the release is in Premium Economy, and that switch is already under way.

All three Premium Economy menus we checked list Champagne Victoire Brut Prestige NV alongside the outgoing Charles de Cazanove Brut Tradition, with a note to check with the crew which one is on board. It’s a new label, but not a new supplier. Victoire is a label of the Rapeneau family, owners of Champagne house G.H. Martel since 1979, whose Ernest Rapeneau Brut was poured in this cabin back in 2022.

The Cazanove arrived with the March 2024 Premium Economy revamp, and picked up a 3.8 out of 5 rating on Vivino at the time.

Victoire’s Brut Prestige scores 3.9 out of 5 on Vivino, fractionally ahead of the Cazanove, so this looks like a slight upgrade.

Wine

The release name-checks six producers from SIA’s French selection, but doesn’t identify any specific new labels. Half of them are already on this week’s First Class menus:

• Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande: the 2008 vintage of this Pauillac Second Growth is on all three First Class menus we checked
• Château de Meursault: its 2020 Pommard Premier Cru Clos de la Platière is served to London
• Maison Albert Bichot: its 2017 Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes is served to Jakarta

That leaves Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, a Saint-Julien Second Growth, plus Domaine William Fèvre and Domaine Arlaud as the named producers not on those menus.

In Business Class, where SIA also promises new wine labels, this week’s line-up is identical across all three flights, though several of these are replaced on menus from 1st October:

• Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc
• Deep Woods Chardonnay
• Château Pey La Tour Réserve from Bordeaux
• a Cairanne and a Lirac from the Rhône
• Kopke 10 Year Old tawny port

Spirits

The new spirits are a clearer shift, and easy to compare against this week’s menus:

• Suites and First Class: an SIA-exclusive blended whisky from Japan’s Komoro Distillery, co-founded by former Kavalan master blender Ian Chang. The current line-up includes Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Glenmorangie 18 Year Old and Woodford Reserve bourbon.
• Business Class: a 19-year-old Bowmore single malt finished in Pinot Noir casks, Roku Kasane Edition gin and Danzka Forty vodka. Today’s menus list Ardbeg 10 Year Old as the single malt, with Tanqueray gin and Alexander vodka. SIA hasn’t said which, if any, are being replaced, but a 19-year-old Bowmore would be a notable step up.
• Premium Economy and Economy: Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch. Premium Economy menus currently list their spirits generically (“whisky”, “rum”, “gin” and so on), so this is at least a named label.

Christofle chinaware and glassware

For premium cabin passengers, the most noticeable change will be the tableware. From November, meals in Suites, First and Business Class will be served on new chinaware from French luxury tableware house Christofle. SIA says this makes it the first airline to use Christofle chinaware on board.

The design is based on Christofle’s Malmaison Impériale collection, with a reworked version of SIA’s batik motif. First Class gets a finer, more intricate pattern, while Business Class has a bolder, larger-scale version. You can spot both in SIA’s food photos throughout this article.

This will replace Singapore Airlines’ current tableware. SIA previously partnered with Wedgwood for First Class serviceware in 2015 (replacing the previous Givenchy-designed set), followed by Lalique for First Class stemware and Narumi for Business Class serviceware, both in 2017.

Suites and First Class passengers will also get new Christofle glassware, with longer-stemmed wine glasses and tulip-shaped champagne glasses.

Lalique also supplies SIA’s Suites and First Class pyjamas, amenity kits, toiletries and bedding. The release doesn’t say whether that side of the partnership continues now its glassware is being replaced, though with “new amenities” also on the list for November, we may find out soon.

Premium Economy and Economy passengers won’t see any change to their tableware. Premium Economy moved to custom porcelain serviceware in its own 2024 revamp.

SIA hasn’t said how quickly the new tableware will reach every flight, so it could take some time before it becomes standard across the network.

First Class service touches and companion dining

Suites and First Class passengers already choose when they’d like to eat, and that flexible dining continues.

From November, SIA says “selected dishes may be presented with distinctive touches” in these cabins, and crew may offer drink recommendations to go with your meal. SIA hasn’t said what those touches involve, so we’ll hopefully learn more at the November launch.

The release also mentions “companion dining”. Selected seats in SIA’s new First Class cabin will convert into a shared space, so two passengers travelling together can dine face-to-face, rather like they could in the A380’s original 2007 Suites.

That’s tied to the next-generation First Class seat, so companion dining won’t be available until those seats are flying, on either the refitted A350 ULRs or the new Boeing 777-9s, whichever comes first (more on that below).

The main course is still to come

As welcome as some of these dining changes are, they’re very much the appetiser for what SIA regulars are really waiting for – the carrier’s all-new First and Business Class seats.

SIA announced the new products in November 2024, as part of a S$1.1 billion retrofit of its Airbus A350 Long Haul and A350 ULR fleets. They were originally due to debut on the Boeing 777-9 way back in 2021, until that programme’s repeated delays eventually prompted SIA to switch launch platforms.

The timeline has slipped since then:

• Launch event: originally slated for the first half of 2026, now taking place in November
• New Business Class: due on the first refitted A350 Long Haul in Q1 2027, rather than Q2 2026
• New First Class: the four-seat cabin on the refitted A350 ULRs has no committed date, having previously been pencilled in for Q1 2027
• Boeing 777-9: SIA still expects its first delivery in 2027, with the same new products on board, including the new First Class

SIA put the delay down to industry-wide supply chain constraints and a certification delay on one of the new seats.

What we know so far is that the new Business Class will feature closing doors for suite-style privacy, with seats alternating between window-aligned and aisle-aligned positions. Each First Class suite gets angled closing doors and business jet-style electric window blinds.

The refitted aircraft will also bring an all-new KrisWorld entertainment system, plus Starlink Wi-Fi, which SIA will roll out from Q1 2027 across its A350 Long Haul, A350 ULR and A380 fleets. We’d expect the 777-9s to arrive with Starlink fitted too, though SIA hasn’t confirmed it.

Against that backdrop, today’s dining announcement is best seen as a sneak peek at one part of the package, rather than the finished deal. The November product reveal will be the one to watch.

SIA’s latest dining enhancement announcement incorporates:

• a sizeable menu rotation under a new “SIA Chefs’ Selection” banner
• a handful of new spirits, and a new champagne for Premium Economy
• new Christofle chinaware and glassware at the front of the aircraft from November

The tiered dishes, with the same concept reinterpreted from Economy through to First, are a nice idea, while the new tableware will be the change most travellers actually notice in the premium cabins.

The champagne list is largely a reshuffle of familiar names. First Class draws on the same pool SIA has been rotating through for the last couple of years, Piper-Heidsieck Vintage is set to return in Business Class, and the only new label – Victoire in Premium Economy – is already on the menus. Half the wine producers SIA name-checks are already on today’s First Class menus too.

Elsewhere, some of what’s billed as new is either an existing favourite or tied to a First Class seat that won’t be flying until perhaps mid-2027.

The real main course arrives in November, when SIA finally unveils its new Business Class with closing doors and its all-new First Class, alongside Starlink Wi-Fi and a new KrisWorld system. Until then, this dining refresh is a sneak peek rather than the finished deal, and it will make a lot more sense alongside new seats to enjoy it in.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)