Singapore Airlines reveals next-gen KrisWorld, with new cabin glimpses

Singapore Airlines has announced the details of its next-generation KrisWorld in-flight entertainment system, which will incorporate larger 4K touchscreens, spatial audio, Bluetooth headphone pairing, a redesigned interface and a new wellness planner.

It’s the third puzzle piece so far of what SIA calls its “elevated end-to-end travel experience” to be announced in the past month, following the in-flight dining refresh at the end of September and the new amenity kits and Business Class pyjamas last week.

The full package, which SIA says also includes enhanced on-ground services, will be unveiled in Singapore in November, including the main event we are all waiting for – the long-awaited reveal of the airline’s all-new First and Business Class cabins.

While the new dining and amenities are reaching today’s aircraft from November, this new KrisWorld system is tied to the new cabins, so it will only feature on the 41 Airbus A350s being refitted from 2027, and on the upcoming Boeing 777-9s.

That also makes SIA’s accompanying images and videos interesting – while they are meant to show off the screens, they offer a few more glimpses of the new seats in every cabin, from First Class to Economy. We’ve pointed these out as we go, in our “Cabin spotting” boxes.

“Our customers told us that they wanted more choice and flexibility in how they spend their time on board, as well as entertainment and connectivity that fit more naturally into their journey. This guided the development of SIA’s next-generation KrisWorld and connectivity offering, which make it easier to discover and enjoy content, stay in touch with loved ones, and move seamlessly between entertainment and other activities during the flight.”

Yeoh Phee Teik, SVP Customer Experience, Singapore Airlines

Let’s take a look at what’s changing, which aircraft are getting it, and when.

Cabin Spotting This video shows the new First Class seat, with a warm gold / brass-toned trim on the door side, set against greige surfaces elsewhere. It fits the more residential palette we spotted in the First Class frames of SIA’s amenity teaser video earlier this month.

Which aircraft are getting it?

Next-generation KrisWorld will be installed on:

• Airbus A350 Long Haul (34 aircraft): as each is refitted, with the first due back in service in Q1 2027
• Airbus A350 ULR (7 aircraft): as each is refitted, though SIA still hasn’t committed to a start date for this sub-fleet (more on that here)
• Boeing 777-9: factory-fitted, with the first delivery still expected in 2027

That’s 41 of SIA’s 153 passenger aircraft, around 27% of today’s fleet, plus the 777-9s as they arrive.

The rest of the fleet keeps today’s KrisWorld system for now. That covers the Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787-10, Airbus A350 Medium Haul and Boeing 737-8 MAX.

The A380 is the odd one out. It’s getting Starlink Wi-Fi from early 2027, but not the new entertainment system, since there’s no cabin retrofit planned for the superjumbo.

Singapore Airlines Next-Gen KrisWorld & Starlink
Aircraft Type	In Fleet	New KrisWorld	Starlink Wi-Fi
A350 LH	34	Yes	Yes
A350 ULR	7	Yes	Yes
777-9	31 on order	Yes	TBC
A380	12	No	Yes
777-300ER	22	No	No
787-10	28	No	No
A350 MH	24	No	No
737-8 MAX	26	No	No

Fleet counts as at 27th September 2026. A350 LH and ULR aircraft will receive the new KrisWorld as they are retrofitted from 2027.

Don’t expect it any time soon

The new KrisWorld system won’t be reaching many of your flights for a while yet.

SIA’s own target is to complete the refit of all 41 A350s by the end of 2030. As we explained last week, that works out at roughly one aircraft every five weeks from a Q1 2027 start. The airline’s last comparable programme, the 777-300ER Business Class retrofit, finished more than two years behind schedule. The A350 refit is already at least six months late before a single seat has been fitted, and the ULR fleet still has no start date.

We think 2031 or 2032 is a more realistic end point. Even at SIA’s target pace, only a handful of refitted A350s will be flying by the end of 2027.

The Boeing 777-9s will help, arriving progressively over the same period with the new system factory-fitted. Given the type’s track record, though, we wouldn’t bank on large numbers of them being in service before the end of the decade.

Even once the programme is complete, most shorter flights won’t see the new system. SIA’s regional workhorses, the 787-10, A350 Medium Haul and 737-8 MAX, aren’t part of the plan.

The exception is the handful of regional routes that SIA serves with A350 Long Haul aircraft, such as some Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila flights, where you may get lucky.

For most SIA passengers, it will be a few years before next-generation KrisWorld becomes a regular feature of their trips.

Who gets what

SIA’s headline features suggest a uniform upgrade, but the closer detail shows the hardware varies considerably by aircraft type and cabin.

Singapore Airlines Next-Gen KrisWorld by Cabin
Cabin	A350 Long Haul	A350 ULR	Boeing 777-9
First	No First Class cabin	32-inch 4K OLED Bluetooth	32-inch 4K Bluetooth
Business	22-inch 4K OLED Bluetooth	22-inch 4K OLED Bluetooth	20-inch 4K Bluetooth
Premium Economy	Refreshed seat No new screen or Bluetooth listed	Refreshed seat No new screen or Bluetooth listed	Up to 16-inch 4K* Bluetooth
Economy	Refreshed seat No new screen or Bluetooth listed	No Economy cabin	Up to 13-inch 4K* Bluetooth
All cabins: spatial audio and the redesigned KrisWorld interface

* SIA says Premium Economy and Economy on “selected” 777-9s will feature 4K OLED displays.

The biggest catch is in Premium Economy and Economy on the refitted A350s. SIA lists no new screen size, 4K display or Bluetooth pairing for these cabins on either A350 variant.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. When SIA announced the retrofit in November 2024, it confirmed that the Premium Economy and Economy seats on these aircraft would only be “refreshed” rather than replaced.

What’s new is confirmation that the refresh won’t include new screens, Bluetooth or (most likely) USB-C.

Passengers in these cabins will still get the new interface, spatial audio and content. The hardware in front of them, though, may look much like today’s, and SIA hasn’t said whether these cabins will get new screens at all.

For the full hardware upgrade in the back of the aircraft, you’ll need to be on a 777-9, which SIA confirms will get all-new Premium Economy and Economy seats, not just a refresh.

There, Premium Economy screens grow to up to 16 inches and Economy to up to 13 inches, with 4K throughout and Bluetooth pairing in every seat. That compares with 13.3 inches in Premium Economy and 11.1 inches in Economy on today’s A350 Long Haul and 777-300ER, the aircraft the 777-9 will eventually replace.

Bigger, sharper screens

In Business Class on the refitted A350s, the screen grows to 22 inches, in 4K OLED. That’s up from 18 inches in today’s 2013 J seat.

In our preview last week, we expected a 4K screen in the 22–24 inch range, so this lands at the lower end. It falls a little short of the 24-inch screens in Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite and JAL’s A350-1000 Business Class, but it’s still a significant step up from today.

Curiously, Business Class on the 777-9 gets a smaller 20-inch screen. SIA has said the same new seat designs will appear on both aircraft types, so it’s an odd discrepancy on the newer jet, and the press release doesn’t explain it.

The Boeing 777’s wider cabin typically allows it to accommodate wider seat designs, not narrower ones.

It may point to some difference in the 777-9’s Business Class installation – is the seat (which was selected at least seven years ago) even the same? We’ll be watching out for that at November’s reveal.

First Class on the refitted A350 ULRs and the 777-9s gets a 32-inch screen, the same size as in the A380 Suites, but with a quality bump to 4K.

On OLED, the annexe confirms these displays for First and Business on the A350s, and for Premium Economy and Economy on “selected” 777-9s.

It doesn’t mention OLED for First and Business on the 777-9, which may simply be an omission. The “selected aircraft” wording for Premium Economy and Economy also means the 777-9 fleet won’t be uniform, so which screen you get at the back may depend on the individual aircraft.

Spatial audio, Bluetooth, and Bang & Olufsen

Spatial audio is provided in every cabin on all three aircraft types. In practice, this adds a more three-dimensional effect to soundtracks through your headphones, so SIA has stopped short of installing the new headrest speakers now seen on Japan Airlines.

The headphones on offer vary by cabin:

• First: Bang & Olufsen Bluetooth wireless headphones with active noise cancellation
• Business and Premium Economy: active noise-cancelling headphones
• Economy: wired earphones, much like today’s basic in-ear set

Cabin Spotting The headphones are photographed hanging against vertically grained, wood-effect panelling. That’s the same finish we spotted in the First Class frames of SIA’s amenity teaser video, so this looks to be another shot from inside the new First Class seat, with the headphones likely resting on a side hook.

More useful for many of our readers is Bluetooth pairing, letting you use your own wireless headphones with KrisWorld. If you already travel with a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones, it means no more fiddling with adaptors or trailing cables across the seat.

As the table above shows, though, it isn’t universal. On the refitted A350 Long Haul it’s limited to Business Class, and on the A350 ULR to First and Business. Only the 777-9 will offer it in every cabin.

Cabin Spotting This looks to be a Premium Economy seat back. There’s what appears to be a coat hook to the right of the screen, and both USB-A and USB-C charging ports are built into the bottom left of the screen surround. Since SIA only lists Bluetooth pairing in Premium Economy on the 777-9, this may well be our first look at that aircraft’s all-new Premium Economy seat, rather than the refreshed A350 version.

A redesigned interface

The new KrisWorld interface has clearer menus, larger icons and improved search and filtering. New features include:

• A mini-player, so you can keep watching in a smaller window while browsing for something else
• Shortcuts to your preferred content categories
• A flight information sidebar, showing details like time to destination and the weather at your destination, without interrupting what you’re watching
• Kids’ Mode, a simplified interface with a curated selection of children’s films, TV and music

Cabin Spotting This menu screen is another shot from the new First Class seat. The strip of controls along the bottom includes touch-screen functions for the seat, the lights and a “Window” control. That’s presumably for the business jet-style electric window blinds SIA has already teased for its new First Class. Crew call and a Do Not Disturb toggle sit alongside. Cabin Spotting This one is the new Business Class seat. The playback bar puts lighting, seat adjustment and a spatial audio on/off toggle alongside the usual controls, so you won’t need to pause your film to recline even if you use the touch-screen controls to do so. The flight shown is SQ317 from London Heathrow, which may or may not be a coincidence (more on that below). Cabin Spotting This is clearly an Economy Class seat back, with the same charging ports below the screen as the Premium Economy image, but narrower, with a smaller screen and no coat hook. SIA doesn’t promise USB-C for the refreshed Economy seats on the A350s, so this is most likely the 777-9’s new Economy seat too.

There’s also a section of stories and articles covering entertainment, lifestyle, travel and wellness.

KrisFlyer log-in and saved preferences

KrisFlyer members can log in to KrisWorld for tailored recommendations, to save favourite titles, and to resume programmes from where they left off on a previous flight.

In itself, that’s nothing new. SIA already offers it through myKrisWorld on today’s aircraft, including bookmarks that follow you from flight to flight. The log-in screen in SIA’s images even carries the same myKrisWorld branding.

There are some new features once you’re logged in, though.

You’ll be able to see connecting flight details, including the gate and terminal, for your onward SIA flight out of Changi. That’s always handy on a tight transfer.

Cabin Spotting This screen is in the new Business Class seat. Look closely at the top right of the surround, where there’s what looks like a lockable storage compartment, similar to today’s 2013 J / 2018 RJ versions but in front of the passenger, within easier reach. The status bar along the bottom of the screen also shows whether the forward and rear lavatories are occupied, a nice touch we first saw on Cathay Pacific’s new Aria Suite IFE.

The more novel feature is saved seat settings. On all three aircraft types, First and Business Class passengers can save their preferred seat positions for dining, relaxing and sleeping, and apply them on future flights. First Class passengers can also save their personal lighting preferences.

SIA doesn’t spell out exactly how this works, but it presumably links your preferences to your KrisFlyer account through the KrisWorld log-in.

Wellness planner

The new wellness planner includes sleep and meditation tracks, videos of breathing exercises and light in-seat stretches, and articles on healthy living.

In First and Business Class it will also suggest seat positions and lighting settings, while passengers in every cabin will get beverage suggestions (probably not a double JD and Coke to help you nod off, we suspect!).

What’s on?

SIA promises more than 2,500 entertainment options, refreshed monthly. Content comes from Apple TV, BBC, CNA, HBO Max, iQIYI and Paramount+.

That’s up from over 1,900 on-demand titles today, an increase of around 30%. It’s still well short of the up to 6,500 titles on Emirates’ ICE system, though.

There’s also live TV, through the BBC News and Sport 24 channels.

As we covered in July, live TV on SIA is currently limited to aircraft fitted with Panasonic connectivity. That won’t be a barrier once the refitted A350s switch to Starlink, though. Panasonic holds the international inflight rights to Sport 24 and supplies it whatever IFE or Wi-Fi an airline uses. Emirates and Qatar Airways already show it on Starlink-equipped aircraft.

On the 777-9, where SIA still hasn’t confirmed a Wi-Fi provider, the promise of live TV at least suggests some form of satellite connectivity is planned from day one (phew!).

The line-up looks unchanged, which is a missed opportunity. There’s no sign of Sport 24 Extra, the companion channel that Emirates and Qatar Airways both carry. It’s very useful for following secondary events that get overshadowed when a major fixture takes over the main Sport 24 feed, for example if an F1 race clashes with a World Cup football match – F1 fans miss out on SIA.

CNN and CNBC, which were part of SIA’s live TV line-up until recently, aren’t mentioned either.

IFE supplier?

SIA hasn’t named the supplier behind the new system. Panasonic is the obvious candidate, since it already supplies SIA’s current KrisWorld hardware across most of the fleet.

Its latest Astrova system offers almost all the features SIA has described. It includes 4K OLED screens from 13 to 42 inches (SIA’s range runs from 13 to 32 inches), spatial audio, Bluetooth headphone pairing, fast-charging USB-C and passenger profiles.

Rival systems also offer 4K screens and Bluetooth these days, so that alone doesn’t prove anything. Until SIA confirms it, this is a guess on our part.

Starlink: what we already knew

SIA’s announcement also covers high-speed Wi-Fi, but there’s nothing new here. The details are as the airline confirmed in May, following its initial commitment to LEO satellite Wi-Fi last November:

• Aircraft: Airbus A380, A350 Long Haul and A350 ULR, 53 aircraft in total
• Timing: progressively from early 2027, with completion by the end of 2029
• Pricing: free and unlimited for Suites, First and Business Class passengers and PPS Club members. Premium Economy and Economy passengers need to be KrisFlyer members.

On the A350s, Starlink is expected to be installed alongside the cabin retrofit, so the first refitted aircraft should arrive with both the new KrisWorld and the faster Wi-Fi.

SIA again says details for other fleets “will be shared when they have been confirmed”. So there’s still no word on the 777-9, which we’d be amazed to see arrive without Starlink, or on the 787-10 and A350 Medium Haul fleets, which not only ply intra-Asia routes but stretch their legs to nine-hour flights in some cases.

Device charging

As we predicted, in-seat charging gets an upgrade too.

The 777-9 will have USB-C ports, and First and Business Class passengers will also get wireless charging pads.

SIA says the same USB-C ports will feature in the “retrofitted cabins” of the A350s. However, it uses that term for the new First and Business Class, while describing the Premium Economy and Economy seats on these aircraft as merely “refreshed”.

So for now, we’d only bank on USB-C at the front end of the refitted A350s.

The main event is still to come

As with the dining and amenity announcements, this is another taster ahead of next month’s reveal, though this one is directly tied to the new seats.

As a reminder, here’s where the timeline stands:

• 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 still has no committed date
• Boeing 777-9: first delivery still expected in 2027, with all four new cabin products, including new Premium Economy and Economy seats

A London hint?

Two of SIA’s KrisWorld images show the flight as SQ317 from London Heathrow to Singapore – the flight information video and the sidebar shot.

SIA has used mock-ups like this to hint at launch routes for new cabin products before, as it did with the Boeing 737-8 MAX. As we covered in our preview, London has been the launch or an early route for three of SIA’s last four long-haul Business Class seats, so it’s always a prime contender.

Before getting too excited, though, note that the SQ322/317 flight pairing is currently an Airbus A380 service with Suites. Switching it to a refitted A350 Long Haul, which has no First Class at all, would be a downgrade on one of SIA’s most premium routes.

It looks a better fit for a future Boeing 777-9 deployment, with its new First Class.

It may also simply be a red herring. London is SIA’s flagship long-haul route, and an obvious choice for a mock-up display, so we wouldn’t read too much into it yet.

Our best guess at what to expect from the new Business Class seat, from doors and possible double beds to who’s building it, is in our recent preview.

SIA’s next-generation KrisWorld finally brings the features we’ve come to expect on other airlines’ newest long-haul products to its new and retrofitted long-haul aircraft:

• larger 4K screens, with OLED in some cabins
• Bluetooth headphone pairing
• USB-C and wireless charging
• a modernised interface with a mini-player and flight information sidebar
• around 30% more content than today

Saved seat and lighting preferences in the premium cabins add a personal touch, though the KrisFlyer log-in features themselves are largely carried over from today’s myKrisWorld.

SIA’s images also give us a few more glimpses of the new cabins:

• warm metallic gold / brass-toned trim and wood-effect panelling in First Class
• seat and lighting controls built into the KrisWorld interface
• what looks like a lockable stowage compartment in Business Class
• what may be the Boeing 777-9’s new Premium Economy seat back
• a flight map that teases London, whether by accident or design

The downside is that the new system will be slow to roll out, and won’t reach many aircraft. It’s coming only to the 41 refitted A350s and the 777-9s, and on the A350s the hardware upgrade is concentrated at the front of the aircraft. Completing the A350 refits will take until at least the end of 2030, and quite possibly longer. Most regional flights won’t see the new system at all.

Starlink, meanwhile, remains exactly as announced in May. It’s coming to the A380 and refitted A350s from early 2027, with the 777-9 still strangely unconfirmed.

We’ll have full coverage from the cabin reveal in Singapore in the coming weeks.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)