Singapore Airlines unveils new First and Business Class, now delayed to 2H 2027

Singapore Airlines has lifted the curtain on its all-new long-haul First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class seats at a Marina Bay Sands launch event today, in what the carrier is calling the next chapter in its “end-to-end travel experience”.

That also takes in the next-generation KrisWorld system, Starlink Wi-Fi, new dining and amenities, and upgraded lounges, much of which we’ve already seen in a drip-feed of announcements over the last few weeks.

The price tag has grown too. When SIA first announced the A350 retrofit programme in November 2024 it came with a S$1.1 billion figure attached, while today the airline says it is investing more than S$2 billion across all four new cabin products.

SIA’s Chief Commercial Officer Lee Lik Hsin confirmed to us that the new total covers 72 aircraft – the 41 A350s being refitted and the 31 Boeing 777-9s on order – so the two numbers aren’t directly comparable, but either way it’s a big cheque.

He described it as the airline’s biggest investment in cabin products to date, confirming earlier this week that it’s on “a different scale altogether” to its A380 cabin retrofit.

Unfortunately, though, there’s a catch.

None of these seats will enter service until the second half of 2027, eight months from now at the earliest.

That’s more than a year behind the original Q2 2026 launch, and at least six months later than the airline was promising only in May this year.

SIA also isn’t yet saying whether they’ll debut on a retrofitted Airbus A350 or a brand new Boeing 777-9. More patience needed, then – but we’re getting used to that with the 777-9 certification itself!

We’ll dig into the delay further down, but first, here’s what’s (eventually) coming.

Which aircraft get what?

Here’s how the new cabin products are being distributed across the three aircraft types.

Singapore Airlines Next-gen cabins by aircraft
Cabin	Airbus A350 LH	Airbus A350 ULR	Boeing 777-9
First Class	–	4 new	6 new
Business Class	42 new	70 new	54 new
Premium Economy	24 existing	58 existing	36 new
Economy	192 existing	–	204 new
Aircraft In Fleet	34 (retrofit)	7 (retrofit)	31 (on order)

As you can see, the all-new Premium Economy and Economy seats are exclusive to the Boeing 777-9, while the Airbus A350 Long Haul gets new Business Class only, and the Airbus A350 ULR gains a First Class cabin for the first time.

The new First Class

The new First Class is the first project in which SIA has engaged London design firm PriestmanGoode, with the seat itself manufactured by Collins Aerospace, and Poltrona Frau leather upholstery cut and hand-stitched by Sabeti Wain Aerospace.

Here’s a walkthrough video of the new First Class cabin.

It’s a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access at every seat, enclosed by curved sliding doors.

PriestmanGoode told us it used curved walls throughout so the suite feels less like an aircraft cabin, with batik-inspired patterns on the feature walls giving it a warmer, more traditional SIA look than the new Business Class.

PriestmanGoode sums up the palette as soft blues, warmed by rich leather and touches of terracotta. Here’s a video of the adjustable ambient pendant light against the blue wall inside each seat.

There will be just four seats on the Airbus A350 ULR, which has never had a First Class cabin before, and six on the Boeing 777-9 – two more than the four 2013 First Class seats on SIA’s current four-class Boeing 777-300ERs and matching flagship cabin capacity with the carrier’s Airbus A380s.

A sketch from PriestmanGoode’s presentation at the media preview shows the 777-9 layout, with two solo window suites on each side and the centre pair in the middle.

The aisles curve around the rounded front of the centre suite, rather than running straight through the cabin.

The A350 ULR’s four-seat cabin should follow a similar pattern, but with just one window suite on each side.

Singapore Airlines 2027 First Class
Feature	A350 ULR	Boeing 777-9
Seats	4	6
Layout	1-2-1	1-2-1
Seat pitch	89.5″	89.5″
Seat width	23″ (30″ armrests down)	23″ (30″ armrests down)
Bed	80″ x 30″	80″ x 30″
Double bed	80″ x 60″	80″ x 60″
Table	27″ x 22.5″	27″ x 22.5″
Screen	32″ 4K OLED	32″ 4K
Charging	Wireless, AC, 2 x USB-C (fast)	Wireless, AC, 2 x USB-C, 1 x USB-A
Headphones	Bang & Olufsen + Bluetooth	Bang & Olufsen + Bluetooth

You’ll notice the two aircraft types won’t be quite identical, with the A350 ULR getting an OLED screen and fast-charging USB-C ports, while the 777-9 gets a conventional 4K screen and retains a USB-A port.

A double bed for couples

The centre seats are the real highlight. The privacy divider between them can be retracted on request, and the two seats can then move in tandem to form a two-seater sofa for daytime lounging, or a double bed for sleeping.

The curved doors also allow a standing space next to the seat/bed, so you can still get up and reach the wardrobe with the bed deployed, or easily put on your slippers, for example.

SIA describes the result, at 80 inches long and 60 inches across, as “the largest double bed in commercial aviation”. That’s exactly the size of a US queen bed.

SIA’s own photos show the double bed made up with two separate duvets, so there’s still a seam down the middle. Unlike the A380 Suites’ double beds, though, no partition remains between the two halves once the divider is stowed.

Single beds measure 80 inches by 30 inches.

Solo travellers do give up some space, though. Today’s 2013 First Class seat and bed are both 35 inches wide. The new seat measures 30 inches with the armrests lowered, and a much tighter 23 inches with them raised, while the single bed is also 30 inches wide – five inches narrower than today’s, though the same 80 inches long.

That’s essentially the price of the double bed. In the 2013 First Class, a fixed storage console sits between the two centre seats, so even couples travelling together sleep in two separate beds with a divider between them.

The new design moves that storage to the outside of each seat to allow a double bed, so couples gain a lot, while solo travellers sacrifice some width.

It’s a direct response to customer feedback, too. One traveller quoted in SIA’s research said “a divider that opens further would be better for travel companions”.

Bedding comes from 100% cotton linens, a duvet and a choice of pillows, with a new mattress topper from German bedding specialist Paradies using a breathable spacer fabric for cushioning and temperature regulation.

SIA confirmed there will be just one centre pair on both the A350 ULR and the 777-9, so only one double bed per flight on either type. We suspect it will be in high demand from couples.

Companion dining

Every First Class seat supports face-to-face dining for two, using a large 27 x 22.5-inch bi-fold table that also doubles as a workspace. It’s a feature SIA’s First Class hasn’t offered since the original A380 Suites were retired.

Your dining companion sits on the ottoman opposite, which SIA’s factory photos show being fitted with its own seatbelt, and which also hides a cabin baggage compartment underneath.

Seat, storage, table and tech

The seat itself has electronically adjustable side wings, upper and lower lumbar support, armrests, leg rest and ottoman. Its smart cabin controls, which SIA calls a world first, are linked to myKrisWorld so your preferred seat positions and lighting settings are remembered for future flights.

You save your favourite seat position and recall it with the star button on the seat controls, much like the memory function on a car seat.

The control screen shown in SIA’s presentation splits settings into seat, lights and window, suggesting the window blinds are electrically operated. It also has preset positions for take-off and landing, bed, dining, lounging and even a vanity mirror position, plus a “double seat” mode for the centre pair, allowing them to be moved in tandem.

Storage runs to a personal wardrobe, shelves, a leather-lined vanity drawer and that under-ottoman baggage compartment, shown in the video below.

A touch panel built into the seat shows the remaining flight time, local time and weather at your destination, Wi-Fi status and – usefully – lavatory availability.

Entertainment is on a 32-inch 4K touchscreen with spatial audio, a big step up from the screen in today’s 2013 First Class, controlled via a touchscreen handset. Bang & Olufsen wireless headphones are provided, or you can pair your own via Bluetooth.

The large bi-fold table extends from beneath the IFE screen, as shown in the video below.

The vanity drawer and mirror are also accessible just above the table, as shown below.

The new Business Class

For Business Class, SIA worked with Designworks, a BMW Group company, on the design, with the seat manufactured by RECARO Aircraft Seating.

Recaro was one of the six contenders we listed in our October preview, flagged for its staggered, doored design with honeymoon pairs at alternate rows. We ultimately leant towards Stelia and Thompson though, so credit where it’s due – our outsider bet got the contract.

The German manufacturer isn’t new to SIA, already supplying Economy Class seats on some of its widebody fleet, but this is its first Business Class product for the airline.

Neither party has confirmed which of Recaro’s platforms underpins the new seat, though its R7 (formerly CL6720) would be the obvious starting point.

“The new Singapore Airlines Business Class seat offers a larger bed and ottoman, along with an innovative design that maximises space and comfort for customers.”

Dr Mark Hiller, CEO, RECARO Aircraft Seating

The layout is 1-2-1 with direct aisle access at every seat and sliding doors throughout. The A350 Long Haul keeps its 42 Business Class seats, the A350 ULR gets 70 (up from 67), and the 777-9 will have 54.

Designworks has worked with SIA before, having also designed its 2013 First Class.

The look is a deliberate break from the airline’s warmer cabin style, with a palette of mineral grey, cool yellow, blue, silver and blue-black. Designworks’ mood board even featured a satellite orbiting Earth, the inspiration for the seat pattern itself, so it’s clearly going for a more high-tech feel.

The design team told us they wanted this Business Class to have “its own attitude”.

We’ll admit this one surprised us. SIA’s Business Class cabins have long been defined by warm, inviting tones, from the plum and copper of the 2013 J to the browns and copper of the 2018 Regional Business Class. The design team acknowledged that the warmer style “had served the airline well for some time”, but the new seat walks away from it almost entirely.

Those traditional browns and oranges now seem to be reserved for the new First Class, giving the two cabins a very different feel.

It’s the bright yellow accent that’s likely to divide opinion most. To us, dark grey with flashes of yellow is more reminiscent of SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot than of the airline’s own premium cabins!

It’s certainly a bold choice, and cabin lighting can change how colours come across in service, but it’s not the cosy SIA Business Class look regular flyers will be used to, and personally it doesn’t do much for us!

We’re clearly not the only ones to raise an eyebrow. Shortly before today’s launch, SIA issued a statement specifically addressing the colour choice in its new Business Class.

“Our new Business Class cabin has been designed to offer a fresh and contemporary take on premium travel, with a distinctive visual identity that reflects a modern, progressive, and forward-looking design philosophy… We do not subscribe to a fixed colour palette across our cabins. Instead, our design choices are guided by the overall vision and experience we seek to create for each product.”

Ong Wah Li, Vice President, Product Experience, Singapore Airlines

That’s a fair point, and SIA’s cabins have changed character before. But for many regular flyers, warm tones have become part of what makes a Singapore Airlines Business Class cabin feel like one, so we think this will be a talking point until passengers see it for themselves.

The seat’s shell and door height was also a careful choice, at 52 inches.

The designers said the regulations would have allowed higher walls, but they wanted to balance privacy against passengers feeling boxed in. For context, that’s only an inch lower than Qatar Airways’ Qsuite at 53 inches, so in practice the sense of privacy should be very similar.

Here’s a video showing the sliding door opening to reveal the Business Class seat.

Singapore Airlines 2027 Business Class
Feature	A350 LH / ULR	Boeing 777-9
Seats	42 (LH) 70 (ULR)	54
Layout	1-2-1	1-2-1
Seat pitch	50″	50″
Seat width	22″	24″
Bed length	79″	79″
Door height	52″	52″
Table	22″ x 14.7″	22″ x 14.7″
Screen	22″ 4K OLED	20″ 4K
Charging	Wireless, AC, 2 x USB-C (fast)	Wireless, AC, 2 x USB-C, 1 x USB-A
Headphones	Noise-cancelling + Bluetooth	Noise-cancelling + Bluetooth

Again the two types differ. The 777-9 gets a 2-inch wider seat but a 2-inch smaller, non-OLED screen, while the A350s get the bigger OLED display in a narrower seat. If you value one over the other, and have a choice of aircraft on the same route, it will be worth picking accordingly in future.

The wider seat is no surprise, given the 777-9’s wider cabin. The smaller screen is more puzzling, and we suspect it comes down to the 777-9 version of the seat being specified and signed off earlier – which would fit with it already being certified on that type, while the A350 version is still waiting (more on that below).

Companion beds

As we expected, the window seats alternate between window-aligned and aisle-aligned positions, much like SIA’s 2018 Regional Business Class, and selected centre seats can be configured as companion beds when the electronically adjustable divider between them is lowered.

That’s a format that’s proved very popular on SIA’s A380 upper deck, but is limited to a handful of bulkhead rows there. On the new seat it should be available at alternate centre rows throughout the cabin, in a similar fashion to the upcoming Qantas A350 Business Class.

Note that SIA’s renders show a central fin still separating the two footwells, so think of this as two beds side by side with a lowered partition, rather than a true double.

If you’re travelling in one of the companion pairs alongside a stranger, the divider provides good privacy. Here’s a video showing it being lowered, to reveal a more sociable couple arrangement if desired.

One thing to watch is how these pairs are handled for advance seat selection. SIA already blocks its forward Business Class rows from advance selection on Business Lite fares, and on Saver and Advantage awards, so couples on those tickets may not be able to secure a companion pair ahead of time.

Sleeping straight, at last

One of the main bugbears with today’s 2013 Business Class seat is having to sleep at an angle, with your feet tucked into a cubby hole under the console of the seat in front. The new seat’s table stows at an angle to open up what SIA calls a “generously-sized footwell”, and the flat bed is 79 inches long.

Tellingly, SIA’s own research presentation quoted a customer making exactly this point: “Being angled instead of having my feet straight ahead is confining in both the seat and bed position.”

Better still, the seat now converts from upright to a flat bed electronically, at the press of a button. That finally ends the 2013 J’s routine of flipping the backrest over to reveal the bed, which we’ve long considered one of its more dated features.

It’s an unsurprising shift, with the 2017 J and 2018 RJ products already featuring the ‘button-to-bed-mode’ option.

There’s also a new padded bedsheet with memory foam for extra cushioning, which can double as lumbar support in seat mode, plus a new seat cushion and – as we already knew – sleeper suits in Business Class for the first time.

The width question

In October we warned that “something has to give” to fit doors and higher walls into the same 42-seat footprint on the A350, and we expected a seat slightly narrower than today’s 28-inch 2013 J. That gap is bigger than we thought, at 22 inches on the A350s and 24 inches on the 777-9, six inches less and four inches less respectively.

Singapore Airlines 2013 J vs. 2027 J
	2013 J	2027 J
Layout	1-2-1	1-2-1
Privacy doors	No	Yes
Seat width	28″	22″ (A350) 24″ (777-9)
Bed length	78″	79″
Screen	18″ HD	22″ 4K OLED (A350) 20″ 4K (777-9)
Companion beds	No	Selected centre seats
Bluetooth audio	No	Yes
Wireless charging	No	Yes
USB-C	No	Yes

Tech, table and storage

You can control KrisWorld on the touchscreen itself or via a dedicated touchscreen handset, which also shows the same live flight information, Wi-Fi status and lavatory availability as in First Class. Noise-cancelling headphones are provided, with Bluetooth pairing for your own.

As in First Class, smart cabin controls linked to myKrisWorld remember your preferred seat positions for future flights, using the star button on the control panel.

The screen tilts for better viewing, and there are multiple storage compartments, including dedicated laptop stowage so your devices have a home even during meals, plus a vertical drawer with a mirror, a cocktail tray, wireless charging, USB-C ports and universal AC power.

Here’s a video showing how the bi-fold table pops down from beneath the IFE screen, then extends towards you for working or dining.

Once extended, the fixed part of the table appears to sit on the aisle-access side of the seat, so it will be interesting to see how easy it is to get in and out during meal service.

The seat’s side stowage hides behind the head-height wing at the aisle side, as shown in the video below.

Here’s how that storage compartment looks in the render, near the door side of the seat.

How did our predictions stack up?

Here’s how the reveal compares with what we expected in October:

• Closing doors at every seat: Yes
• Alternating window-aligned and aisle-aligned seats: Yes
• Honeymoon pairs in the middle: Yes, as companion beds at selected centre seats
• Narrower seat, longer bed: Yes, though narrower than we guessed
• Powered bed conversion, no more flip-over: Yes
• 4K screen of 22-24 inches: Yes on the A350s, but only 20 inches on the 777-9
• USB-C, wireless charging and Bluetooth audio: Yes
• Seat manufacturer: Wrong – it’s Recaro, not our Stelia or Thompson picks

Premium Economy and Economy

The new Premium Economy and Economy Class seats, both designed by Factorydesign and built by Collins Aerospace, will only feature on the 777-9. The A350 Long Haul and ULR keep their existing seats in these cabins.

SIA said it makes these investment decisions aircraft type by aircraft type, though it isn’t ruling out new seats or further enhancements in these cabins on the A350 in future – “never say never”, its COO told us.

Premium Economy has 36 seats in a 2-4-2 layout, with a 40-inch pitch (two inches more than today’s seat), 19-inch width and up to nine inches of recline, plus full-grain leather upholstery, a leg rest with adjustable footrest, a four-way headrest, a cocktail tray and a device holder. Screens are up to 16 inches in 4K, with OLED on selected aircraft.

Economy has 204 seats in a 3-4-3 layout, which is 10-abreast compared with nine-abreast on today’s 777-300ERs. Seat width drops to 17.6 inches, with up to six inches of recline. Screens are up to 13 inches in 4K, alongside a secondary display showing flight information and lavatory availability.

Two things stand out in Economy, though. Pitch is quoted at 31-32 inches, so at least some rows will fall below the 32 inches SIA offers on its long-haul aircraft, closer to the 31-32 inches on its regional wide-bodies, and universal AC power is only on “selected aircraft”, with USB-C the only guaranteed option at every seat.

SIA says the new Economy seat brings improved knee and shin clearance, which should help offset those 31-inch rows, though we’ll reserve judgement until we’ve tried one.

Here’s how the 777-9 compares with the four-class 777-300ER it will eventually replace.

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER vs. 777-9
Cabin	777-300ER (4-class)	777-9	Change
First Class	4	6	+2
Business Class	48	54	+6
Premium Economy	28	36	+8
Economy	184	204	+20
Total	264	300	+36

That’s 14% more seats overall, with every cabin growing – even First Class.

Will it cost more?

Asked whether passengers would pay more to fly the new seats, SIA said it doesn’t practise aircraft-specific pricing, and that there’s no direct link between the investment and the fares it charges.

On the miles side, SIA confirmed it has no plans to restrict Saver award availability on the new seats, describing redemption availability as “just a different form of pricing”. It doesn’t mean Savers will be widely available, but they will be possible when supply and demand dictate.

The rest of the launch

The seats weren’t the only thing on show today, though most of the other elements have already been announced in the last few weeks:

• KrisWorld: The next-generation system with 4K screens, spatial audio, Bluetooth pairing and more than 2,500 entertainment options, arriving with the new cabins (our coverage)
• Starlink Wi-Fi: Confirmed for the A380, A350 Long Haul and A350 ULR (our coverage). The 777-9 still isn’t on SIA’s list, which we’d hope is an oversight
• Dining: More than 100 new and refreshed dishes, new wines and spirits, and Christofle serviceware in Suites, First and Business Class (our coverage)
• Amenities: Sisley kits in Suites and First Class, Byredo in Business Class, INK & WATER in Premium Economy and a collectible pouch in Economy, plus sleeper suits in Business Class for the first time (our coverage)
• Lounges: More than S$130 million to renovate, refresh and expand SilverKris lounges worldwide, including at Changi, where SilverKris First Class lounge guests will also get a full-service dining experience similar to The Private Room
• Changi ground services: Priority immigration and security clearance for Suites and First Class passengers, plus a dedicated concierge offering meet-and-greet and buggy transfers between selected airport touch points

You can find more on SIA’s new travel experience page.

More on that delay

SIA’s launch materials say the new cabin products “will be progressively introduced from the second half of 2027” on its 41 retrofitted Airbus A350-900 Long Haul (LH) and Ultra Long Range (ULR) aircraft, and its new Boeing 777-9 fleet.

That’s a further slip on the timeline we reported in May, when SIA confirmed the first retrofitted A350 Long Haul would enter service in Q1 2027, itself a delay from the Q2 2026 date the airline gave when the programme was announced.

Singapore Airlines New long-haul F & J timeline
Announced	Launch aircraft	First new J	First new F
2018	Boeing 777-9	2021	2021
Nov 2024	A350 LH / A350 ULR	Q2 2026	Q1 2027
May 2026	A350 LH / A350 ULR	Q1 2027	TBC
Nov 2026	A350 or 777-9	Q3/4 2027	Q3/4 2027

Taken back to the very beginning, these seats are now more than six years behind their original Boeing 777-9 debut, and SIA’s long-haul Business Class mainstay, the 2013 J seat, will be 14 years old by the time its successor carries a single passenger.

Back in May, SIA pointed to “industry-wide supply chain constraints” and a certification delay on one of the new seats, which we suspected was the First Class product.

In a Q&A session with SIA management earlier this week, more light was shed on that. Both the new First and Business Class seats are already certified on the Boeing 777-9, but are still awaiting certification on the Airbus A350.

That looks like a significant factor in the extended delay. There’s little point wheeling an A350 into the hangar for several weeks to install a product that isn’t yet cleared to fly on it.

Ironically, while the seats are cleared to fly on the 777-9, the 777-9 itself still isn’t certified.

In a follow-up statement after the briefing, an SIA spokesperson said the extended timeline was down to “several factors, rather than one issue alone”, citing the 777-9’s well-documented delays alongside certification, manufacturing and supply chain challenges.

At least the names survive. These will still be “2027 J” and “2027 F” – just about.

Dated on arrival?

The delay raises an obvious question. These seats were originally due to fly in 2021, after a design process SIA said began around 2018, so will they already look dated when they finally enter service in late 2027?

SIA’s answer is that it used the extra time for further customer research and testing, refining the products and adding technological enhancements along the way. It specifically points to spatial audio and Bluetooth pairing, OLED displays on selected aircraft, enhanced connectivity and smart cabin controls.

SIA says its research drew on more than 5,000 frequent travellers and customers, through surveys and interviews, focus groups, concept testing and sessions with its own staff.

On paper, the spec is broadly in line with the current industry standard – doors, companion beds, 4K screens, Bluetooth and wireless charging are what you’d expect from a new Business Class seat today, rather than anything ground-breaking.

As we touched on above, the 777-9 version of the seat, certified earlier, misses out on two of those later enhancements. It gets a smaller, non-OLED screen and still carries a USB-A port and less-powerful USB-Cs.

Singapore Airlines
Long-haul Business Class Product Evolution

Product	Launch
SpaceBed	May 2002
4 years
2006 J	October 2006
7 years
2013 J	July 2013
4 years
2017 J	November 2017
10 years
2027 J	Q3/4 2027

A350 or 777-9 first? The big unknown

Singapore Airlines says the new products will come to both the refitted Airbus A350 LH and ULR aircraft and the Boeing 777-9, but it isn’t committing to which type will carry them first, with the launch aircraft and routes to be confirmed later.

SIA’s follow-up statement also says the A350 retrofit was added to the programme so customers could experience the new products “without waiting solely for the Boeing 777-9 fleet”.

That’s a subtle shift. When SIA announced the retrofit in November 2024, just three weeks after Boeing pushed 777-9 deliveries back to 2026, it gave firm dates that put the refitted A350s comfortably first. “Not solely” leaves the door open for the 777-9 to get there first after all.

It would be a slightly perverse outcome, though. Getting the new seats flying without waiting for Boeing was the whole point of the A350 retrofit, at least as far as the launch goes, even if they would have received the new cabins eventually anyway.

In our preview last month, we suggested the new First Class could conceivably debut on the 777-9 rather than a refitted A350 ULR, given the open-ended ULR retrofit timeline. That now looks even more plausible – and with both First and Business Class seats already certified on the 777-9 but not yet on the A350, it’s no longer out of the question for the new Business Class either.

On the Boeing side, the manufacturer is still targeting first 777-9 deliveries in 2027, with Lufthansa set to be the launch operator. SIA won’t be at the very front of the queue, but as an early customer should be in line for relatively early delivery slots nonetheless.

On the Airbus side, the retrofit can’t start until the seats are certified on the A350, and as SIA’s last big refit programme on the 777-300ER showed, the first aircraft through the hangar is always the slowest, potentially taking months rather than weeks while finer processes are ironed out.

In other words, it’s now a race between the A350’s seat certification and the 777-9’s own type certification and delivery. The first revenue flight with the new seats may simply be down to whichever type is ready to pull up to Changi’s terminal and start boarding passengers first.

Until then, the 2013 J and 2013 F seats remain SIA’s long-haul staples, alongside the 2017 Suites and 2017 Business Class on the small A380 fleet.

The ULR schedule clue still stands

In our October preview we highlighted SIA’s usual method of freeing up an A350 ULR for hangar downtime – pulling the type from daily San Francisco (SQ34/33) and shifting it onto the 3x weekly Los Angeles rotation (SQ36/35).

Despite today’s later timeline, those changes haven’t moved. The swap is still loaded from 28th March 2027, with SQ36/35 then losing the ULR too from May 2027. That leaves the sub-fleet on daily Newark and JFK services only, which four aircraft can operate with a fifth as a spare, meaning two of the seven can be out of service at once.

If that holds, the first ULR could enter the hangar in early April 2027, with a second following around May. The ULR conversion adds an entirely new First Class cabin and rebalances Business and Premium Economy behind it, so it’s a far bigger job than the A350 Long Haul refit. Several months of downtime for the first aircraft would put its return squarely in the second half of 2027.

That’s consistent with SIA’s revised timing, and suggests the airline expects the A350 certification to be in hand by then, though the schedules can always be changed again.

Still finishing by 2030?

When SIA announced the A350 retrofits in November 2024, it said the entire programme was targeted for completion by the end of 2030. Despite the later start (by over a year), management told us earlier this week the end date “should not shift much”.

That implies a much faster pace. The original plan gave SIA around four and a half years, from Q2 2026, to refit all 41 aircraft. Starting in the second half of 2027 leaves around three and a half years for the same job, so it would need to put aircraft through the hangar about a third faster than first planned.

It looks ambitious. Cabin retrofit programmes almost always over-run, as SIA’s own 777-300ER refit showed, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the last of the 41 aircraft emerge a good couple of years later than the 2030 target.

After years of renders and teaser clips, Singapore Airlines has finally shown us its next-generation long-haul cabins in full, and there’s plenty that’s impressive, even if the colour scheme in Business Class is a little alternative!

The new First Class brings curved sliding doors, companion dining at every seat, 32-inch screens and a centre pair that converts into a sofa or a 60-inch-wide double bed.

Business Class finally gets doors, companion beds at selected centre seats, push-button bed conversion and a footwell designed for sleeping straight, built by Recaro – a supplier few had pegged as the favourite, ourselves included.

The trade-off is width, with the A350 Business Class seat quoted at 22 inches against 28 inches on today’s 2013 J, while solo First Class travellers get a seat and bed five inches narrower than today’s.

On the plus side, SIA says there’ll be no aircraft-specific pricing for the new seats, and no plans to restrict Saver awards on them.

The bigger frustration is timing. These seats won’t fly until the second half of 2027, more than a year behind the original Q2 2026 plan and the latest in a string of delays stretching back to a planned 2021 debut. SIA isn’t yet saying whether a refitted A350 or a brand new 777-9 will get them first, but with the seats already certified on the 777-9 and still awaiting approval on the A350, the new Boeing may yet win that race.

Given the 777-9’s own track record, we wouldn’t bet the house on either just yet.

What do you make of Singapore Airlines’ new First and Business Class seats? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)