Singapore Airlines has announced a cabin refurbishment program for 41 of its Airbus A350 aircraft. Valued at 1.1 billion Singapore Dollars (more than US$800 million), the investment will take passenger comfort to the next level on the carrier’s long-haul routes, particularly for customers flying in the airline’s premium cabins.
First class for the A350-900ULR.
Among the 41 A350s having their cabins upgraded are all seven of Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) twinjets. Specially designed to fly between Singapore and New York with a low-density configuration, these planes are famous for their premium-heavy cabin configuration. This has no economy class seats, with aeroLOPA listing the split as 94 in premium economy and 67 in business class.
Image: Singapore Airlines
Now, however, the interior of these aircraft is set to become even more luxurious with the installation of a first class cabin. Consisting of just four seats, this oasis of exclusivity features plush seats that Singapore Airlines says will “[set] new industry benchmarks for travel on the world’s longest routes” and are “designed with increasingly discerning travelers in mind.” The new A350-900ULR layout will feature:
- 4 First Class seats.
- 70 Business Class seats
- 58 Premium Economy Class seats
Singapore Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code
- SQ/SIA
- Year Founded
- 1972
Designed from the ground up
Singapore Airlines also has big plans for the new business class cabins on its Airbus A350s, with every facet of the passenger experience seeing some kind of an upgrade. Indeed, beyond the “spacious layout and ergonomic elements” of the seats themselves, which FlightGlobal notes will have sliding doors, Singapore Airlines is also fitting new IFE screens to its premium cabins as part of the upgrade.
Image: Singapore Airlines
The new cabins for the A350s represent a taste of things to come at the revered Asian carrier, as they will use “the same seat designs that will feature on SIA’s upcoming Boeing 777-9 aircraft.” Post-refurbishment, the non-ULR A350-900s will have 42 Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, and 192 Economy Class seats onboard. Goh Choon Phong, the airline’s CEO, explained that:
“Over the past six years, we have extensively engaged customers and stakeholders in the design of our next-generation long-haul cabin products, anticipating their evolving preferences and expectations down to the finest detail. The new First Class and Business Class seat designs will incorporate thoughtful elements that push the boundaries of comfort, luxury, and modernity, allowing our customers to relax or work effortlessly onboard.”
Complete by 2030
The scope of the work being undertaken, which will also feature “refreshed cabin interiors that enhance the travel experience” in premium economy and economy class, is incredibly extensive. As such, the transformation cannot be expected to happen overnight. Nonetheless, it is predicted to be less than two years until the first refurbished non-ULR A350 enters service, with a projection for Q2 of 2026.
Photo: Phung Quang Minh | Shutterstock
This will be followed less than a year later by the introduction of the first refurbished A350-900ULR, which Singapore Airlines is aiming to have back in the skies by Q1 of 2027. Undertaken by the SIA Engineering Company, the planned year of completion for the project as a whole is 2030. The investment as a whole underlines the importance and long-term prospects of the A350 at the airline.
