Airline Profile: Singapore Airlines

The Facts:

Founded	1972
Alliance	Star Alliance
Hubs	Singapore Changi Airport
Headquarters	Singapore
Fleet Count	Around 122
Skytrax Rating	5 (out of 5)
Subsidiaries	Scoot (low cost) Silk Air (regional, will merge with Singapore Airlines) Singapore Airlines Cargo Vistara (49%, India)
Travel Classes	Economy Class Premium Economy Class Business Class First Class Suites (A380 Only)
Frequent Flyer Program	KrisFlyer
Website	http://www.singaporeair.com
Type of Airline	Full Service Carrier
Parent Company	Temasek Holdings

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Analysis:

6 Things To Know About Singapore Airlines

• Fleet: Excluding subsidiaries (including Silk Air which will soon be integrating into Singapore Airlines), Singapore Airlines operates a fleet entirely of wide-body aircraft, which is a both testament to their route network which largely is medium and long-haul, and to that most of their short-haul routes are to larger cities within Asia with high amounts of passenger traffic. Historically, the backbone of their fleet has been the Boeing 777, and although it still remains prevalent in their fleet, they retired a lot of their 777s recently. For example, Singapore Airlines have retired all but three of their 777-200s, of which they used to have 35 of, in addition to having retired most of their non-ER 777-300s, of which both are unlikely to ever fly again post-pandemic (though possibly the -300s). However, the 777-300ER still remains strong in Singapore’s fleet, being a large player in its long-haul fleet, as they operate 27 of the type, being used mainly for flights to Europe and Australia. The backbone of Singapore Airlines’ long-haul fleet is the A350-900, of which they operate nearly 50 aircraft with almost 20 more on order; 7 of those are of the -900ULR sub-variant, which are used for flights to New York, along with San Francisco and Los Angeles. SIA also operates a small fleet of eight A330-300s, which used to be the backbone of their regional fleet, though the rest of those likely won’t fly post-pandemic, and are being replaced with 787-10s on regional (by regional, I mean by Asia’s standards, which is up to 7 hours) routes. Singapore Airlines also operates 19 A380s, of which they were the launch customer of, though over the past three years, they have sadly retired five of their A380s while concurrently taking delivery of five more.
• Route Network: Singapore’s main business model is similar to Emirates’, in which they largely operate based on connections in their sole hub: Singapore Changi Airport. However, they additionally do operate a lot of O&D (origin and destination) traffic, due to Singapore obviously being a significant financial and tourist destination. In terms of regional traffic, Singapore Airlines obviously operates to a dozens of destinations within Asia, though largely to bigger cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Hanoi, or Jakarta, as they leave most of the flying to smaller cities up to their subsidiary Silk Air, though they will soon be merging with them (more on that later). Singapore also has significant operations to Oceania, specifically to Australia and New Zealand, operating both to the larger cities you’d expect (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland), though also to some “smaller” cities such as Wellington, Canberra, and Christchurch. SIA also has significant operations in Europe, flying to Singapore from many major cities there with the logic being that Singapore is a convenient location for connections from Europe to Southeast Asia and Australia. Singapore Airlines also flies to six airports in North America, including four nonstop from Singapore, those four being San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Newark. SIA additionally flies to four airport in the US via another city, those four being New York JFK (via Frankfurt), Houston (via Manchester, formerly via Moscow), San Francisco (via Hong Kong), and Los Angeles (via Tokyo). Singapore also flies to Africa, with its two destinations there being Johannesburg and Cape Town.

• Scoot (Subsidiary of SIA): Singapore Airlines’ discount airline is called Scoot, which operates a combination of both short-haul and long-haul operations. Scoot first commenced operations in 2012 using a fleet of Boeing 777-200s to fly to medium and long-haul destinations, though they soon after introduced Boeing 787-8s and 787-9s into their fleet. Scoot merged with Tigerair, Singapore’s previous regional low-cost branch founded in 2003, in 2017, although both had been under the same parent company (owned by SIA) for a year by then. Scoot currently operates a fleet of 787-8s, 787-9s, A320s, and A320neos, with A321neos, along with more A320neos and 787s being on order. Scoot operates their A320 series fleet in a high-density all-economy-class configuration which is typical for low-cost airlines. However, their 787s also have a premium cabin, branded as ScootPlus, which features standard premium-economy-esque recliner seats and comes with complimentary meals (though only the standard economy class ones, though in economy, you have to pay), priority boarding, free baggage, and power outlets. Scoot also has an extra legroom cabin called Stretch Seats onboard all of their aircraft, with a dedicated section onboard their 787s and exit row seats being labelled as such. Like most low-cost airlines, Scoot does not have in-seat entertainment onboard their aircraft, though they do have WiFi for pruchase on some aircraft. Scoot flies to a variety of smaller destinations within Asia (filling in for SIA on flights to some smaller cities), though they do have significant medium-haul operations, flying to Australia and Japan on their 787s, as well as a couple of ultra-long-haul flights to Athens, Berlin, and Honolulu.
• Silk Air (Subsidiary): Singapore Airlines has historically operated most of its short-haul routes to smaller, sometimes more obscure destinations within Asia via Silk Air, its full-service regional brand. Silk Air previously used to operate almost exclusively A320 series aircraft, though they have retired most of them in favor of 737-800s and 737 MAXs. In 2018, it was announced that Singapore Airlines and Silk Air would merge, and since then, a handful of routes have been handed over to Singapore Airlines. The merger is scheduled to complete likely in 2021 or possibly in 2022, with 737s to begin entering SIA’s mainline fleet while concurrently installing flatbed seats and personal on-demand onboard those aircraft so that Singapore Airlines will have a consistent onboard experience. The seat model is not confirmed yet, though it has been rumored to be the Thompson Vantage, which is featured onboard JetBlue’s Mint A321s and FlyDubai’s 737 MAXs. With the merger, all of its fleet will eventually be assimilated into Singapore’s fleet, though I believe that their A319s and A320s will be retired before the merger. The merger with Singapore Airlines is probably a good thing, as it will result in the betterment of their short-haul onboard product and will offer consistency in experience, though it is also kind of sad as Silk Air has been around since the early 1990s (and also because I flew them back in 2013).

• World’s Longest Flight: Singapore Airlines currently operates the world’s longest flight between Newark and Singapore Changi Airport. The flight initially operated using A340-500s starting in 2004, though it was cancelled in 2013, which largely had to do with the fuel inefficiency of the A340-500. Back in the day, the flights operated in a two-class configuration with premium economy and business class, though they eventually reconfigured their aircraft into a single-class business class configuration. However, they resumed the flight in 2018 with the much more fuel-efficient Airbus A350ULR, of which they are the only operator of. The flight lasts on average between 17 and 18 hours, and the aircraft are in a two-class configuration, with both business class and premium economy. Their premium economy seats have lighter seats (because the flight is weight restricted), though there are only slight differences between their A350-900ULR product and their regular premium economy product. Interestingly, there are six solo seats which I would recommend in the premium economy cabin at the rear of the plane with a personal storage compartment, because they cannot fit two seats on the side of the aircraft at the very rear of the aircraft. Business class uses their standard long-haul A350 business class product (see: v2 long-haul business class product). Singapore Airlines also operates a flight onboard their A380 from Singapore to New York JFK via Frankfurt which they continued to operate, despite their resumption of their nonstop flight to Newark.

• Lounges: Singapore operates a variety of lounges around the world, with four different types lounges at Singapore Changi Airport. The first is their KrisFlyer Gold Lounges, of which there are two lounges, one in Terminal 2 and one in Terminal 3. The lounges are open two passengers traveling in economy class who hold Star Alliance Gold Status and are known to be slightly worse and more crowded than their other lounges. Their second tier lounge is the SilverKris lounge, available to all passenger traveling in Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance business class, of which there are two locations at Changi is known to be slightly better than their KrisFlyer Gold lounges. Singapore Airlines also operates SilverKris lounges at ten additional airports around the world, all of them being located in Asia or Australia besides their London lounge. Their third tier of lounges is their First Class Lounge, located inside a SilverKris lounge at Changi Airport and is available to passengers flying in Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance first class. Its amenities are slightly more comprehensive than those in their business class section of the same SilverKris lounge. Their highest tier lounge is the Private Room, located inside the First Class section of one of their two SilverKris lounges at Changi, which is known to have excellent catering facilities along with private seating options.

Travel Classes:

Economy Class:

Economy class is in a 2-4-2 configuration onboard all A330s, a 3-3-3 configuration onboard all Boeing 787s, along with a 3-4-3 configuration onboard all Boeing 777s and A380s. On all aircraft on Singapore Airlines, economy class features personal screens with on demand entertainment, which is fantastic, especially for short-haul flights. WiFi is available for purchase onboard all Airbus A380, A350, 787-10, and 777-300ER aircraft. Passengers traveling on newer aircraft such as the A350 or 787 have access to power outlets, phone holders, and footrests (an amenity that not many airlines have in economy class).

Economy class on Singapore Airlines is known to be among the best in the world, with better food than on most airlines. Economy class passengers even get menus (on select flights) from which they can choose their meal (which does not happen on many other airlines)! There is no extra legroom section in economy, besides exit row seats and premium economy which has better service and seats. In terms of baggage, economy class passengers are allocated 30kg for Lite and Standard fares and 35kg with Flexi fares, though elite members are allocated between 20 and 30 extra kg of baggage.

Premium Economy Class:

Premium economy class is available on select Airbus A380s and 777s, along with on all Airbus A350s. It is configured in a 2-4-2 configuration on all aircraft. Premium economy class on Singapore Airlines features recliner seats with leg rests, foot rests, head rests, more legroom, and more recline than in economy (see picture below), making the seats among the better premium economy products in the world. Seats also have two USB ports, a power outlet, along with significant stowage space.

Passengers can also use Singapore Airlines’ “Book the Cook” service where you can choose one of many dishes to be served to you on the flight; while the food is nowhere near as good as in business and first class, it is significantly better than in economy, and this feature adds an extra level of flexibility which certainly is a bonus. In terms of amenities, passengers can expect to receive a large pillow and a thick blanket, along with a small amenity kit with all of the standard basics. While priority check in is available, lounge access is not granted to passengers seated in premium economy. Premium economy passengers without elite status are allocated 35kg of baggage per flight.

Business Class:

Singapore Airlines is known to have among the world’s best business class products, especially when it comes to their soft product, though they also do generally have a spectacular hard product. In terms of meals, Singapore Airlines has a special “Book The Cook” feature, where they often offer over ten meals which you can pre-select before the flight (though selections depend on flight origin), which is probably the most extensive pre-flight meal selection program in the world. Passengers are able to access Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounges (in addition to standard partner Star Alliance business class lounges), which is their second tier lounge, tiered above their KrisFlyer Gold lounges.

In terms of Singapore Airlines’ soft product, SIA offers pillows and blankets on the vast majority of flights (including most short-haul ones), though on long-haul flights, they offer up to three pillows, a mattress pad, and of course multiple blankets. Singapore Airlines doesn’t actually offer amenity kits in business class on long-haul flights; in contrast, they offer all of the basic amenities on demand or in the lavatory. In terms of baggage, passengers are allocated 40kg of bags onboard every flight.

Singapore Airlines has quite a few types of seats in business class, which are listed below:

• Old Regional Product–Angle Flat: Historically, Singapore Airlines’ regional business class product has been an angle-flat seat, which is currently only available onboard their A330-300s and 777-300s (of the non-ER variant), being featured in a 2-2-2 configuration on both aircraft types. Fortunately, they only have twelve aircraft in their fleet which currently have these seats, including 8 A330s and 4 777s, though they used to be featured on upwards of 60 aircraft. For a regional product rarely used on flights longer than seven hours and mostly on three or four hour flights, the seats are actually good, with a significant amount of recline, becoming almost flat. The same seats are of the Weber 7811 seat model and are also available on China Airlines’ A330s and Fiji Airways’ A330s. However, the seats are quite sub-par per Singapore Airlines’ high standards, so SIA decided a few years back to retire their A330s and 777s in favor of more fuel efficient 787-10s and medium-haul configured A350-900s, which feature a significantly better product, described below.

• New Regional Business Class Product: In 2018, Singapore Airlines introduced a new regional business class seat which features staggered seats in a 1-2-1 configuration (and hereby also featuring all-aisle-access), which is an excellent product considering that it is rarely used on flights longer than five hours. The seats are available on all of their 787-10s, along with a sub-fleet of Airbus A350-900s. The seats are of the Stelia Solstys III seat model (I belive) and are also available onboard Turkish Airlines’ 787-9s, with similar seats being found onboard Garuda Indonesia’s and Air Senegal’s A330neos. The seats have a significant amount of privacy, can lie fully flat, and have all aisle access, making them an excellent long-haul business class, let alone a regional business class seat. The seats are even debatably better than their long-haul business class (which has three iterations), as while it may have less space, it doesn’t have some of the problems that their long-haul products have, which I’ll discuss later.

• Long-Haul Product V1: Back in 2007(ish), Singapore Airlines introduced a business class product which at the time was revolutionary and has been improved upon twice since. The seats were in a 1-2-1 configuration (unheard of in business class back then), and became fully flat by flipping the bed over and having the back cushion as the bed surface, a design also used by Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand, albeit with vastly different seats. However, this has the downside of only being able to be fully upright with just slight recline or entirely reclined, which is not ideal for many. The seats are extremely wide, being the widest out of (I believe) all business class seats (maybe ANA’s new ones now are wider), and the seats all face forward, unlike reverse herringbone seats. However, this has the downside that the footwells are in an awkward position, being located to the side of the actual seat, making you have to lie at an awkward angle away from the aisle to be fully flat, which has caused some criticism. The seats are also known to be extremely hard. Their V1 seats are currently only available onboard their older and non-retrofitted A380s (which will all relatively soon be retrofitted or retired), though they historically have been available on their 777-300ERs and some of their 777-200ERs.
• Long-Haul Product V2: Back in 2013(ish), Singapore Airlines introduced an updated version of their long-haul business class seat, which is also in a 1-2-1 configuration and is currently available onboard all of their 777-300ERs and their long-haul A350-900s and are also used onboard their A350-900ULRs, which fly the world’s longest flight from Singapore to Newark. The seats are in essence the same as their first generation seats, though they look very different, being significantly sleeker. The seats operate in the same way and share its same flaws, in addition to having more privacy, larger entertainment screens, along with slightly more storage.

• Long-Haul Product V3: Back in 2017, Singapore took delivery of a new batch of A380s while simultaneously retiring their oldest A380s, in which they introduced new business and first class hard products. Their new business class seat was more of an evolution of their V2 product, looking aesthetically very similar, though there are some key differences. Firstly, the seat is significantly narrower, though it also actually reclines instead of flipping over in order to recline, which I think is a positive. Secondly, seats in the middle section of the cabin are able to convert into double beds, making Singapore Airlines one of only two airlines in which their business class seats can convert into a double bed (the other being Qatar Airways). However, the seats’ footwells are still situated in an awkward position to the side of the seat, meaning that the seats don’t actually create a true double bed.

First Class:

Please note that Singapore Airlines does differentiate between First Class and their Suites Class. First Class is their less nice first class product, and is featured solely on Boeing 777s, while Suites Class is featured solely on Airbus A380s, although the two feature similar soft products. Singapore Airlines is known to have one of the best first class soft products in the world, with world class dining, fantastic bedding (with a duvet, mattress, and multiple pillows available on long-haul flights), along with amenity kits (not available in business class). Passengers can use Singapore Airlines’ “Book the Cook” service where you can choose one of many dishes to be served to you on the flight.

Travelers flying in first class additionally have access to The Private Room, their most exclusive lounge in Singapore, which is technically located inside their First Class Lounge (available to Star Alliance First Class passengers), which is located inside their SilverKris (Business Class) lounge. The lounge isn’t known to be spectacular and doesn’t have any “unique” features such as private bedrooms, though it does have a world-class restaurant, known to be among the best (in terms of first class lounges) in the world.

Singapore Airlines has two non-suite first class products, with one available onboard their non-ER 777-300s (used on short-haul flights only) and the other being available on select 777-300ER aircraft, used on medium to long-haul flights. However, the two seats are extremely similar, with the difference being that the newer seat is much more modern and has more high-tech features. First class on their 777s features flat bed open suites which are in a 1-2-1 configuration. While first class on the 777 is extremely spacious, does feature some privacy, and has amazing service and food, the seat really is not that competitive compared to other first class products in the world, given that they don’t have closing doors (hence why they don’t label them on their 777s as “Suites”). The seats are similar to their business class onboard their 777s and A350s in that they flip over to fully recline and can only partially recline when not flipped over; however, unlike their business class product, the seats don’t have awkwardly placed footwells and have a significantly larger sleeping space. Like their 777 business class product, their first class seats have a reputation for being extremely hard.

Suites Class:

Suites Class is available on all of Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380s and serves as their first class product onboard those aircraft; it has a very similar soft product to their first class product onboard their 777s. Singapore Airlines has two Suites products, with one available onboard their older A380s and one being available on their newer and retrofitted ones. Older aircraft have 12 closed suites in a 1-2-1 configuration on the bottom floor of the A380. I believe (I could be mistaken) that Singapore Airlines was the second airline to introduce fully closed suites in first class onboard an aircraft in 2007 when they were the launch customer of the A380; Emirates was the first in 2003 when they took delivery of their then-flagship A340-500s. SIA’s older Suites in the middle section can additionally convert into a double bed, which is a feature available on very few airlines. The seats also don’t convert into a bed; rather, a mattress folds out of the wall to create the bed. Despite it being 13 years old, the seat is still among the best first class products in the world.

In 2017, Singapore Airlines introduced a new Suites product when they took delivery of their final batch of A380s. With the newer product, the Suites are located on the upper deck of the A380 and only have six seats, in contrast to twelve. The suites are honestly more like a hotel room than an airplane seat, with a full separate bed and reclining chair, a concept which Etihad debuted in 2014. The suites also have a massive 32 inch TV and doors which separate the suite and the aisle, along with a full closet. Additionally, there are two pairs of suites which can combine to create a double bed. While being the most spacious first class product in the world, the suites do have some design flaws; for example, you have to face into the aisle when dining, the actual seats aren’t known to be very comfortable, the door doesn’t actually go down all the way to the floor (and doesn’t go all the way up either, like Emirates’ new 777 first class), and the bed is also known to be somewhat hard. However, it still is of course without a doubt among the best first class products in the world, and the entire cabin looks highly visually stunning.

Have you ever flown on Singapore Airlines? Share about your experience below in the comments section.