Singapore Airlines has been planning the launch of its next-generation First and Business Class products for quite a while, but its ideal platform, the Boeing 777-9, has been delayed by about five years. Now, Singapore Airlines has decided to introduce its new seats via a retrofit on its existing long-haul and ultra-long-haul platforms, the Airbus A350-900 and the ULR variant.

Singapore Airlines announces an SGD 1.1 Billion Cabin Retrofit exercise across the Airbus A350 fleet

With the delay to the Boeing 777-9 aircraft’s entry into service, currently scheduled to operate first time in 2026, and SQ not being the launch customer of the 777-9, the airline today announced the decision to initiate a Singapore Dollar 1.1 Billion retrofit programme, which will install their all-new long-haul cabin products across the airline’s 41 Airbus A350-900 long-haul and Ultra-long haul aircraft.

Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines CEO, said to the media today,

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 on board. Premium Economy Class and Economy Class customers can also look forward to refreshed cabin interiors that enhance their travel experience.

The S$1.1 billion investment in retrofitting our 41 A350 aircraft reaffirms Singapore Airlines’ unwavering commitment to delivering an exceptional travel experience. The introduction of these next-generation seats and KrisWorld system, together with the world-renowned warm and attentive service of our cabin crew, will set new standards in innovation, customer experience, and service excellence.”

These upgraded seats are the same ones that will be featured on the upcoming Boeing 777-9. SIA stopped waiting for the new aircraft to arrive and decided to invest in upgrading their current long-haul leader aircraft instead.

The first retrofit A350-900 aircraft will enter service in April – June 2026, and the first A350-900ULR aircraft with the new cabin will enter service in January – March 2027. The entire programme is intended to be completed by 2030.

Singapore Airlines A350 Cabin Retrofit Programme

Singapore Airlines will retrofit 41 Airbus A350-900 aircraft with the new cabin products. SQ has 34 A350-900 aircraft for long-haul flying and 7 of the ULR version in addition to the 34 A350-900 aircraft. Singapore Airlines’ first A350 arrived in the fleet about 8.5 years ago, and the newest one arrived about six months ago. One more is due to be delivered shortly. The first ULR entered the fleet about six years ago. The retrofit will be done by the SIA Engineering Company in Singapore.

Singapore Airlines has yet to reveal much about the cabin product they will install, except for this statement.

These A350-900 First Class and Business Class products are designed from the ground up, with a spacious layout and ergonomic elements that cater to every customer’s needs.

For the A350-900 Long Haul Aircraft, the aircraft will retain the same number of seats in the Business Class and Premium Economy cabins, 42 and 24, respectively, but add five seats to the Economy Class cabin, increasing it from the current 187 seats to 192 seats. These extra seats might come from reduced legroom, galley space, or a smaller front cabin footprint.

It gets more interesting when the A350-900ULR is concerned. A first-class cabin will be added to the aircraft for the first time. The new cabin configuration will have 4 First-Class seats and 70 Business-Class seats (with Doors), compared to the current 67 seats. On the other hand, Premium Economy sees a loss of 36 seats, and the retrofit aircraft will have 58 Premium Economy Seats compared to the current 94 seats.

A short video clip hints at the door being opened for the new Singapore Airlines Business Class. This confirms that SQ is the latest airline to join the cabin trend of adding a door to the business class seats.

Given this video, what looks like a done deal is that the flip-beds are going away. If we are not required to sleep diagonally like the current Singapore Airlines hard product, then that will also be a big win.

The 21-second render video for Singapore Airlines’ new First Class opens with a pair of shuttered French doors that pull apart to reveal a silhouette of the suite with windows covered by electric blinds. Going purely by the window measurements, I expect these suites to be as extended as the A380 Suites but not as wide, just by extrapolating the information at hand at the moment.

 

There are no details about the Premium Economy and Economy Class cabins beyond the fact they’ll be “refreshed to enhance the travel experience for customers”.

New upgrades to KrisWorld are coming as well.

KrisWorld is Singapore Airlines’ inflight entertainment system. Business and First Class cabins will almost definitely get 4K in-flight entertainment screens, and everyone will get more personalisation in the next iteration of the KrisWorld IFE System.

Bottomline

What do you think about the new Singapore Airlines First and Business Class cabin initiatives?

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