Up until 2013 Singapore Airlines operated the world’s longest non-stop flight from New York to Singapore.
Advertisement
The Ultra Long Range jets will allow the airline to resume nonstop flights to the East Coast of the United States which it last did using its now phased out fleet of A340-500s. Nonstop flights between Singapore and additional points in the USA are under consideration, the carrier said.
The daily, all-business-class flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and Newark ended as the routes were not profitable with four-engine planes, analysts said previously. Following its arrival, the aircraft will then be used on flights to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta and Kuala Lumpur Int’l in April for crew familiarization before being deployed on direct longhaul flights to Amsterdam thereafter.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will launch the world’s longest commercial passenger flight when it links Singapore with New York in 2018. Four of the airline’s 20 purchase options will be converted into firm A350-900 orders.
SIA has recently found it harder to make money on services between Singapore and Europe amid tepid economic growth in the continent and tough competition, leaving it dependent on intra-Asian traffic to a greater degree than its executives would have preferred, say sources familiar with the airline’s thinking.
SIA said it expects to take delivery of 11 A350-900s in the aircraft’s first year of operation. The A350-900ULR will have a range of up to 8,700 nautical miles and be fitted with “all-new cabin products now under development”.
Airbus is to modify the type’s fuel system to produce the -900ULR, which will have a higher maximum take-off weight, 280t, as well as aerodynamic tweaks to stretch its range. Getting from Singapore to Los Angeles takes 17 hours or more, also with a connection.
Advertisement
Growing the parent carrier is part of a larger strategy to boost SIA’s long-haul business and cement Changi Airport’s status as a major hub.
