Singapore Airlines boosts business class to Melbourne, Wellington

Singapore Airlines' flights to both Melbourne and Wellington are set for an upgrade as the airline rolls out fully-flat beds on every departure from November 1 2019.

The change comes from upgrading flights SQ247/248 – which currently routes from Singapore to Melbourne, onward to Wellington and back again – from a Boeing 777-200 with angled-flat seating, pictured below...

Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200 angled-flat business class

... to an Airbus A350-900 with the airline's roomy 'long-range' business class seating instead, which not only swaps that angled-flat seat for a fully-flat bed but also bundles direct aisle access from every business class seat:

Stretch out and relax in Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350 business class

With recent upgrades to Singapore Airlines' Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth flights, the change also means that every Singapore Airlines flight from Australia will offer a flat bed in business class.

It's part of a broader plan to phase out the airline's older business class seating across its network, such as found on Airbus A330 and selected Boeing 777-200 flights, which will also extend to its regional arm SilkAir in the years to come.

Speaking with Executive Traveller in June, Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong proudly shared that when this project is complete, "we’ll have lie-fiat business class even on the shortest flights, even on the narrow-bodies!"

“We’re investing quite a bit on this, SG$100 million at least," he continues, which includes bringing comparable amenities to SilkAir flights from 2020 – such as to Darwin and Cairns – provided the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft returns to service in the interim.

Read: Singapore Airlines transitions to all-flatbed business class from 2020

In related news, the Airbus A350 that will ply the Singapore-Melbourne-Wellington route also comes with premium economy, arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration.

Singapore Airlines premium economy

These flights can carry passengers from Wellington through to Singapore via Melbourne (and vice versa), purely between Melbourne and Singapore, or from either city to Singapore and onward to a raft of other destinations around the world.

Additionally, passengers can book flights solely between Melbourne and Wellington as a quick trans-Tasman hop, without continuing onward to Singapore.

Currently running four times per week, this service will also be ramped up with a fifth weekly flight from January 1 2020.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.