Singapore Airlines to fly latest business, first class to Sydney, Melbourne
By Chris C., November 11 2014
Sydney and Melbourne travellers are in for a treat with Singapore Airlines locking in daily Boeing 777-300ER flights, complete with its latest business class and first class cabins.
Sydneysiders can book with confidence come November 27, with the new jet rostered onto SQ222 to Singapore, and SQ231 on the journey home.
Residents in the Victorian capital – where the Boeing 777-300ER already runs at various times – will see the aircraft daily from March 29 2015 on SQ228 to Changi Airport and SQ227 on the return.
Singapore Airlines' new first class seats, designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA, offer a new fixed-back shell design with curved side panels and upholstered leather with distinctive diamond stitching in a 1-2-1 configuration:
With direct aisle access for every passenger and fully-flat beds between 203 and 208cms long and 89cm wide, the airline claims it to be “one of the most spacious First Class products in the sky”.
More photos: Singapore Airlines' new first class seats
Business class seats also come in a 1-2-1 layout, with a recline of up to 132 degrees when sitting in the ‘Lazy Z’ and ‘Sundeck’ positions...
... before transforming into a 2m long, 71cm wide fully-flat bed:
More photos: Singapore Airlines' new business class seats
Down the back of the bus, economy travellers can look forward to a 3-3-3 layout – as opposed to the less-spacious 3-4-3 configuration used by other airlines such as Emirates – with the seats reclining to 115 degrees.
In-seat AC and USB power is standard across all seats, whether you’re perched up in first class or stuck in the last row of economy.
Singapore Airlines also flies its Boeing 777-300ERs to London and Tokyo Narita, and will also boost Airbus A380 flights in 2015 to both Sydney and Melbourne.
Also read:
- Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer scheme for Aussie travellers
- Upgrading to business class with Singapore Airlines
- Singapore Airlines first class upgrade guide
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Nov 2011
Total posts 130
This id great news. Although I'll be down the back of the bus, SQ has been lagging in upgrading some of it's economy cabins, particularly on the old 772's and some of the 773's.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Nov 2014
Total posts 357
Why is BNE being neglected again? After all we host G20 this weekend!!! Together with GC, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Ipswich, SE QLD is home to over 2 million people! Why are we treated as second grade citizen???
I don't ask much, but at least give us one 777-200 with the same "old" A380 business class out of the 3 pathetic A330 with 2-2-2 angled lie flat....
04 Aug 2014
Total posts 35
Yeah it's a shame that BNE residents only have the choice of lie flat 330 rather than those fancy 380s and 77Ws.
Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus
16 May 2011
Total posts 111
I'm not sure why you are bringing the G20 into this, this changes nothing. Have you ever worked in the industry? Have you heard of Yield management? Supply and Demand?
SQ has been serving Australia for quite some time now, I'm sure they know the maket well and will fly the aircraft that suits best for each route. Its no secret that SYD & MEL are the top performing cities for SQ, with larger demand, especially in the premium cabins, hence why both SYD & MEL recieve F and the best products.
Let me also mention that MEL, when it comes to international services, the number of routes and airlines is no where near where it should be - are MEL residents also treated as second grade citizens too? I wouldn't complain about the A330 services, they are quite good for services to SIN and intra-Asia, MEL & SYD have A330 services too....
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Nov 2014
Total posts 357
Yes, I agree SYD & MEL are the top performers and BNE still has a lot to catch up. But to assume BNE has no demand for premium cabin is wrong! Every time I fly SQ J, the cabin is full! The Qantas business class lounge (international) is always full! So full that you can never find a seat! After all, many of us are originally from SYD & MEL! (I am from SYD)
I have no complaint about A330 itself. It's the "regional business class" products that we get that bothers me. The flying time to BNE is about the same compare to SYD and MEL, so it certainly is not "regional". Yet we pay the same fare as ex-SYD and MEL! CX uses A330 but their product is the same as their 77W.
SQ flies 3 times daily to BNE, (and will increase more during peak season) shows that the demand is there! Emirate has already started flying to BNE with A380 equipped with full F & J cabin. Etihad will soon follow from Jun next year with 787 and their latest J product! If they can see the demand here, why can't SQ? I don't expect the demand to be as high as SYD & MEL, but as I said, at least give us a chance and give us one flight a day with the proper J +/- F and see how it goes. No need of the latest J, just the ones with direct aisle access!
The reason I brought in G20 is just to say that BNE is a world class city and deserves better products.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
25 Mar 2014
Total posts 4
It's probably just that Melbourne and Sydney both have almost 5 million residents now and hence the decision to offer them this, plus the fact both lost an A380 to DEL and BOM (SYD now down to 1, MEL has none from SQ).
I wonder if PER is a bigger market for them than BNE given the almost similar population these days (or larger soon) and proximity, and larger SE Asian (Malaysian/Singaporean) diasporas there.
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1242
I have just redeemed SIN-SYD on the A380 flight. Oh well.
20 Apr 2014
Total posts 93
The Y product is oustanding on the 77W, Qantas need to pay attention to this as it is superior to their newest long haul Y product
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
27 Nov 2012
Total posts 45
Maybe VA know more than SQ regarding Brisbane's travellers and their habits in flying. We do have 7 daily BNE/LAX Virgin departures, where MEL has none, and two CX flights (read best J class out of BNE) per day, plus Etihad's 787's with their new J class starting up next June; only thing missing is a direct BNE/ NRT flight, come on VA utilise one of your A:330's three times a week on this route, please.
Cheers, Dee
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Nov 2014
Total posts 357
Agreed! Especially the BNE - NRT route. Unless you live in Brisbane, no one will know how difficult it is to get to OOL to catch JQ! There is just no public transport option! Even the private shuttle buses don't run everyday and you have to be at the designated bus stop at 5:30am on thee days they run! Taxi costs $200 oneway (so add $400 to your airfare)!
I know people in MEL and PER will complain about they've been downgraded to JQ from QF, but at least they depart from PER and MEL, not a secondaru airport that is 1.5 hrs away!
So for us poor Brisbaners, transitting in Asia is the more convenient way to go to Japan. Unfortunately, only CX offer a proper J class.....
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Mar 2014
Total posts 7
Will the seats in the new Boeing 777-300ER First Class cabins be able to recline from the seated position to a flat bed like those on all other aircrafts except the Singapore A380 product which I only flew once as the seat didn't recline and the murphy bed had to be made up by flight attendant.
Singapore's a great airline which I'd use again if its First Class was user friendly.
01 Apr 2014
Total posts 113
Lebab - I asked cabin crew the same question about the forward folding "Murphy beds" on a B77W flight I took on the existing First a couple of weeks ago. Apparently will be the same forward folding arrangement on the updated First cabins on B77W's with aircraft rego's 9V-SWU onwards.
I share your annoyance with this, but not a major problem in the bigger scheme of things. On my last few SQ flights, the F cabin has not been full, and the cabin crew have made a separate bed for me in a spare seat so I could sleep when I wanted. My last 2 Cathay flights on B77W have been the same also, even though CX have traditional reclining beds. Never had this when F cabins have been lightly loaded on QF or EK, including 2 times when I was the only pax in F on EK B77W - think it just comes down to how proactive (or lazy) crew are perhaps?
07 Dec 2013
Total posts 1
Fasntastic, cant wait to try the 777 in May when i fly to Frankfurt via Singapore. Wonder how easy it is to get a cheap upgrade to first?
12 Nov 2014
Total posts 1
Only Melbourne and Sydney mentioned. Does anyone know if these new seats will be available with flights leaving Perth 2015?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 258
The new seats are only available on selected 77W aircraft, so PER won't get them anytime soon.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Oct 2013
Total posts 6
Hello AusBT - Do you know which seat numbers are the 208cm long? (Being 202 cm tall -- it makes a difference!)
Per the statement in the article:
"...fully-flat beds between 203 and 208cms long..."
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1242
It has been reported that as of 28 November SQ231 was not operated by the new B77W.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
30 Nov 2014
Total posts 2
Can confirm this. I flew SQ231 in J on 28th Nov (specifically because of this article btw) and was disappointed to see the old product.
03 Oct 2014
Total posts 15
Chris, can you confirm that inforamtion regarding MEL is still up to date?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Jun 2015
Total posts 1
"Sydneysiders can book with confidence come November 27, with the new jet rostered onto SQ222 to Singapore, and SQ231 on the journey home."
This still seems to be current based on a recent booking for SQ231 in January 2016, showing the updated four-class config.
BUT - the following has not been confirmed:
"Residents in the Victorian capital – where the Boeing 777-300ER already runs at various times – will see the aircraft daily from March 29 2015 on SQ228 to Changi Airport and SQ227 on the return."
This based on a booking made for SQ228 (also January 2016), which unfortunately displays the 8 seats in F, rather than the 4 x suite-style new seats.
So... does anyone know anything more about which SIN-MEL-SIN flights are using the new/refreshed 777-300ER's?
OR - is it possible the seats are actually new on SQ228 but still using the original config? :)
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