SIA orders seven A350 ultra long-haul aircraft

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Singapore Airlines has signed a deal with Airbus to be the launch customer of a new ultra-long-range variant of the A350 aircraft, enabling the resumption of non-stop flights between Singapore and the United States.

Now, the airline is planning to bring back the service in 2018 with the purchase of 63 n32 ultra-long-range Airbus 350 planes.

SIA now has 67 A350s on order, seven of which are for the ultra long-haul.

Deliveries of the A350-900ULR, which will feature a modified fuel system to increase fuel capacity within the existing fuel tanks (from 141,000 to 165,000 litres) and an increased maximum takeoff weight (280 tonnes), were due to begin in 2018.

The carrier stopped a previous Singapore to the USA service with a four-engine, 100-seat Airbus A340-500 in November 2013 as it was not economical with the four engine plane. Read a review of the experience.

Singapore Airlines has announced that passengers will be able to fly between Singapore and New York direct, passing through 16 time zones. Even the Airbus A380-the hulking, double-decker superjumbo-cannot make the trip without a fuel stop; its range is mere hundreds of miles too short.

SIA will be the first to fly the A-350-900ULR. SIA is also considering flying to other points in the US.

“The A350 is the ideal, flexible platform for such operations, offering unrivaled operating economics for the very longest routes”, said Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Bregier in a statement.

The A350-900ULR jet will allow Singapore Air to re-start the world’s longest nonstop flights, between the city-state and both Los Angeles and New York, the carrier said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. He said: “I’m not sure about Los Angeles but there is definitely demand for such a service on the Singapore-New York sector”. “The wider and quieter cabin will provide the flawless environment for passengers to enjoy the world-famous SIA in-flight product”. That threatens to unseat the current world record holder, Qantas, which has a flight from Dallas, Texas to Sydney, Australia – an 8,578-mile journey in 17 hours. In 2016, it is expected to receive a total of 11 A350s – dubbed a game-changer for the group, thanks to the enhanced operational efficiencies the aircraft offers.