Singapore Airlines has ordered five additional Airbus A380s and 20 more A350s and will stop direct flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and Newark as it restructures its fleet.
The order commitments are valued at US$7.5 billion and will be delivered starting 2017. Twenty more A350-900s are being added to SIA’s existing order of 20 of the aircraft due to be delivered in 2015. The airline said these new planes are intended for use on medium- and long-haul flights.
Five new A380s will join the 19 superjumbos that the airline currently has in its fleet. Currently these serve Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich.
"This major order will provide us with additional growth opportunities and is consistent with our longstanding policy of maintaining a young and modern fleet," said SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong. "It demonstrates our commitment to the Singapore hub, and our confidence in the strength of the market for premium full-service travel."
"The aircraft will enable us to further enhance our network, providing more travel options to our customers," he said. "They will also feature the next generation of in-flight cabin products to keep us at the forefront of airline product innovation."
SIA also announced that it will remove five A340-500s from service in the fourth quarter of 2013, leading to the cessation of the airline's non-stop flights between Singapore and Los Angeles and Singapore and Newark, New Jersey.
"Although disappointing that we will be halting these services, we remain very committed to the US market," said Goh. "Over the past two years we have increased capacity to both Los Angeles and New York by deploying A380 superjumbos on flights via Tokyo and Frankfurt." (see here)
SIA had previously reduced the frequency of its Singapore-Los Angeles flights in the spring of 2011, citing less demand (see here).
For more information, visit www.singaporeairlines.com
Nicholas Olczak
