A350 Deliveries and Routes

[SQKevin]

Photos from the First Flight of 9V-SMC. She should be delivered in 3-4 weeks increasing our A350 fleet to 3.

[shikhargpt]

My friend's (Chris J Ratnam) of SMB coming in from LFBO:

[SQMilan]

Not correct, unfortunately. The introduction of SQ68/7 has always caused major disruptions to the operation of MXP and BCN operations since it was first introduced. For example, BCN has 5x weekly departures, but two of them are on a Sunday less than three hours apart.

SQ378/7, if it operated 3x weekly, could utilise just one A359 as each return flight is approx. 1.3 days. The seventh day would be a spare. You could even get a 4th weekly flight by operating on the opposite days to the new DUS services.

SQ68/7 has the 1.3 day turnaround time from SIN-BCN-SIN, however, the GRU leg adds an extra 24 hours, making the full return flight time 2.3 days. This has never been much of an issue while it has been served by 77Ws as they are able to draw on a pool of 19 craft which arrive and depart out of SIN at a variety of times throughout the 24 hour cycle.

The A359 will present a lot of issues for serving GRU until the fleet size builds up, or the departure and arrival times of A359s into/out of SIN become more "diverse".

I might do a little more investigation on this one...

I've seen on flightavailability.com that for the next winter season all flights SQ368/367 (which are the Milan terminator flights) still show availability for First Class service. Starting this summer the airline added an extra frequence for this flight on Tuesdays that seems to be maintained during the winter season.

We have SQ368/367 operating Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat. SQ378/377 operating Tue from Singapore (double flight to Milan on Tuesdays), Wed from Milan and Sunday. Overall 6 weekly flight, Fridays are not served from Milan. Sundays flight departs to Singapore 3-4 hours later than usual. Four flights with First Class and two without.

In details (for Winter Season):

SQ 378 SIN 01.40 MXP 07.50 ------7
SQ 368 SIN 02.35 MXP 08.45 12-4-6
SQ 378 SIN 23.45 MXP 05.55+1 -2-----

SQ 367 MXP 11.00 SIN 05.55+1 12-4-6-
SQ 377 MXP 12.40 SIN 07.35+1 --3----
SQ 377 MXP 15.15 SIN 10.10+1 ------7

Is there the possibility to increase GRU to 4 weekly flights (by adding a Wednesday flight) and split Milan/Barcelona? Or to add an extra terminator frequence to Barcelona (without GRU). I think that SQ with a daily terminator flight to Milan without any time difference could compete on equal terms with Cathay Pacific (daily flight with 77W, four classes).

[SQ228]

I've seen on flightavailability.com that for the next winter season all flights SQ368/367 (which are the Milan terminator flights) still show availability for First Class service. Starting this summer the airline added an extra frequence for this flight on Tuesdays that seems to be maintained during the winter season.

We have SQ368/367 operating Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat. SQ378/377 operating Tue from Singapore (double flight to Milan on Tuesdays), Wed from Milan and Sunday. Overall 6 weekly flight, Fridays are not served from Milan. Sundays flight departs to Singapore 3-4 hours later than usual. Four flights with First Class and two without.

In details (for Winter Season):

SQ 378 SIN 01.40 MXP 07.50 ------7
SQ 368 SIN 02.35 MXP 08.45 12-4-6
SQ 378 SIN 23.45 MXP 05.55+1 -2-----

SQ 367 MXP 11.00 SIN 05.55+1 12-4-6-
SQ 377 MXP 12.40 SIN 07.35+1 --3----
SQ 377 MXP 15.15 SIN 10.10+1 ------7

Is there the possibility to increase GRU to 4 weekly flights (by adding a Wednesday flight) and split Milan/Barcelona? Or to add an extra terminator frequence to Barcelona (without GRU). I think that SQ with a daily terminator flight to Milan without any time difference could compete on equal terms with Cathay Pacific (daily flight with 77W, four classes).

I think this shows that an F cabin to MXP seems popular enough to be economical for SQ to operate. The opposite seems to be true of BCN. SQ clearly wants to remove all F service as soon as they possibly can.

[MAN Flyer]

To those on the inaugural flight to AMS tomorrow, have fun. Unfortunately I have had to cancel as I have work commitments that could not be moved.

I was amused to see that my 12K went within an hour of cancelling my ticket, and it wasn't to the SQTalker who was told it was going to shortly be available.

Look forward to the TR.

[SQfanatic]

Time flies and now SQ is putting an A350 on the AMS route. I wonder from anyone how the A359 feels in Y class? The aisles just by judging by the pictures look a bit cramped compared to the 77W with 9 abreast. I might be wrong as everyone has a different opinion. Personally I see their A359 so far better suited for medium and short haul routes, but hope to hear how the 350 to AMS is like.

On another note when is 9V-SMC being delivered to SQ?

[jani]

I have been on Qatar's A350 and I must say it has been on of the most comfortable Y seats I've ever been on.

Wonder how SQ compares?

[ycp81]

I have been on Qatar's A350 and I must say it has been on of the most comfortable Y seats I've ever been on.

Wonder how SQ compares?

Totally agree! I also personally ranks it as one of the best, if not the best.

[Tonitan]

I have been on Qatar's A350 and I must say it has been on of the most comfortable Y seats I've ever been on.

Wonder how SQ compares?

Really? The seating hardware should be identical to 77W and the difference would be in cabin ambience and A359 being 20cm shorter in width despite both being 9 across in Y.. I don't see it as a positive attribute for the A359.. except maybe for a less noisy cabin..

[jani]

I flew SIN-DOH-LHR with the A350 on the first leg and 77W on the second. I am pretty sure the hardware was different.

Though what made it just that much better was how roomy it was.

[SQKevin]

2nd Flight for 9V-SMC today. Delivery is scheduled for this month.

[SQ228]

OK, I'll break the really weird silence...

SMB has flown to AMS and back twice now and SMA is on its way to AMS for the second time. So far since AMS went A359, SQ956/7 CGK has been the regular flight inbetween trips to AMS.

[Tonitan]

I can't see all the hype about this aircraft. Having just stepped off SQ323 I would say the A359 is a win for the operator and a loss for passengers. Basically the operating cost has shrunk due to the smaller size of the aircraft,lighter body weight and faster flying speed. For passengers,We pay the same amount of money for lesser real estate on this aircraft. I can't find a real 'Wow' sensation on this aircraft. It has abnormally silly large sliding overhead bins that u can touch simply by raising your arm (your head room has shrunk!) the aisle has become more narrow,(Say Hello to your mate!) the seat width and pitch has shrunk and there is even a chubby hole on Bulkhead 19A&19K! It's a reflection of how the short the pitch has shrunk! The aircraft is not as quiet as I expect it to be,and operation of the landing gears are really loud! *oh did I mention how small the washrooms have become? At least for J.. Have a nice surprise everyone!*

The FS on my aisle made a comment that the free space for EY passengers has virtually disappeared. There are only small pockets of free space left if you like to stretch your limbs. So good move Mr Goh,expect more from your bottom line when more 359s hit us poor folks!

[ycp81]

I can't see all the hype about this aircraft. Having just stepped off SQ323 I would say the A359 is a win for the operator and a loss for passengers. Basically the operating cost has shrunk due to the smaller size of the aircraft,lighter body weight and faster flying speed. For passengers,We pay the same amount of money for lesser real estate on this aircraft. I can't find a real 'Wow' sensation on this aircraft. It has abnormally silly large sliding overhead bins that u can touch simply by raising your arm (your head room has shrunk!) the aisle has become more narrow,(Say Hello to your mate!) the seat width and pitch has shrunk and there is even a chubby hole on Bulkhead 19A&19K! It's a reflection of how the short the pitch has shrunk! The aircraft is not as quiet as I expect it to be,and operation of the landing gears are really loud! *oh did I mention how small the washrooms have become? At least for J.. Have a nice surprise everyone!*

The FS on my aisle made a comment that the free space for EY passengers has virtually disappeared. There are only small pockets of free space left if you like to stretch your limbs. So good move Mr Goh,expect more from your bottom line when more 359s hit us poor folks!

I think this depends largely on how the carrier configures the aircraft. Having flown on QR's A350, I was extremely surprised at how spacious it was, both the cabin and seats, compared to SQ's B777s. Albeit this was in Economy. QR even has a bar area for Business Class passengers on the A350.

[SQKevin]

9V-SMC has moved to the Delivery Centre. We can expect her to be delivered before end May.