A350 Deliveries and Routes

[leops1984]

Good to see some progress on MSN26. The aircraft should be painted this month right?

On a side note, Malaysia Airlines just announced an order of 4 A350-900s that will be delivered between 2017-2018. I wonder if these aircraft were originally part of the SQ order...

Unlikely. IIRC their order was from lessors, not a direct order from Airbus.

[SQKevin]

Good to see some progress on MSN26. The aircraft should be painted this month right?

Msn 24 has just left the Paint Hanger. Perhaps Msn 26 will take its place in the Paint Hanger.

[SQKevin]

According to the source below, Singapore Airlines will commence A350 flights to Copenhagen in early 2016.

http://bloga350.blogspot.sg/2015/09/...openhagen.html

[Metropolitan Airlines]

According to the source below, Singapore Airlines will commence A350 flights to Copenhagen in early 2016.

http://bloga350.blogspot.sg/2015/09/...openhagen.html

SQ 352 23:50 Singapore (SIN) 06:25+1 Copenhagen (CPH)
SQ 351 12:30 Copenhagen (CPH) 06:30+1 Singapore (SIN)

Looking at the timetable here it seems to me they would need more than 1 A350 to run this daily since they will be waiting at SIN for almost a day. Perhaps some short haul flights will get slot in, such as SIN-HKG-SIN?

Alternatively, if they can delay departure from SIN by 2 hours, this pair can work even better with connections from SQ241/242 (also letting this pair to run on A350) as well.

[SQ228]

SQ 352 23:50 Singapore (SIN) 06:25+1 Copenhagen (CPH)
SQ 351 12:30 Copenhagen (CPH) 06:30+1 Singapore (SIN)

Looking at the timetable here it seems to me they would need more than 1 A350 to run this daily since they will be waiting at SIN for almost a day. Perhaps some short haul flights will get slot in, such as SIN-HKG-SIN?

Alternatively, if they can delay departure from SIN by 2 hours, this pair can work even better with connections from SQ241/242 (also letting this pair to run on A350) as well.

I think you'll find the CPH flight timings are set largely by the partnership agreement with SAS. The SQ flight arrives very early to ensure smooth connections with their round of morning departures and the SQ flight departs CPH late enough to connect with a variety of flights that arrive around 1100-1130 from numerous Scandinavian regional cities. When SQ flew to CPH without the formal partnership, it was quite a late departure out of SIN.

I think they are expecting to receive two or more together at the beginning. Three would allow pairing with another long haul with slightly different timings, or a cycle of local Asian, CPH and an Australian city.

[SQ228]

According to the source below, Singapore Airlines will commence A350 flights to Copenhagen in early 2016.

http://bloga350.blogspot.sg/2015/09/...openhagen.html

This is awesome news! Definitely going to fly to CPH next year and it'll be great knowing I'm guaranteed an A350 experience.

[SQKevin]

MSN 26 moved from Station L70 to L32 apparently for more rework. Not sure what entails there. There are 2 A350s belonging to Qatar & 1 belonging to Finnair ahead of MSN26 in the production line numbering, which are still unpainted. With 2 A350 paint hangers & one more opening soon, the painting of MSN 26 should not be too far away. I'm still predicting a mid-October entry into the paint hanger for MSN 26.

[Metropolitan Airlines]

MSN 26 moved from Station L70 to L32 apparently for more rework. Not sure what entails there. There are 2 A350s belonging to Qatar & 1 belonging to Finnair ahead of MSN26 in the production line numbering, which are still unpainted. With 2 A350 paint hangers & one more opening soon, the painting of MSN 26 should not be too far away. I'm still predicting a mid-October entry for MSN 26.

As SQ management is expecting the first A350 to arrive in January, what I can say is that Airbus is delivering their planes on schedule at the moment.

This also aligns with the fact that SQ will make decision with regards to (maybe their first A350 route) ramp up CPH in 2 months time according to the reports.

I predict SQ will announce their A350 destinations and details once the plane has finished painting as cabin configuration and engine attachment will happen right after this.

I think they are expecting to receive two or more together at the beginning. Three would allow pairing with another long haul with slightly different timings, or a cycle of local Asian, CPH and an Australian city

That's what I've been speculating CPH, SYD and HKG could have a fair chance if they select the latter combination, especially they can do this without launching another Asian city with Premium Economy product.

[SQKevin]

As SQ management is expecting the first A350 to arrive in January, what I can say is that Airbus is delivering their planes on schedule at the moment.

This also aligns with the fact that SQ will make decision with regards to (maybe their first A350 route) ramp up CPH in 2 months time according to the reports.

My bad. I was referring to MSN 26's mid-October entry into the paint hanger rather than into service. I have edited my post above to prevent any confusion.

[shikhargpt]

A long-range version of the A350 to fly SIN-JFK directly? This website seems to think will happen. Could this be the reason SQ cancelled 7 of their A359 deliveries in wait for the A350LR?

http://www.traveller.com.au/airbus-a...ew-york-gj3qv2

[Jumbojet Lover]

A long-range version of the A350 to fly SIN-JFK directly? This website seems to think will happen. Could this be the reason SQ cancelled 7 of their A359 deliveries in wait for the A350LR?

http://www.traveller.com.au/airbus-a...ew-york-gj3qv2

This was reported by Bloomberg and discussed in August on the thread End of the nonstops to LAX & EWR on the A345.

[shikhargpt]

Yup, it was. Just throwing out the link from another website here, especially with the canceled SQ orders.

[SQKevin]

MSN23 (Finnair #5) entered the paint hanger today. Assuming that painting takes the usual 2-3 weeks to complete, MSN 26 (SQ#1) could end the paint hanger at the end of the second week of October. This is of course based on the assumption that Qatar's #9 (MSN12) & #10 (MSN25) will continue to be bypassed for the paint hanger just like when MSN 23 & 24 overtook them for the paint hanger.

[jaywell]

MSN 26, SQ's first A350, has now been moved to the paint hangar.

[SQKevin]

MSN 26, SQ's first A350, has now been moved to the paint hangar.

That's excellent news! She's currently in Station C33, the new paint hanger. We should see her in full SQ colours in about 3 weeks' time.