A345's to be refitted with 100 x new JCL seats only

[CGK]

Welcome to SQTalk, sqNo.1.

[zvezda]

So the Business class seats will be the same width as the A380's, right?

Right. The seats from the 777-300ER won't fit.

[emperorsr]

Sad to see it go though and from what colleagues have told me (Singaporeans and Ang Mo ) they are not too exstatic on the "improved" comfort of the Y seats on the 77W (no reports on the A380 yet). One comment I got from a lady that is 1.57m and maybe (guessing here ) 45kg was that her "behind" hurt painfully halfway through the flight. Go figure.

YES YES YES!!! I don't understand all the people who glow about the new Y on the 77W and the A380. They may not have sat on the Premium Y seats. Maybe they are comparing to some older seats on TG or Ethiopian air. Maybe I am just spoilt by the A345. But seriously, the seat pitch is the same as the 747s, cushioning is thinner so logic will tell you that the metal innards of the chair can be felt if you sit there too long, and when you slide forward, you are bound to hit on the guy in front of you. If that seat is in your home in front of your computer, you would not sit on it for too long. Sat in that seat from SIN - CDG. Around 12 hours. I am 1.73m and even sat in the bulkhead row. OMG. Leg room or no, I should get SQ to pay for my massage therapy for the bad back and sore behind.

I had read on another forum on line (airliners) that there is talk of SQ345 coming to IAD (Washington DC Dulles) and sq possibly stopping A345 service to LAX. As a local of DC we would love to see SQ fly here with their own metal. Right now they codeshare with NH and Virgin. Anyone have any info. or if SQ have any future plans to fly to IAD.

Any news about going to IAD? With family there, would love that. But is this going to be a full J again?? Didn't know they codeshare to IAD with NH and Virgin. Usually SQ sends me to EWR and connect with UA. And of course they charge everything separately. Unlike if you buy a ticket from IAD to SIN via EWR, the price is about the same as EWR - SIN. SQ in Singapore always tells me that they can't combine the fares and have to purchase sectors separately. What crap when their US office can. And do.

SQ has spoken. From a business standpoint it makes sense. But here is the thing. As much as I love my national carrier, I am ashamed that we have gone the way of chest thumping and self back patting. On one hand SQ releases press statements about how profits are more than doubling, on another they say they are increasing fuel surcharges (more than 3 x in a year), to realistically match fuel prices.

The bottom line that probably doesn't affect richer frequent fliers or those who have their companies to boost up their KF status with paid travel, is that SQ is elitist. Its First and Business for them. Even their management has privately admitted it to some of us. And prices for Y are going to increase, especially when the A380 takes over more routes.

And while the local market currently has chosen to support SQ for obvious reasons, it is a matter of time before economics takes over. SIN is already in the top 3 most expensive places to live in Asia. Our wages are not rising correspondingly fast enough. It is a matter of time before the average traveler will need to find other options. Which is sad. Imagine, Singaporeans can't afford to fly on Singapore Airlines.

Sorry, but it is upsetting how greedy the airline is becoming. Again for everyone who lives abroad and gets to travel on their new products regularly it doesn't matter because you guys get to experience them. But for the locals, it's a matter of national pride that is slowly turning into something else.

[milehighj]

Sorry, but it is upsetting how greedy the airline is becoming. Again for everyone who lives abroad and gets to travel on their new products regularly it doesn't matter because you guys get to experience them. But for the locals, it's a matter of national pride that is slowly turning into something else.

I sympathise with some of your sentiments in your post, but quite frankly drawing a distinction between "foreigners vs. locals" and SQ pricing is not a very coherent or logical argument.

[Singapore_Air]

Imagine, Singaporeans can't afford to fly on Singapore Airlines.

Sorry, but it is upsetting how greedy the airline is becoming.

First of all, I contend that the world is getting to be, if not is, a greedy place. I suggest, for want of better words, you deal with it. Society is that way now.

Secondly, Singapore Airlines' fares are competitive. The fares offerred are targeting those who understand its value proposition are are willing to pay extra for it. Singaporeans are not shielded from taking another airline.

In the UK, a lot of people will find that BA/QF is more expensive than most carriers to Asia and Australia. A lot of them will fly EK for example. And you certainly don't hear people crying because they cannot fly their supposed 'national' airline!

[Sqstalker]

Sorry, but it is upsetting how greedy the airline is becoming.

I cannot help but to agree with Singapore_Air that any company will need to maximise profits from its current strengths. Call it greed if you will….but they are getting their planes filled and profits ringing in.They are answerable to their shareholders. Unfortunately, some Singaporeans, may not realise that your small population doesn’t help add much to the profit of your National Flag Carrier.. ie Your airline relies on international passengers for most of its profits.

Naturally, if i were SQ I would , cash in on my ‘best’ customers. Whine all you want but this is the hard facts of life. But you do have a choice.
Like I do here @ Down Under. My national carrier is generally more expensive than yours….so I choose SQ for flts up North. Reasons : Price and quality but not neccessarily just these 2 reasons

Finally, find me a carrier that gives you *comfortable Y seats from SIN to Paris. I’d like to try it out

[upright man]

YES YES YES!!! I don't understand all the people who glow about the new Y on the 77W and the A380. They may not have sat on the Premium Y seats. Maybe they are comparing to some older seats on TG or Ethiopian air. Maybe I am just spoilt by the A345. But seriously, the seat pitch is the same as the 747s, cushioning is thinner so logic will tell you that the metal innards of the chair can be felt if you sit there too long, and when you slide forward, you are bound to hit on the guy in front of you. If that seat is in your home in front of your computer, you would not sit on it for too long. Sat in that seat from SIN - CDG. Around 12 hours. I am 1.73m and even sat in the bulkhead row. OMG. Leg room or no, I should get SQ to pay for my massage therapy for the bad back and sore behind.
.

I have just one thing to add : you are right about the new Y - when I was sitting in the cramped Y seat of the A380, I was just wishing that SQ had removed one row of seats, liberating 32 inches and given 32 rows an extra inch each - that may just hit the sweet spot, or it may not, who knows ?
But for sure a 32 inch pitch is really uncomfortable for a long flight.

[MAN Flyer]

SQ IS our national airline. not supposed. not in inverted commas. and ask any Singaporean, our pride in our national airline IS strong, even as it is getting more elitist by the day. we may fly other airlines, but we still like knowing that they look to sq as an industry leader (and yes even if this means going up the premium scale). aint that an interesting relationship?

While SQ is obviously Singapore based and is rightly a source of pride for most Singaporeans, I'm afraid it owes it's success to being a truly global operator that earns most of it's revenue flying foreigners around the globe. As a result this is what their primary objective is and will remain so into the future.

They have undoubtedly got greedy and arrogant over recent years, but I suppose with aircraft flying around that are full most of the time this is unfortunately somewhat inevitable.

We don't like it any more than you do, but the simple choice is to fly them or fly someone else. Those of you based in Singapore usually have the luxury of choosing another airline instead due to Changi's excellent network.

[Singapore_Air]

isn't telling a member to 'deal with it' a little caustic on a personal level? or is this a classic case of cyber misunderstanding, seeing that your tone cannot be heard or felt?

I apologise if you were offended. It was a sweeping statement to the world because my point is the world is a greedy place and humans have been conditioned to become beyond selfish these days so I found your point regarding SIA being greedy a truism.

Also with regards to your view on the B77W seats, I respectfully disagree. After flights from HKG to FRA via SIN, I found the B77W as comfortable as Economy Class can get (read: I found them comfortable). And while I find that my arse can suffer on a B744 Y in SQ, I didn't feel any problems at all after SQ326.

[UMD]

Right. The seats from the 777-300ER won't fit.

The 777-300ER seats are wider due to its side consoles (center consoles) and thus take up more space.

However, in terms of the cushion width, the 380 seats are wider by 5 inches ( except for those seats on 11 A/K and 12 A/K which have the cushion width of 30 inches ).

[MAN Flyer]

presuming it gets final approval.

Which it hasn't done yet, and may now not get after all!.

There is a counter train of thought now that thinks some 772LR's would be a better idea, and to just leave the 345's as they are until they leave when these arrive.

There seems to have been a lot of chin and head scratching going on at SQ over routes (with IAH and the others they are looking at...) and fleet ops recently.

[iad777]

Which it hasn't done yet, and may now not get after all!.

There is a counter train of thought now that thinks some 772LR's would be a better idea, and to just leave the 345's as they are until they leave when these arrive.

There seems to have been a lot of chin and head scratching going on at SQ over routes (with IAH and the others they are looking at...) and fleet ops recently.

This seems reasonable. I hope they keep the current A345 configuration until these aircraft are replaced.

Do you think the 772LR will open up any new ULH routes?

[sqforever]

This seems reasonable. I hope they keep the current A345 configuration until these aircraft are replaced.

Do you think the 772LR will open up any new ULH routes?

It's very likely. As talked about in another thread, Toronto is being considered. Other cities like IAD have been mentioned.

[UMD]

SQ should really look at ORD again.

[huaiwei]

My national carrier is generally more expensive than yours….so I choose SQ for flts up North. Reasons : Price and quality but not neccessarily just these 2 reasons

Ah and just two weeks ago, my group was forced to travel on Qantas because SQ was too full, but I was still rather upset despite the cheaper tickets (it's partly sponsored, that's why! ). I believe it is a wide-spread phenomena that buying tickets from an airline's home base will generally be the most expensive, national airline or not.