A350 Deliveries and Routes

[SQfanatic]

Wow so no August deliveries on the A350's?!? Guess SMQ and SMR will both be a September delivery let us wait and see

[flyguy]

believed SIA also needed some slack time for its A350s instead of making full use of the planes flying times as there seems to be quite a fair number of delays and substitutions of A350s flights over the past few months.

[SQ228]

In terms of future destinations, the only announcements at present are FCO and BNE x3. None of the BNE flights will interwork with FCO's gaps, but now that the fleet has grown so large, it has a certain amount of built in slack. One pane for FCO will easily so and then one for each of the BNE flights, which will also give the A350 fleet further flexibility. That's SMQ-T accounted for.

There still don't seem to be any fixed plans to relieve IST or CHC of their old 772s, unless of course they plan to remove A350s from existing flights and switch them to 77Ws. I can't see them sending a 77W to IST or CHC but then you never know...

[SQfanatic]

Perhaps something to do with the summer holidays?

As they say August tends to be a slow month for particularly that reason sometimes

But yeah, I wonder what happened with SMQ, but thank you for keeping us updated.

[SQ217]

I think there have been some delays at Airbus factory recently.

Perhaps something to do with the summer holidays?

[happyflyer]

9V-SMQ is finally taken off on her 5th Test Flight after an entire month of inactivity. This is very unusual for a SQ frame. If she moves to the Delivery Centre to commence her CAF after today, there will still be a good chance of an end August delivery.

9V-SMR has not seen any activity since rolling out onto the Flight Line on 1 August. Again very unusual for an SQ frame. She is, however, still on track for an end of September delivery.

SQ doesn't seem to be in a hurry to have #17 & #18 delivered.

I think there have been some delays at Airbus factory recently.

HS-THG (TG #6) has only had 4 test flights so far since 7/Jul while B-LGA (HX #1) has only had 2 since 10/Aug as well. My TG A350 inaugural flight is once again postponed

[SQKevin]

I see. Thanks for the update. Let us know if anything more on SMQ and SMR.

9V-SMQ is finally taken off on her 5th Test Flight after an entire month of inactivity. This is very unusual for a SQ frame. If she moves to the Delivery Centre to commence her CAF after today, there will still be a good chance of an end August delivery.

9V-SMR has not seen any activity since rolling out onto the Flight Line on 1 August. Again very unusual for an SQ frame. She is, however, still on track for an end of September delivery.

SQ doesn't seem to be in a hurry to have #17 & #18 delivered.

[SQfanatic]

If MEL can't see the A380 year round, I doubt BNE will ever see them, BNE doesn't even see F so there seems to be no demand for such a large aircraft. Your always welcome to fly down to MEL when the A380 operates

I think the A350 is the perfect aircraft for BNE, having a good yield mix, however I think in the future we may see the BNE flights transition to regional A350's with no PY with more Y seats added.

This is a pretty good guess on the A350's that are currently being put to BNE. Temporarily until some regional A350's come through. This may very well also hold the same for some of CGK's flights and other regional A330's of course.

We have already heard they put the lie-flat J class seats to BNE with the 772ER, which is a first step. The reason the A350 is definitely put is for an upgrade of cabin products and they want to still maintain the lie-flat seats no matter the J class product. But I see it as a welcome with PEY which is something BNE never even had and I wonder if the regional A350's will even come with PEY?

[MLflyer]

Both SQ 246 and SQ 218 are popular amongst Sydney commuters because we don't want to waste our time on the plane for the whole day and there's no overnight departure from Sydney to save our time. (Unlike Malaysian Airlines) If they are to cut economy seats on those flights, it is simply forcing us to go via Perth. So I seriously hope the management on SQ to think twice and consider deploying A380 instead of A350 to Brisbane so that Sydney and Queensland commuters can have more Economy seats to fly to Singapore overnight.

If MEL can't see the A380 year round, I doubt BNE will ever see them, BNE doesn't even see F so there seems to be no demand for such a large aircraft. Your always welcome to fly down to MEL when the A380 operates

I think the A350 is the perfect aircraft for BNE, having a good yield mix, however I think in the future we may see the BNE flights transition to regional A350's with no PY with more Y seats added.

[SQ228]

How on earth do they have so many A350s to fly to Brisbane over summer?

And seriously, if you convert SQ246 to A350, that represents a capacity decrease for Economy Class. It will definitely drive fares up and even worse, no Economy seats available a few months in advance again!

Both SQ 246 and SQ 218 are popular amongst Sydney commuters because we don't want to waste our time on the plane for the whole day and there's no overnight departure from Sydney to save our time. (Unlike Malaysian Airlines) If they are to cut economy seats on those flights, it is simply forcing us to go via Perth. So I seriously hope the management on SQ to think twice and consider deploying A380 instead of A350 to Brisbane so that Sydney and Queensland commuters can have more Economy seats to fly to Singapore overnight.

They do have more of them arriving soon as well as a number of 77W that will come out of refurb soon. There have been rumours surrounding one of the A350 destinations that it may go 77W which would certainly free up a lot of A350s if it did. In terms of capacity, this would certainly explain why they are making the fourth flight a permanent daily fixture. The extra flight will compensate for the decrease in seats on the other three.

I'm somewhat surprised they are upgrading 2 overnight flights though. They will be the shortest A350 flights operating between 0200 and 0500 which is quite an honour for BNE. The other surprise is that SQ265/6 is not one of the flights as it slots neatly between A350 long hauls, although possibly departs just a little too early out of SIN. It will remain B772ER.

I actually booked to fly out of BNE just after Xmas because I saved $600 compared with flying out of MEL. That's enough to finance the flight from MEL-BNE and have a 2-day stopover there in a nice hotel. Based on ticket prices $600 lower out of BNE (I'm still flying direct home to MEL), I don't think demand out of BNE is anywhere near as high.

My only irritation... To make the big saving I had to resign myself to another flight on an old SV-series 772ER which I thought I'd seen the last of forever. Then I read this post and thought I was in such luck, then read that SQ236 is the last to be upgraded and will occur 18 days after I fly. Bizarrely it is currently A330 but will switch to B772ER for a short period until then switching again to an A350.

[djsflynn]

Please don't copy-paste entire articles, even if you've included a link to the original article. I pay a journo's wage to have these stories written up, and a wholesale copy-paste negates the need to click that link and visit the website - which is of course how we make a living, via ad impressions from traffic.

[Metropolitan Airlines]

Singapore Airlines brings A350s, premium economy to Brisbane

Singapore Airlines is swinging its new Airbus A350s onto three of its four daily Brisbane-Singapore flights over the coming months, complete with its latest-generation fully-flat beds in business class offering direct aisle access from every seat.

The A350 upgrade will also see the debut of Singapore Airlines' premium economy on the route.

It's welcome news for passengers on the overnight SQ235 service from Singapore and the return SQ256 leg from Brisbane – currently served by Airbus A330s with angled-flat business class beds – which will gain the Airbus A350 from October 16 2017.

Source: https://www.ausbt.com.au/singapore-a...my-to-brisbane

How on earth do they have so many A350s to fly to Brisbane over summer?

And seriously, if you convert SQ246 to A350, that represents a capacity decrease for Economy Class. It will definitely drive fares up and even worse, no Economy seats available a few months in advance again!

Both SQ 246 and SQ 218 are popular amongst Sydney commuters because we don't want to waste our time on the plane for the whole day and there's no overnight departure from Sydney to save our time. (Unlike Malaysian Airlines) If they are to cut economy seats on those flights, it is simply forcing us to go via Perth. So I seriously hope the management on SQ to think twice and consider deploying A380 instead of A350 to Brisbane so that Sydney and Queensland commuters can have more Economy seats to fly to Singapore overnight.

[SQfanatic]

Unfortunately delivery will not take place this weekend. SMQ has not seen any Flight activity since her last test flight on 22 July. No sign of a CAF as well.

On a brighter note, SMR has rolled out onto the Flight Line painted & cabin fitted. Her First Flight will take place in August with delivery scheduled sometime in September.

I see. Thanks for the update. Let us know if anything more on SMQ and SMR.

[SQKevin]

We're in August already, any updates on if SMQ will be delivered this weekend?

Unfortunately delivery will not take place this weekend. SMQ has not seen any Flight activity since her last test flight on 22 July. No sign of a CAF as well.

On a brighter note, SMR has rolled out onto the Flight Line painted & cabin fitted. Her First Flight will take place in August with delivery scheduled sometime in September.

[SQfanatic]

No CAF or further Test Flights for SMQ this week. She will be an August Delivery with next weekend being the earliest possible date.

We're in August already, any updates on if SMQ will be delivered this weekend?