Singapore Airlines To Refit Boeing 777s

Singapore Airlines will upgrade its entire Boeing 777-300ER fleet with the airline's latest first class, business class and economy seats beginning next year.

The US$325 million (A$346 million) refit will encompass all 19 of the long-range jets in SQ's current Boeing 777-300ER fleet in an attempt to deliver a consistent travel experience alongside the airline's new Boeing 777-300ERs.

The project will also see the in-flight entertainment system upgraded.

Singapore Airlines says the refurb is expected to begin early in 2015, "with all aircraft completed by September 2016."

“Feedback about our next generation cabin products has been extremely positive and our customers have been asking for them to be fitted on more aircraft. We have listened,” said SIA Executive Vice President Commercial, Mr Mak Swee Wah.

“This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to constantly enhancing our products and services, and further demonstrates our confidence in the future for premium full-service air travel.”

In related news, the airline also revealed it would finally launch a premium economy cabin in the second half of 2015.

Singapore Airlines' new Boeing 777 first class seats are ‘mini-suites’ are built around a fixed-back shell with curved side panels.


The seats are 35 inches wide and extend to a 82 inch long bed, up from the current 80 inches of the current first class seat.


Boosts to personal space include a space underneath the ottoman which can fit a standard cabin bag, while a ‘vanity area’ with its own mirror lets travellers do a quick pre-landing freshen up without leaving their seats.

Another stowage pocket contains laptop power and USB ports along with an HDMI socket to pipe content from your laptop or other device onto the 24 inch screen.

Singapore Airlines’ new Boeing 777 business class seats share similar design DNA as first class and retain the current forward-facing layout and 1-2-1 configuration as its current business class cabin, with a similar degree of ‘private space’.

There are now two positions between the standard upright seating and lie-flat bed, which SQ terms Lazy Z and Sundeck mode.


The 28 inch wide seat converts to a 78 inch long flat bed, using the same flip-over design as SQ’s current business class product, with an increased recline from 128 degrees to 132 degrees.


There’s a new amenity storage area on the side console and a separate laptop stowage area.

An ‘all in one business panel’ sports the laptop power supply, USB port plus eXport and HDMI ports. As with the new first class there’s a floodlight reading lamp and on/off switch for the 18 inch LDC monitor (up from today’s 15.4 inches).


There’s also a height-adjustable table of 20.5 inches x 14.5 inches which deploys from the side console, a personal vanity mirror and cocktail trays.