Singapore Airlines Commits More Than S$2 Billion to New Cabins as Boeing 777-9 Slips

"This has been the most significant, the biggest investment, that we have ever made," Lee Lik Hsin, the airline's chief commercial officer, told CNBC. The aircraft covered make up almost half of the carrier's fleet, according to CNBC.

The programme has grown in cost and slipped in time. When Singapore Airlines first set out the A350 refit in November 2024, it put the cost at S$1.1 billion. The new seats will now enter service gradually from the second half of 2027. According to the Singapore travel site Mainly Miles, that is more than a year later than the original target of the second quarter of 2026. Mainly Miles reported that the airline blamed several factors rather than one problem, including delays to the 777-9, seat certification, manufacturing and supply chains. The first and business class seats are already certified for the 777-9 but are still waiting for certification on the A350, the site said.

The Boeing delay explains much of the change in plan. Singapore Airlines first intended to launch its next generation of seats on the 777-9, which was supposed to enter service in 2021. Boeing now says it will not deliver the first 777-9 to customers until 2027. Tan Kai Ping, the airline's chief operating officer, told CNBC the jet will not join the fleet in the financial year ending March 2027. "Fingers crossed, it shows up in the next financial year," he said. Because of the wait, the airline extended the programme to its existing A350s, which will receive the new business class seats. Its ultra-long-range A350s will also get first class for the first time.

The first class suite is designed for couples. Two adjoining seats can be turned into a sofa or a double bed, which the airline says is the largest in commercial aviation. The suites have curved sliding doors, 32-inch 4K screens and Bang & Olufsen noise-cancelling headphones, and passengers can dine facing each other. "In first class, we've created a living room space for two people," Lee said. Mainly Miles put the first class count at four seats on the ultra-long-range A350 and six on the 777-9.

The new business class seat has sliding privacy doors and a fully flat bed 79 inches long, and some pairs of seats form companion beds. It also has 22-inch 4K screens, wireless charging and Bluetooth audio, and cabin controls remember each passenger's settings from one flight to the next. Premium economy and economy will get new seats and screens only on the 777-9. That aircraft will carry 300 seats, according to Mainly Miles, against 264 on the four-class 777-300ER it is expected to replace. The airline said the designs drew on research with more than 5,000 frequent travellers, customers, employees and industry experts.

Singapore Airlines also plans Starlink satellite internet on its A380s and on its long-haul and ultra-long-range A350s, with installation starting in the first quarter of 2027. The 777-9 is not yet on the Starlink list. Separately, the airline is spending more than S$130 million on its SilverKris lounges. CNBC reported that S$100 million of that is for Changi Airport and S$30 million for lounges in cities including Bangkok, Sydney and Melbourne.

The money goes into a contest for premium passengers in which the airline has recently lost ground. Skytrax named Singapore Airlines the world's best airline for 2026, but Qatar Airways won the award for best business class and Air France won best first class.

The airline expects the programme to finish by 2030, and management said that end date should not move much, according to Mainly Miles. The site called that schedule ambitious and estimated that the first ultra-long-range A350 could go into the hangar for its refit around early April 2027.