Singapore Airlines (SIA) has received a delivery of the world’s first Airbus A350-900ULR ultra long range aircraft. This marks the first of seven A250-900ULR SIA will incorporate into its fleet, with the first one entering service on 11th October this year to begin operating on the longest commercial flight in the world, Singapore-New York. This breaks the previous record of Doha to Auckland which is about 16 hours.
The AR350-900ULR is able to stay in the air for over 20 hours non-stop, traveling up to 17,964.6 km. The flight to New York is approximately 16,700km and will take about 18 hours and 45 minutes.
“This is a proud moment for both Singapore Airlines and Airbus, not only because we have again strengthened our partnership, but also because we have pushed the limits with this highly advanced new aircraft to extend long-range flying to new lengths,” said Singapore Airlines CEO, Mr Goh Choon Phong.
He added, “the A350-900ULR will bring more convenience and comfort to our customers and will enable us to operate ultra-long-range flights in a commercially viable manner. It will help us boost our network competitiveness and further grow the Singapore hub.”
The revival of the New York route which SIA removed from its network years ago will bring the airline back in the competition with other airlines like Qantas and Cathay Pacific.
The 161-seater aircraft is fitted with 67 Business Class seats and 94 Premium Economy Class seats. It is sensibly designed to be a more comfortable air travel experience so that passengers can have the best tiem posible on a 20-hour non-stop flight. The extra wide body of the plane features features higher ceilings, larger windows, quieter cabins and lightings designed to reduce jetlag.
SIA will use the first two A350-900ULRs for the launch of the Singapore-New York route. Subsequent crafts from Airbus will be put into service in November for the new Singapore-Los Angeles route as well as to increase the frequency of SIA’s existing Singapore-San Francisco route.
With the delivery of the first A350-900ULR, Singapore Airlines now has 22 A350-900 aircraft in its fleet, with 45 more on order including the six additional ULR variants.
