Singapore Airlines A330 New Regional Cabin

Singapore Airlines has received the first of its new A330-300 aircraft

Singapore Airlines has received the first of its new A330-300 aircraft, a fleet which will grow to 19, and which are destined for most routes in Australia except for Sydney, which has the A380.

The aircraft is being offered by Airbus as a stopgap instead of the A350, which Singapore wants, but which will only be available in a few years time.

The aircraft is configured in a two class layout, with 30 new Business Class seats, and 255 Economy Class seats. Progressively, the planes will enter service on regional and medium-haul routes between Singapore and cities in Australia (Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) and Japan (Nagoya and Osaka).

Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, the Singapore Airlines A330-300 fleet is being acquired on an operating lease basis. The aircraft will be used to fill the Airline's capacity requirements on an interim basis until the delivery of the Airline's A350 XWB-900s and Boeing 787-9s.

The first aircraft will intially operate some short sectors between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore and Jakarta, during late February and March to finalise the process of pilot conversion.

Its full entry into commercial service will occur on 30 March 2009, on the Singapore - Brisbane route. This will then be followed by commencement of services to Perth in April 2009, Adelaide and Nagoya in June 2009 and Osaka in March 2010.

As previously noted in Airreview, some passengers are going to be disapointed by the new cabin, which features regional business class seats, as opposed to the lie flat seats on the 777. The Business Class cabin consists of 30 seats, in a 2-2-2 configuration. The Singapore Airlines A330-300 features a new Business Class seat, especially designed for regional and medium-haul routes and offering somewhat less comfort and functionality than the new 777 seats.

Economy Class will feature 255 seats, in a 2-4-2 configuration. These will be the new generation Singapore Airlines Economy Class seats, currently available on the Singapore Airlines B777-300ER and A380 aircraft.

All seats will feature the new KrisWorld, Singapore Airlines award-winning inflight entertainment system, and in a world first, offers iPod and iPhone connectivity to every seat, including Economy Class.

Singapore Airlines is the first in the world to offer this service in the Economy cabin. A larger 26cm monitor will allow greater enjoyment of the inflight entertainment system.