$1.1b cabin upgrade in the works for SIA's A350 long-haul fleet

First retrofitted plane to fly in Q2 of 2026; work to be completed by end of 2030

- Kok Yufeng

Passengers flying long haul on Singapore Airlines (SIA) can expect to enjoy greater comfort come 2026, after the national carrier announced a $1.1 billion plan to retrofit 41 Airbus A350 aircraft with newly designed cabins.

The upgrades, which will cover all cabin classes, will be done in Singapore by SIA Engineering Company, the airline said in a statement on Nov 4. The work is expected to take six years and be completed by the end of 2030.

The new cabin designs, which have been in development since 2018, were originally meant to be launched on the next-generation Boeing 777-9 jets as early as 2021.

But production of the new wide-body aircraft has been hit by delays. The latest setback came in October, when the American jet maker said the first 777-9 planes would be delivered only in 2026 at the earliest.

SIA may have to wait even longer to receive its first planes, with other airlines like Emirates and Lufthansa at the front of the queue.

While SIA said its A350 upgrades are independent of the delivery schedule of its new Boeing planes, the delays have prompted rival airlines to change their plans and launch new cabin products on other aircraft first.