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If you’re looking to fly Singapore Airlines 777 first class or the A380 suites, unfortunately don’t expect to do so next year.
Singapore Airlines reduces availability to zero
As Mainly Miles pointed out, Singapore Airlines has just withdrawn all suite and first class availability until October 31, 2021.
To be clear, we’re not just talking about prize availability, we’re talking about inventory entirely, which means you can’t even reserve these seats with cash. This is despite the fact that Singapore Airlines shows many A380s and 777s on next summer’s schedule.
Prior to this change, Singapore Airlines had blocked all of this availability until April 1, 2021, so this represents an additional seven-month extension.
Singapore Airlines 777 in first class
Why would Singapore Airlines do this?
You’re probably thinking “so Singapore Airlines will just fly all those 777s and A380s, but won’t sell the top cabin?” No, probably not.
This is what is happening:
- Singapore Airlines currently operates mainly A350 and 787, which do not have a First Class cabin or Suites.
- While the airline has operated some 777s with first class cabins, first class simply hasn’t been sold on these flights.
- Things are still up in the air for Singapore Airlines’ future program, given declining global demand, let alone the fact that Singapore has some of the most stringent entry requirements, putting the national airline in a low spot. even more challenging situation.
Singapore Airlines’ “New” A380 Suites
I would not take the latest Singapore Airlines schedule update to mean that the airline safe It will not offer first class or suites until next October. However, I would interpret it to mean that the airline doesn’t have a very optimistic outlook on how demand will rebound next summer, which isn’t very surprising either.
To be fair, Singapore Airlines is probably more conservative than most airlines when it comes to managing expectations, and the airline probably doesn’t want to sell a product that it’s not sure it can deliver.
Since plane changes are very likely on many routes, this is not a problem in business class, as all aircraft offer business class. However, the same is not true in first class or suites.
Singapore Airlines’ “old” A380 suites
I wouldn’t expect the A380s to return anytime soon
Singapore Airlines exclusively offers suites on its fleet of A380s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these planes don’t fly until next October at the earliest:
- The airline has 19 A380s, and it just announced that seven of these will be retired, meaning that the airline will only have 12 A380s remaining.
- Given that the A380s are Singapore Airlines’ highest capacity aircraft, it seems highly likely that they will remain on the ground even as demand begins to pick up, with the 777 deployed first.
- Many airlines that have A380s intend to keep them grounded for years, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same happen at Singapore Airlines.
Who knows when Singapore’s A380s will return to the skies
Bottom line
Singapore Airlines has blocked first class and suite availability until October 2021. Since the airline stopped selling the cabins in March 2020, that means we are potentially waiting about 19 months without the more premium Singapore products being offered.
Of course, anything can change; presumably Singapore Airlines is erring on the side of caution here and it is always possible for this availability to be restored. However, this tells me that Singapore Airlines does not expect to fly any of its A380s or most of its 777s next summer.
What do you think of Singapore Airlines inventory updates?
