Singapore Airlines Swaps Dreamliners for Triple Sevens
The carrier renegotiates its Boeing deliveries to convert 14 of the 787s it had originally ordered to 11 new 777s
The Singapore Airlines Group has announced agreements with both Airbus and Boeing to revise its aircraft delivery schedule, pushing out delivery dates and revamping its order book, allowing the group to plan around the disruptions in air travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to spreading out its aircraft deliveries, the group has also converted 14 of its Boeing 787-10 aircraft previously ordered into 11 additional Boeing 777-9s. The airline says the move is in response to “changes in its projected long-term fleet needs beyond FY25/26.”
The SIA Group says the changes will enable it to defer more than $4 billion of capital expenditure from the next two fiscal years into later years. The new delivery schedules will also let the group’s airlines better determine the rate at which it re-introduces capacity, once travel returns.
The revised SIA Group order book includes 35 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family, 15 A350-900s, 31 Boeing 737-8s, 20 aircraft from the 787 family and a total of 31 777-9s.
The increased orders for the 777 is good news for Boeing, which recently announced the aircraft program has been delayed once again. Delivery of the larger version of the popular widebody is now scheduled for late 2023, pushing the jetliner’s entry into service three years behind schedule.
“The agreements with Airbus and Boeing are a key plank of our strategy to navigate the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Singapore Airlines chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong. “They allow us to defer capital expenditure and recalibrate the rate at which we add capacity, aligning both with the projected recovery trajectory for international air travel.”
