Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Sending Newer Aircraft to Manila

July 2018 will see five-star carriers Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Cathay Pacific deploying their latest planes to Manila.  

Copyright Photo: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG

On July 3, SIA will start using its new Boeing 787-10s on SQ918, its evening flight that travels from Singapore to Manila.  It will stay overnight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before returning to Singapore's Changi Airport the following day as SQ915.  In addition, SIA will also allocate a 787 for its morning SQ910 flight from Singapore to Manila and for its return counterpart, SQ917.  This is a one-off event intended for promotion of the new aircraft to the press.  These flights are now bookable on singaporeair.com.

The new 787 features 36 full-flat 76-inch beds for business class passengers.  Each business class row has a 1-2-1 configuration which means that every passenger there has direct access to the aisle.  In addition, its new in-flight entertainment system allows passengers to log in and continue watching a programme on another SIA flight that has the same system.  The 787's IFE system is also found on SIA's newer A380s which means passengers who have connecting flights that entirely involve either of these aircrafts can continue watching the programme from the point where they left off.

SIA's new 787s are intended for regional and medium-haul flights.  Currently, they are deployed on flights between Singapore and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka-Kansai, Perth, and Tokyo-Narita.  SIA also has the Airbus A350-900 aircraft which is intended for more long-haul routes but it is also expected to take delivery of the regional version of the A350s next year. 

Currently, SQ915 and SQ918 use an Airbus A330, which is less than 10 years old.  SIA's other Manila flights use older regional Boeing 777s but if passengers are lucky, they might be able to ride on a long-haul Boeing 777-300ER.  It is unclear if or when SIA's other Manila flights will use the carrier's newer aircrafts.  Despite the relatively young age of the A330s, they were intended to be a temporary addition to the SIA fleet so that Singapore's flag carrier could increase capacity ahead of its planned acquisition of A350s and 787s, both of which had previously suffered delays.  


    
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific will be deploying its Airbus A350-1000s on CX907 and CX906 starting July 9.  Cathay regularly uses A350-900s on some of its Manila flights.

The A350-1000 will also make an appearance on some flights between Hong Kong and Taipei (July 1), Bangkok (July 2), and Singapore (July 9).  Although the A350-1000s are intended for long-haul flights, carriers initially allocate their new aircraft types to selected regional flights to allow their crew to train and familiarise themselves with the new aircraft.   

Later in the year, Cathay will use the new aircraft for its new Hong Kong-Washington Dulles route which commences on September 15.  Additionally, the new A350-1000s will also be used on flights to Tel Aviv (October 3), Madrid (October 28), and Manchester (December 1).

The A350-1000 is just one of several aircraft types that Cathay Pacific has on order through 2024.  In addition to the 20 A350-1000s on order, it will also receive six more A350-900s and 21 Boeing 777-9Xs.  Its sister airline Cathay Dragon will be getting 32 Airbus A321neos.   

Source: Mainly MilesCathay PacificRoutesonline, LCI


1 comment:

  1. It's aircraft, singular or plural, not aircrafts.

    ReplyDelete

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