Business only for Singapore

Singapore Airlines is to retrofit five of its ultra long-haul aircraft into an all-business class configuration for services between Asia and the US. The five A340-500 aircraft currently equipped with 181 two-class seats, will be retrofitted to provide 100 business class seats in a 1:2:1 layout on the enormously long routes that will see the A340-500 fly 18h35min non-stop to New York. This marks the total abandonment of Singapore Airline's venture into Premium Economy.

Singapore says it will be the first to operate an all-business class service on the transpacific routes, which will feature the same new seats as for its recently-delivered A380 aircraft and its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. Given the sheer distance of the routes involved, each of the five A340s will be retrofitted in turn, while daily services to New York will start by the end of June and to Los Angeles by late September this year. Singapore Airlines currently flies 46-times weekly between its hub and the US, while it is shortly to introduce Houston to its network, operating four-times weekly from Changi via Moscow.