Singapore Airlines boosts business class to Melbourne, Wellington

Fully-flat beds and direct aisle access will become standard on all Singapore Airlines flights to Australia and Wellington.

By Chris C., August 20 2019
Singapore Airlines boosts business class to Melbourne, Wellington

Singapore Airlines' flights to both Melbourne and Wellington are set for an upgrade as the airline rolls out fully-flat beds on every departure from November 1 2019.

The change comes from upgrading flights SQ247/248 – which currently routes from Singapore to Melbourne, onward to Wellington and back again – from a Boeing 777-200 with angled-flat seating, pictured below...

Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200 angled-flat business class
Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200 angled-flat business class

... to an Airbus A350-900 with the airline's roomy 'long-range' business class seating instead, which not only swaps that angled-flat seat for a fully-flat bed but also bundles direct aisle access from every business class seat:

Stretch out and relax in Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350 business class
Stretch out and relax in Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350 business class

With recent upgrades to Singapore Airlines' Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth flights, the change also means that every Singapore Airlines flight from Australia will offer a flat bed in business class.

It's part of a broader plan to phase out the airline's older business class seating across its network, such as found on Airbus A330 and selected Boeing 777-200 flights, which will also extend to its regional arm SilkAir in the years to come.

Speaking with Executive Traveller in June, Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong proudly shared that when this project is complete, "we’ll have lie-fiat business class even on the shortest flights, even on the narrow-bodies!"

“We’re investing quite a bit on this, SG$100 million at least," he continues, which includes bringing comparable amenities to SilkAir flights from 2020 – such as to Darwin and Cairns – provided the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft returns to service in the interim.

Read: Singapore Airlines transitions to all-flatbed business class from 2020

In related news, the Airbus A350 that will ply the Singapore-Melbourne-Wellington route also comes with premium economy, arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration.

Singapore Airlines premium economy
Singapore Airlines premium economy

These flights can carry passengers from Wellington through to Singapore via Melbourne (and vice versa), purely between Melbourne and Singapore, or from either city to Singapore and onward to a raft of other destinations around the world.

Additionally, passengers can book flights solely between Melbourne and Wellington as a quick trans-Tasman hop, without continuing onward to Singapore.

Currently running four times per week, this service will also be ramped up with a fifth weekly flight from January 1 2020.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

20 Aug 2014

Total posts 157

Finally!

OWF
OWF

06 Oct 2018

Total posts 12

Hi Chris, I just went to check the SIA website for the flight on 30 November 2019, it still shows 772 not the 359.

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2449

The announcement only came out today: these things will take time to update.

OWF
OWF

06 Oct 2018

Total posts 12

Thank you Chris for updating this information.

Air New Zealand - Airpoints

23 May 2013

Total posts 44

About time, have been waiting for this announcement however thought it would be on the regional config rather than long-haul!

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

13 Jan 2015

Total posts 587

Yea i was expecting the 78J to be used

24 Aug 2011

Total posts 1205

Airbus tested the A350 into WLG's notoriously short runway about 18 months ago (most likely at SQ's request) so them choosing the A350 is not a surprise though I was probably expecting the regional configuration; obviously SQ believe there is a market for Premium Economy.

bmc
bmc

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

22 Aug 2013

Total posts 173

woohoo

booked this flight a month ago hoping this would happen

01 Aug 2019

Total posts 14

just did a dummy search for the 1st of December and it shows the A350 900 not bad 589 i think it was for business class

Etihad - Etihad Guest

27 Jun 2019

Total posts 12

Glad to see the aircraft finally changing to the A350 come November. A pity they aren't selling PE between Wellington and Melbourne. More just for the fun of trying this out really, hope that changes one day but a decent upgrade over the current product!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2012

Total posts 130

I just used this service last week coming home from Wellington , and yes, I have to say SQ 777 200 has seen better days , however the service compared to one of its competitors on the way to Wellington is/ was second to none. Class all the way SQ!


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