Singapore Airlines brings A350s, premium economy to Brisbane
By Chris C., August 15 2017
Singapore Airlines is swinging its new Airbus A350s onto three of its four daily Brisbane-Singapore flights over the coming months, complete with its latest-generation fully-flat beds in business class offering direct aisle access from every seat.
The A350 upgrade will also see the debut of Singapore Airlines' premium economy on the route.
It's welcome news for passengers on the overnight SQ235 service from Singapore and the return SQ256 leg from Brisbane – currently served by Airbus A330s with angled-flat business class beds – which will gain the Airbus A350 from October 16 2017.
That’s followed by SQ246 – the current overnight flight from Brisbane to The Lion City – and SQ245 from Singapore as of December 16 2017, which presently see a ‘reconfigured’ Boeing 777-200ER with Airbus A380-like business class beds, albeit the airline’s previous-generation product.
In the New Year, SQ236 from Brisbane and SQ255 from Singapore will also be switched to the Airbus A350 from January 16, in place of a mixture of Boeing 777-200ERs and Airbus A330s.
"Brisbane continues to be an important market for Singapore Airlines," said Singapore Airlines' Regional Vice President Tan Tiow Kor.
"With the growing number of A350 aircraft entering our fleet it makes sense to deploy three of them to Brisbane to help meet the premium market demand that we are seeing," Tan added.
Onboard the Singapore Airlines Airbus A350
The A350s flying to Brisbane will feature 42 business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, which offer an array of shelves and storage options for all your gear...
... and can be flipped forward to create a 78-inch (198cm) fully-flat bed, or a comfortable space for more casual work:
AusBT review: Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350 business class seat
Behind that, 24 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 layout measuring up at 19 inches (46.2cm) wide with a recline of eight inches (20.3cm) and a 38-inch (96.5cm) seat pitch, all with adjustable headrests, swing-up legrests at every seat and fold-out footrests:
AusBT review: Singapore Airlines premium economy
At the back of the bus, 187 economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration (also changed from the 2-4-2 layout of the airline's Airbus A330 economy cabin).
Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350s also come with inflight Internet – another first for the airline on Brisbane flights – with access charged at US$11.95 (A$15.20) for one hour, US$16.95 (A$21.55) for three hours or US$21.95 (A$27.90) for the entire flight.
Flights SQ266 from Brisbane and SQ265 from Singapore will continue to be served by Boeing 777-200ERs (sans premium economy), but which still provides business travellers with a 1-2-1 business class cabin on every Brisbane flight.
Singapore Airlines opened a new SilverKris lounge at Brisbane Airport last year, catering to business class passengers plus KrisFlyer Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club and other Star Alliance Gold frequent flyers booked to fly in Singapore Airlines premium economy and economy.
Virgin Australia Velocity Gold and Platinum members can also access Brisbane's SilverKris lounge when travelling with Singapore Airlines.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Jun 2015
Total posts 13
Now we just need book the cook from Brisbane
Etihad - Etihad Guest
06 Apr 2012
Total posts 124
Great to see Singapore Airlines listened to customer feedback by bringing their Premium Economy product to Brisbane. Will make the airline a more attractive option for many folks flying long-haul between BNE and Europe.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 785
Good news, A350 can't arrive fast enough. Was on SQ246 last week and the bed was as hard as a rock.
06 Jul 2017
Total posts 19
This is excellent news for ppl of BrisVegas. Airlines are seriously pouring their top shelve resources into Brisbane it seems. With Emirates commencing a 3rd service and now SQ upgrading the route to A350, it now appears to be rivalling both Melbourne & Sydney as one of Australia's premier destinations.
04 May 2015
Total posts 262
Only problem with Emirates is that 2 of the 3 daily flights will be on 777s with the crappy angled beds in business class (they have business class middle seats too, yuck!). How they think that's competitive in 2017 I'll never know!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Nov 2014
Total posts 357
Woohoo! That means flat beds for all 4 daily flights. I kind of missed out as I booked on SQ266, but it's still full flat.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Feb 2015
Total posts 382
Great News. I also happen to be booked on SQ 246 on the 18th Dec so perfect timing.
10 Aug 2015
Total posts 125
I only expected one flight to be upgraded, not 3!!!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
01 Mar 2012
Total posts 177
That is much better. I'm not looking forward to the A330 on Sunday.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Oct 2013
Total posts 702
Ok whilst the A350 coming to Brisbane is great... I'm not happy.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Singapore Airlines has only just announced this, and at the time of publishing, the flights hadn't been updated in the booking system to reflect the change of aircraft type or the addition of premium economy.
SQ expects this to be complete overnight or tomorrow, so once the flights are updated, you could then call the airline and discuss your options.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Oct 2013
Total posts 702
No it's definitely been loaded into the booking system. They sent out several emails (around 10 emails today) saying that my seating assignment has changed and that I'll have to log back in and pick a new seat (or on some flights, they did it for me).
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Apr 2017
Total posts 6
Get over it. You gladly and willingly booked the flights knowing the PE was not available on some of the journey and had no issue then. Why is there an issue now? If you wanted PE so bad you wouldn't booked with another airline or stoped being cheap and coughed up extra cash to Business
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Oct 2013
Total posts 702
Business was around $8,000 per person more (so $32,000 for the 4 of us) and being a Virgin partner also played apart of this.
24 Jan 2017
Total posts 7
Singapore airlines customer service is horrible. Thats why I avoid them where possible.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
13 Dec 2014
Total posts 80
Does that also apply to their local ticketing offices? Just curious.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2013
Total posts 138
My goodness, i tweeted them few weeks back asking if they will consider A350 for brisbane (or if they had any plans). They wanted me to watch the facebook site. What a pleasant surprise. I'm flying out tomorrow on the dated A330, but surely i will look forward to this new product. Brilliant job SQ
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 621
15 Aug 2017
Total posts 3
This is excellence news... Looks like my early October flight will be the last time I have to fly via SYD for PE!
03 Nov 2014
Total posts 90
Good outcome - unfortunately I'll be flying two weeks before the launch :(
24 Jan 2017
Total posts 7
Is this premium economy any different to what they have on other aircrafts? So far there is a lot of negative feedback about it.
16 Feb 2016
Total posts 31
I wonder if this will allow an equipment change on the capital express. The 772er previously used to BNE could be used here with 26 lie flat business. Especially useful for the overnights into and out of cbr. Only question would be if its too much Y capacity. Maybe the A359 could be used here instead? Premium Economy should sell well and be a great differentiator to QR and have less Y capacity.
01 May 2017
Total posts 4
Those straight flat beds look great--try sleeping on an angled flat bed if you have a bad back--they make you sleep in a very twisted position. Will keep my eye on which flights and which aircraft to book in future
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