First of Singapore Airlines’ A350s to serve Amsterdam

 

Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Monday that Amsterdam would be the inaugural destination for its new-generation Airbus A350 fleet.

Services to the Dutch capital are expected to start by April 2016, although prior to that, the aircraft will be operated on select Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur flights on a temporary basis for crew training purposes, the airline said in a statement.

Additional A350 destinations will be announced in the coming months, it added.

The airline has 63 A350-900s on firm order, the first of which is due for delivery in January next year.

Lee Wen Fen, SIA senior vice president for marketing planning, noted that the new aircraft “will offer us the potential to open new routes”.

“We are very much looking forward to the arrival of the new A350s which will be fitted with our newest-generation cabin products, providing more comfort to our customers,” Lee said.

She indicated that the new planes’ customers would include business class, premium economy class and economy class passengers.

SIA said it expects to take delivery of 11 A350-900s in the aircraft’s first year of operation. In addition to the 63 firm orders, the airline has options to purchase 20 additional A350s.

The A350-900 is the cornerstone member of Airbus’ all-new A350 XWB family of aircraft, which is aimed at meeting airlines’ requirements in medium-to-long haul operations.

So far, three airlines have begun flying Airbus’ A350 XWB jets on a commercial basis.

Qatar became the first in the world in January when it carried paying passengers on an A350 in a Frankfurt flight from Doha. In June, Vietnam Airlines became the second in the world to operate the new Airbus model, followed by Finnair last week.