Singapore Airlines now differentiates A350 variants on its booking portals

Back in 2016, when Singapore Airlines introduced the Airbus A350 into its fleet, there was just one configuration – the A350-900 Long Haul (A350 LH) variant. It featured 253 seats, including 42 in the Business Class cabin with 2013 J seats, and quickly became the backbone of the airline’s long-haul fleet replacement strategy.

That quickly evolved.

By October 2018, the carrier took delivery of its first A350-900 Ultra Long Range (A350 ULR) model, with only 161 seats in a two-class configuration, designed to fly non-stop to cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Then in December 2018, SIA launched its first A350-900 Medium Haul (A350 MH) aircraft – optimised for regional routes, with a denser layout, lower operating weights, and new 2018 RJ Business Class seats.

Three variants, one label

Since that time, SIA’s A350 fleet has grown to 65 aircraft across these three types, with significant differences in cabin layout, seat types, and range capability.

However, for more than six years, all three were listed identically as “Airbus A350-900” in Singapore Airlines’ booking engine – whether you were looking at a non-stop New York service on an A350 ULR or a short hop to Bangkok on the A350 MH.

That’s made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to determine which seat and configuration they could expect – particularly in Business Class, where the difference between a 2013 Long Haul seat and a 2018 Regional one is, many would argue, substantial.

Change is finally here

Fast forward to May 2025, and Singapore Airlines has quietly made a welcome update.

When booking a revenue ticket through either the desktop site or mobile app, the airline now shows distinct aircraft labels for A350-operated flights:

• Airbus A350-900 LH (Long Haul)
• Airbus A350-900 ULR (Ultra Long Range)
• Airbus A350-900 MH (Medium Haul)

That makes it much easier for customers to know what to expect onboard, without needing to cross-check flight numbers and aircraft registrations with third-party tools or decoding the information from seat maps.

Here’s how it looks on the desktop version of the booking engine:

And the same flights as shown in the mobile app:

It’s a small but very welcome improvement for travellers who care about the seat product and cabin layout, even down to nuances like lavatory locations, when booking.

Only for cash bookings – for now

Unfortunately, this improvement is only visible when booking a paid fare. If you’re searching for an award ticket using KrisFlyer miles, all three A350 types still appear generically as “Airbus A350-900”.

That’s surprising, given that both booking engines likely draw flight details from the same aircraft database – and it would make sense for award users to have access to the same information as revenue passengers.

The SQ Schedules tool, which allows you to search weekly flight schedules by route, also still lumps all three variants together as “Airbus A350-900” – why?

A350 variant differences

Here’s a summary of the three Airbus A350 variants in the Singapore Airlines fleet and the differences between them.

	A350-900 Medium Haul	A350-900 Long Haul	A350-900 ULR
Service Entry	17 Dec ’18	9 Mar ’16	11 Oct ’18
First Route	Adelaide	Amsterdam	Newark
Registration Series	9V-SH_	9V-SM_ 9V-SJ_	9V-SG_
Current Fleet	24	34	7
Routes (May 2025)
Destinations	21	26	3
Shortest Non-stop Flight	Kuala Lumpur (1h 5m)	Kuala Lumpur (1h 0m)	San Francisco (15h 25m)
Longest Non-Stop Flight	Brisbane (8h 5m)	Los Angeles (17h 35m)	New York JFK (19h 15m)
Average Flight Duration	5h 3m	9h 48m	17h 52m
Seats & Cabin
Business	40 x 2018 RJ (1-2-1)	42 x 2013 J (1-2-1)	67 x 2013 J (1-2-1)
Premium	—	24 (2015 PY)	94 (2018 PY)
Economy	263 (2017 Y)	187 (2013 Y or 2017 Y)	—
Total Seats	303	253	161
Wi-Fi	GX Aviation Ka-band	Panasonic Ku-band	Panasonic Ku-band
IFE System	Thales Avant	Panasonic	Panasonic eX3
Technical Specs.
Max. Weight	250 t	268 t – 280 t	280 t
Engines	RR Trent XWB-75 or RR Trent XWB-84*	RR Trent XWB-84	RR Trent XWB-84
Thrust (x2)	74,200 lb or 84,200 lb*	84,200 lb	84,200 lb
Cargo Capacity	172.4 cu m	172.4 cu m	85.7 cu m
Approx. Range	~6,000 nm	7,270nm – 8,100 nm	9,700 nm

* The airline’s first four A350 MH aircraft (9V-SHA to -SHD) have the Trent XWB-84 engines, each with 84,200 lb of thrust, but subsequent A350 MH deliveries (-SHE onwards) have the lower-thrust XWB-75 engines

As you can see, the primary differences are in the Business Class and Economy Class cabin products, though there are also nuances in the Wi-Fi system and the IFE system.

For a full guide to the airline’s Airbus A350 fleet, see our dedicated article.

How else to check the variant

If you’re making an award booking, you can check which A350 variant will be operating your flight by also running a dummy cash booking alongside, which will reveal which of the three variants is being used.

Alternatively, you can use our Business Class seats by Route page, a continually-updated list of all planned Singapore Airlines seat types in this cabin for the next few months.

Since all SIA aircraft have Business Class, you can also use it to see which version of the A350 is scheduled to operate on any specific route and flight number.

Take the Singapore – Shanghai route as an example.

As you can see out of two Airbus A350 services on this city pair, one is operated by the A350 Medium Haul variant (SQ826), while the other is flown by the A350 Long Haul (SQ832).

Another way to identify which A350 you’ll be travelling on in this case is to check the seat map once you reach the seat selection stage.

SIA Airbus A350 Business Class seat maps

A350 MH Business Class	A350 LH Business Class	A350 ULR Business Class

If you’re flying in Business Class and the seat map ends at row 22, you’re on an A350-900 LH aircraft, if it ends at row 21 you’re on an A350-900 MH aircraft, and if it ends at row 29 you’re on an A350-900 ULR aircraft.

If you’re flying Premium Economy Class and the seat map goes up to row 33, you’re on an A350-900 LH aircraft. If it goes up to row 43, you’re on an A350-900 ULR. The A350-900 MH does not feature a Premium Economy cabin.

If you’re flying Economy Class and the seat map goes up to row 62, you’re on an A350-900 LH aircraft. If it goes up to row 70, you’re on an A350-900 MH. The A350-900 ULR does not feature an Economy cabin.

Hopefully more updates soon

While it’s disappointing that award bookings and the flight schedules tool have yet to benefit from the same improvement, it’s encouraging to at least see some progress being made.

Given the importance of the Airbus A350 to Singapore Airlines’ fleet – and the significant differences across its three variants – clearly labelling which one you’re booking is a logical step forward.

We’re hopeful that this change will be extended to award bookings and the schedules portal soon, allowing all customers to make more informed decisions at the booking stage.

Singapore Airlines’ move to finally differentiate between its three Airbus A350 variants in the booking process is a small but meaningful improvement – and one that’s long overdue.

With some significant differences in cabin products, seat layouts, and onboard amenities across the Medium Haul, Long Haul, and Ultra Long Range configurations, clearly labelling each type is very helpful, especially for those eyeing a specific Business Class seat.

While the update currently only benefits revenue bookings, hopefully we’ll soon see the same clarity extended to award redemptions and the flight schedules tool.

Until then, passengers booking with KrisFlyer miles or using the schedules search will still need to rely on workarounds to determine which A350 variant they’ll be flying on.

(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)