Singapore Airlines taking delivery of eight new aircraft this year

Each May, as part of its annual results announcement, Singapore Airlines publishes a fleet development plan for investors, outlining the latest schedule of aircraft deliveries and retirements for the year ahead.

Things don’t always go according to plan – Singapore Airlines’ current passenger fleet stands at 145 aircraft, slightly short of the 147 projected in last year’s update, due to well-documented Boeing delivery delays. Nonetheless, the fleet is set to surpass that mark in the year ahead, expanding from 145 to 149 aircraft.

Most of the new additions will be Boeing 737-8 MAXs, featuring the airline’s narrow-body flat-bed Regional Business Class seats, while a smaller number of Boeing 787-10s with 2018 RJ seats will also join the fleet.

As previously reported, this year will also mark the retirement of the final four ex-SilkAir Boeing 737-800s, with their leases expiring and the last passenger flights for the type already scheduled for late October 2025, just five months from now.

Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of any Boeing 777-9 deliveries – the much-needed future flagship to replace SIA’s ageing Boeing 777-300ERs, and eventually its Airbus A380s.

These next-generation aircraft were originally slated to debut with the airline in 2021, but are now officially scheduled to enter the fleet no earlier than 2026.

SIA Fleet movements

Here’s how SIA’s latest fleet development plan looks for the mainline carrier over the 12 months from 31st March 2025 to 31st March 2026.

We’re only focused on passenger aircraft, and so have excluded the carrier’s seven cargo jets.

All eight new aircraft scheduled to join the fleet during this financial year are expected to enter service by 31st March 2026, except for one Boeing 737-8 MAX.

Although this final aircraft will be delivered before the financial year-end, it is planned to begin passenger operations in the 2026/27 financial year, indicating a likely late March 2026 delivery, and early April 2026 entry into service.

Farewell Boeing 737-800s, more MAXs

As we reported in February, Singapore Airlines is retiring its Boeing 737-800s this financial year, with the final aircraft heading back to its lessor in the coming months and the final passenger flights with the type tentatively scheduled for 25th October 2025.

These ex-SilkAir jets have older cabin products, including a fairly lacklustre recliner Business Class recliner seat, and so news of their retirement is roundly welcomed among our readers.

That’s especially true while the type is still used on some longer flights, like 5-hour Singapore – Kathmandu sectors.

On the flip side of course, SIA will take delivery of six brand new Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft between now and the end of March 2026, representing the first new deliveries of the type since November 2022.

These jets will be replacing the outgoing 737-800s.

Two of the MAX aircraft were supposed to arrive in the last financial year – by 31st March 2025 – but Boeing production issues have pushed both jets into this year’s allocation instead, along with four additional examples.

9V-MBQ is the next aircraft to join the fleet, and with five test flights already under its belt since late April, it should be delivered in the coming days or weeks.

The MAX fleet will stand at a strength of 22 units by the end of March 2026, based on planned delivery of six this year, leaving a further seven still due to arrive from April 2026 onwards, for a final fleet of 29.

This follows the cancellation of eight of the airline’s 37 MAX orders back in May 2023, as part of a reshuffle that also saw three Scoot Boeing 787 orders ported across to the mainline carrier.

Here are our dedicated articles covering SIA’s Boeing 737 MAX cabins, to help you know what to expect on board.

Boeing 787-10 deliveries in the final phase

SIA received four new Boeing 787-10s in the last financial year to March 2025, bringing its fleet of the type to 26, and a further two aircraft will be delivered between now and March 2026.

That will bring the fleet to a total of 28, with only three more deliveries then due after that, before the carrier’s full order of 31 aircraft is in service.

What it means for Business Class seats

Here’s the bit most of our readers are interested in – what do the fleet changes mean for Singapore Airlines Business Class seats?

The following table shows how many of each Business Class seat type was in the operating fleet as of 31st March 2025, and what that represents as a proportion of all SIA Business Class seats installed, plus how it looks at the end of the current financial year on 31st March 2026.

The 2018 RJ product is making the greatest headway, thanks to 2 planned Boeing 787-10 deliveries between now and the end of March 2026, rising to 32.4% of installed Business Class seats across the fleet.

The oldest long-haul Business Class, 2013 J, will contract further to represent around 49% of those installed fleet-wide.

Having peaked at 2,953 seats installed across the fleet, this decade-old seat design will decline both in percentage and actual numbers in the future, as Boeing 777-9s are introduced and older Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft are retrofitted with the new upcoming 2026 J long-haul Business Class seats.

Additional 2018 RJ seats will join the fleet in subsequent years too, with 3 more Boeing 787-10s still on the order book from April 2026 onwards, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see it represent over a third of Business Class seats installed fleet-wide in the not too distant future.

What it means for First Class seats

The following table shows how many of each First Class seat was in the operating fleet as of 31st March 2025, and what that represents as a proportion of all SIA First Class seats installed, plus how it looks at the end of the current financial year on 31st March 2026.

Seat Type	31 Mar 2025		31 Mar 2026
	Total	As %	Total	As %
2013 F	88	55.0%	88	55.0%
2017 R	72	45.0%	72	45.0%
Total	160		160

As you can see, there is no change to the balance between 2013 First Class seats and 2017 Suites seats across the fleet over the next year, with the number of Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A380s remaining constant at 22 and 12 respectively.

As an aside, 160 First Class and Suites seats fleet-wide remains the lowest SIA has offered in decades.

Prior to the pandemic, there were 334 First Class and Suites seats in the fleet. Back in 2010, there were 670!

Thankfully upcoming retrofits of Airbus A350 ULR aircraft with 4 First Class seats, plus the eventual fleet of 31 Boeing 777-9s which will each have at least 4 First Class seats (though we’re really hoping for 6 or even 8), will help boost this cabin’s presence once again on the network.

With a “quantum leap” promised, the new version will offer enclosed suites, or suite-like seat products, with full privacy. We’ve also got our fingers crossed for a double bed option for couples, and companion dining.

When are the 777-9s arriving?

Back in October last year, we received the unsurprising news that Boeing 777-9 deliveries had been officially pushed from 2025 to 2026.

Boeing restarted test flights of the type in January 2025 following a five-month hiatus following the discovery of a problem with engine thrust links, but while a 2026 entry into service might still be possible for launch customer Lufthansa, it’s far from certain that Singapore Airlines can pick up its first aircraft so soon.

Emirates is likely to be the type’s second operator, with the Middle East carriers expecting delivery by the end of 2026.

It’s possible that SIA may therefore be waiting until 2027 to receive its first of 31 Boeing 777-9s on order, almost a full six-year delay from original 2021 delivery expectation.

Regional rival Cathay Pacific is also bullish about delivery prospects for the type, recently stating in its annual results that it should have two Boeing 777-9s in its fleet by the end of 2025.

Luckily these delays will no longer impact the introduction of SIA’s next-generation cabin products, with confirmation in November last year that the airline will push ahead with retrofitting its 41 Airbus A350 LH and A350 ULR aircraft with new Business Class and First Class seats also destined for the Boeing 777-9.

These will be revealed to the public at a launch event in early 2026.

Scoot Fleet movements

For those of you interested in the fleet development of SIA’s low-cost carrier Scoot, here’s how the latest plan looks for the 12 months from 31st March 2025 to 31st March 2026.

Scoot is accelerating its A320ceo phase-out, with five aircraft exiting the fleet, up from four withdrawals last year. At the same time, the airline is ramping up its A320neo intake, with five new aircraft set to arrive over the next 10 months, compared to just one in the previous financial year.

Meanwhile, delivery of two Boeing 787-8s, originally slated for FY24/25, has been delayed due to Boeing production issues, with both jets now scheduled to be added this year instead.

Of the five A320ceo aircraft leaving Scoot’s fleet, four have already made their way to Kuala Lumpur for end of lease preparations since the start of the financial year:

• 9V-TRX on 7th April 2025
• 9V-TRK on 27th April 2025
• 9V-TRL on 14th May 2025
• 9V-TRI on 16th May 2025

That means only seven of these aircraft are in service at the time of writing, with one more to depart by 31st March 2026.

Meanwhile of the three Airbus A321neo aircraft arriving this financial year, the first – 9V-NCK – has already been delivered and entered service in late April 2025, leaving only two of these jets to arrive by 31st March 2026.

Similarly one Boeing 787-8 – 9V-OFM – entered service with Scoot in early April 2025, so there’s actually only a single one of those left to be delivered this financial year.

The low-cost carrier will take delivery of its final four Embraer E190-E2 regional jets this year, brining the fleet to nine aircraft.

Singapore Airlines is set for measured fleet growth over the next 10 months, with eight new Boeing aircraft joining the mainline fleet and four removals, bringing the total from 145 to 149 aircraft by March 2026. The headline changes include the long-awaited retirement of the final four Boeing 737-800s with their dated cabin products, replaced by six new 737-8 MAX aircraft featuring more modern flat-bed Regional Business Class seats.

Two additional Boeing 787-10s will also arrive, further strengthening SIA’s regional network capacity and increasing the proportion of aircraft fitted with the popular 2018 Regional Business Class product to over 32% of the fleet.

While the much-anticipated Boeing 777-9 remains conspicuously absent from delivery schedules – now delayed until at least 2026 or potentially 2027 – Singapore Airlines continues to build a more modern and consistent passenger experience across its fleet. The introduction of brand new cabin products on retrofitted A350s in early 2026 will also help bridge the gap until the next-generation flagship finally arrives.

For passengers, this will mean fewer encounters with aging cabin products and more opportunities to experience SIA’s newer Business Class offerings, particularly on regional routes where the 737 MAX and 787-10 fleets are primarily deployed, but soon on the long-haul network too.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)