Those traveling to Delhi and Mumbai on Singapore Airlines may soon find themselves on the new flagship A380, featuring Singapore Airlines’ new Suites and business class products.
The basics of Singapore Airlines’ new A380s
In late 2018, Singapore Airlines introduced their new A380s, featuring revamped onboard products. This came as the airline took delivery of five additional A380s, all while retiring their five oldest A380s.
Singapore Airlines A380
The coolest part as a passenger is that the planes feature all new cabins, including in both Suites and business class.
As of now the new A380s have just been available on a very limited number of routes. The good news is that Singapore Airlines is now starting to reconfigure their existing fleet of A380s, and the first reconfigured A380 with the new cabins is now in service.
Singapore Airlines’ new A380 Suites
Singapore Airlines will fly new A380 to India
It appears like Singapore Airlines’ next destination for their reconfigured A380 is India, as Singapore Airlines will fly the plane to both Delhi and Mumbai.
Singapore Airlines’ new A380 business class
From August 1 through August 31, 2019, Singapore Airlines will fly a reconfigured A380 on the following flight to Delhi:
SQ406 Singapore to Delhi departing 4:50PM arriving 8:10PM
SQ403 Delhi to Singapore departing 9:55PM arriving 6:10AM (+1 day)
Then as of September 1, 2019, Singapore Airlines will fly a reconfigured A380 on the following flights to Mumbai:
SQ424 Singapore to Mumbai departing 7:00PM arriving 10:10PM
SQ423 Mumbai to Singapore departing 11:40PM arriving 7:40AM (+1 day)
Note that while the outbound flight is updated to reflect the A380, on many dates the return flight still shows a 777-300ER, so I imagine that’s in the process of being updated.
Award space on Singapore’s new A380 to India
One of the downsides to Singapore Airlines’ new A380s is that they’ve greatly reduced Suites capacity. The former A380 Suites cabin featured 12 seats, while the new cabin features just six seats.
Not surprisingly, this smaller cabin has also meant that there’s a lot less award availability, given that it’s easier to sell six seats than 12 seats.
Singapore Airlines’ new A380 Suites
While Singapore Airlines currently flies the reconfigured A380 to Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Sydney, and Zurich, you’ll almost never find award seats on those routes.
I’ve noted in the past how the one route to consistently have award seats on the new A380 is Singapore to Shanghai, and you’ll often find two Suites seats there at the “Saver” level.
The good news is that much like the Shanghai route, Singapore Airlines has good A380 Suites award availability on flights to Delhi & Mumbai. So if you want to redeem Singapore KrisFlyer miles, there are some great opportunities here.
A one-way ticket in Suites would cost just 53,000 KrisFlyer miles, which is a great deal.
Alternatively you can redeem 39,000 KrisFlyer miles for a business class ticket.
You can also book this as part of a larger award, which could be an even better value. For example, for 116,000 miles one-way you could fly Suites from Mumbai to Singapore to Melbourne.
How to earn Singapore KrisFlyer miles
If you’re interested in booking this flight but don’t have KrisFlyer miles, KrisFlyer is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so there are lots of easy ways to earn those points.
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 3x Points on Airfare
- Earn 3x Points on Hotels
- Earn 3x Points at Restaurants
- $95
- Earn 2x miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
Singapore Airlines makes most premium cabin award space available exclusively to members of their own KrisFlyer program, so you couldn’t book this with partner airline miles.
Bottom line
I’m thrilled to see that Singapore Airlines has now reconfigured their first A380 with new cabins, meaning it’s not just the newly delivered A380s that have the carrier’s latest product.
It’s interesting to me that they’ll be flying these on fairly short flights to India, rather than adding additional long haul flights with the planes.
The good news is that if you’re looking to redeem KrisFlyer miles, there are plenty of award seats in both Suites and business class, including two seats in Suites on many flights. This is a great opportunity to try Singapore’s new Suites double bed!
Does anyone plan on flying Singapore’s reconfigured A380 to Delhi or Mumbai?
(Tip of the hat to Mainly Miles)
Hello, I just booked a saver award for 2 from Mumbai to Singapore for travel during Sept/Oct 2020. The seat map showed the old configuration having 12 seats. I thought the A380 flights (SQ 423, 424) had the new product with 6 first-class seats. Do you know if they reverted to old config or is a glitch in seat select? My redemption ticket says its suites class.
After Mumbai and New Dehli, NYC?
@SK Air China first class suites is the bottom of the barrel of the suites classification. I just want to try all the first class products out there before they disappear forever. So far Cathay Pacific 777-300ER regular first class, old Singapore Air A380-800 suites, old Emirates A380-800 suites, Etihad A380-800 suites, Lufthansa A360-600 regular first class, and just recently Korean Air A380-800 Kosomo Suite , 747-8 Kosmo Suite 2.0 and 777-300 Sleeper.
I also have a saver on Sep 1st, but the SIN-HKG A380 is waitlisted. Which never clears is what i've heard :( :( :(
First time I flew SQ (old) suites was BOM-SIN in 2015. It was a shame that the flight was a short redeye, would have really loved to experience the product on a longer flight. Also, given the late night departure, it was a supper service instead of dinner service. Had a great crew and slept well. But ultimately flight was too short to fully experience product.
Wow I had a saver level award booked from BOM to SFO on 27 August. 34 hours of fun in first class i thought. Now its downgraded to the 777 for the BOM - SIN leg. Never flown on an A380 i was so excited :( :( :(
@Lucky - not surprising at all since there is significant traffic between SIN and India for tourism, business and commerce.
Beware, the business class seat on these A380s is awful. It's far too hard, far more densely configured than the older A380s and it's so enclosed it's claustrophobic. The level of enclosure also allows the cabin crew to walk through the cabin totally avoiding eye contact with passengers.
To me it's an absolute downgrade
5.5 hrs. Hmmm, wake me up when they're flying the 380 from SEA to SIN. A350 service begins this September. I'd fly economy from Singapore to India if I could get 380 first from Seattle to Singapore and a few hours layover to checkout that new mall at Changi.
Although not a rich country, India has a growing Middle Class and many dollar millionaires now.
I see more Indians in the 5 star hotels of the West now, usually a good thing as unlike some groups they are usually polite and respectful of older people.
Thanks a lot for the update!!
I am planning trip to India and found Swiss Air business from JFK-Zuric-Mumbai. But that's Aeroplan which is not a partner with Chase.
Also finding first suites in Singapore airlines from New York to Frankfurt is tough. So I may just do US to Singapore on any class and then Mumbai in suites
SIA is also flying the new A380 with
6 First Suites Singapore to Sydney making in 2 daily flights between
10June - 1August
SIN SYD SQ232 @ 0045-1025
SYD SIN SQ222 @ 1500-2120
@Ravi: Air China? Suites? Interesting.
Thanks. I grabbed a suites class seat on reconfigured A380 from Shanghai to Singapore. 5 hours of bliss at saver level award, 53K miles. Booking a one week trip around the world in with five business class seats and three first class seats. Asiana LAX to ICN, Singapore Air PVG to SIN, and Air China PEK to CDG all suites class. United EWR to LAX and Air France CDG to JFK in business. Not surprisingly,...
Thanks. I grabbed a suites class seat on reconfigured A380 from Shanghai to Singapore. 5 hours of bliss at saver level award, 53K miles. Booking a one week trip around the world in with five business class seats and three first class seats. Asiana LAX to ICN, Singapore Air PVG to SIN, and Air China PEK to CDG all suites class. United EWR to LAX and Air France CDG to JFK in business. Not surprisingly, Air France business class cost more out of pocket than all others combined. Still have to get to more business class flights. This whole thing started me just wanting to fly first class on Asiana A380 before it gets repurposed as Business Suites Class. Keep up the great work and I will keep reading.
@vidit I would recommend Cathay as the Singapore seat on the A380, after having sat in it, is not ergonomic nor comfortable. The service id argue is better on Singapore but I think Cathay is the better option.
I was under the impression that the new cabins were already flying to India, at least on occasion if not on a fixed schedule. I'm looking to vacation in New Zealand over Christmas, can't decide between Cathay's A350 or Singapore's A380. I was inclined towards Cathay because Hong Kong is my favourite city in the world and I like to take the opportunity to stop-over there whenever I get a chance.