Singapore Airlines has agreed to order five more Airbus A380s and another 20 A350s for additional capacity growth and fleet renewal. The firm order commitments are valued at US$7.5 billion based on Airbus’ published list prices. Deliveries are due to begin in 2017.

SIA currently operates 19 A380-800 superjumbos and already had firm orders in place for 20 A350s, for delivery from 2015. As with the earlier A350 order, the A350-900 variant has been selected for the 20 additional aircraft, all powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Trent 900 engines will power the additional A380s.

SIA’s A380s now serve 10 destinations, namely Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich, and they have carried more than 9 million passengers since entering service on 25 October 2007. The A350s are intended for use on medium and long-haul routes.

As part of the deal, Airbus has agreed to acquire SIA’s five A340-500s, which will be removed from service in the fourth quarter of the 2013 calendar year, in line with the airline’s policy to maintain a young fleet. This will result in the cessation of non-stop flights between Singapore and Los Angeles and between Singapore and Newark, in the absence of replacement aircraft in the SIA fleet with sufficient range and operating economics.

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