14 A380s to be refurbished

[EWR]

It seems like decision has been taken on the remaining 14 A380. R class suites to be halved and moved to upper deck

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...-a380s-439812/

[FN-GM]

I thought that had been the case since the announcement there will be a new A380 product?

[flyguy]

the first of the 5 new A380 to be delivered by early next year should have the new cabin seatings. Narurally the remaining 14 A380s should be refurbished as they will be in the fleet for a good many years. The suites will be reduced to even 6 as it will be moved to the upper deck.

[SQfanatic]

I thought that had been the case since the announcement there will be a new A380 product?

It's just like the 77W when they had 77WN delivered in 2013. The difference is at that point after lots of positive feedback, they decided let's go ahead and retrofit the entire 77W fleet (which they still are).

The A380 gets rotated a LOT on a seasonal basis on certain routes so I would probably expect 1-2 A380 to be retrofitted at a time.

[Metropolitan Airlines]

I am sad that with the retrofit of A380s, passengers in Economy and Premium Economy will not be able to sit on the upper deck, which is quieter and have more space.

[GR1]

I am sad that with the retrofit of A380s, passengers in Economy and Premium Economy will not be able to sit on the upper deck, which is quieter and have more space.

Agreed, I have flown the A380 in Y at least 5 times and it has only been in the upper deck, the mini cabin and less congested 2-4-2 config with fewer people makes quite a difference.

[SQfanatic]

I am sad that with the retrofit of A380s, passengers in Economy and Premium Economy will not be able to sit on the upper deck, which is quieter and have more space.

Are they retrofitting all A380s into a unison configuration like the 77W? To my knowledge presently some A380s have all J deck others have a upper Y deck too. The plus side would be easier to have them all in one config with the latest cabin product whatever it might be.

[SQ380]

Sigh, hope the delay isn't really gonna happen: https://www.ausbt.com.au/singapore-a...paign=facebook

[Trent1000]

Sigh, hope the delay isn't really gonna happen: https://www.ausbt.com.au/singapore-a...paign=facebook

ST reported late last month its now going to be "early next year".
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...t-big-makeover

"late next year" for A350ULR would be a surprise though.

[AsiaCommuter]

SQ305 will go A380 from 25/03/18 (at the expense of SQ317 which reverts to a 77W). I assume the A380 for SQ305 will perform the return leg of the inbound SQ322.

http://info.flightmapper.net/flight/...irlines_SQ_305

Not sure if this is purely a seasonal change or related to the deployment of the new A380's (and cabin upgrades). I cannot recall if SQ305 has been performed by an A380 in the past.

All speculation of course

[SQ228]

SQ305 will go A380 from 25/03/18 (at the expense of SQ317 which reverts to a 77W). I assume the A380 for SQ305 will perform the return leg of the inbound SQ322.

http://info.flightmapper.net/flight/...irlines_SQ_305

Not sure if this is purely a seasonal change or related to the deployment of the new A380's (and cabin upgrades). I cannot recall if SQ305 has been performed by an A380 in the past.

All speculation of course

Yeah, we've seen SQ305 as an A380 before, but it has generally been 77W for most of its existence. SQ322 is the flight that has always been an A380 and when SQ305 has gone A380, this has meant two of them flying very close together which is a big job to sell so many tickets for essentially the same flight timing. From memory, SQ305 has almost always gone A380 as the "third" A380 LHR flight, i.e. when the mix has been 3x 388 + 1x 77W, but others can correct me if I'm wrong.

[SQfanatic]

Yeah, we've seen SQ305 as an A380 before, but it has generally been 77W for most of its existence. SQ322 is the flight that has always been an A380 and when SQ305 has gone A380, this has meant two of them flying very close together which is a big job to sell so many tickets for essentially the same flight timing. From memory, SQ305 has almost always gone A380 as the "third" A380 LHR flight, i.e. when the mix has been 3x 388 + 1x 77W, but others can correct me if I'm wrong.

SQ228 is correct. Last Summer we had a 3x A380 and 1x 77W temporarily from June to August IIRC. As a consequence that 77WR got used for the BOM (424/423) and SYD (231/222) route.

[loldude333]

Correction: it was SQ318/319 that went from 77W/77WN to A380. I know this because i flew to and from LHR on SQ318/319 just before the change and i got notified by SQ of the seasonal swap as a consequence. I believe at least for last June (end-June onwards) this was the flight pair to get swapped to an A380.

[SQfanatic]

Correction: it was SQ318/319 that went from 77W/77WN to A380. I know this because i flew to and from LHR on SQ318/319 just before the change and i got notified by SQ of the seasonal swap as a consequence. I believe at least for last June (end-June onwards) this was the flight pair to get swapped to an A380.

No, it was 306/305 that got a seasonal temporary swap last year. Nothing with 318/319 as far as I know.

[loldude333]

Mmmm.......maybe this was sent to all passengers flying to/from LHR. I can't remember the exact details as i've already deleted the notifications. Oh well.