Singapore Airlines - All Business Class Flights to USA
S ingapore Airlines operates the first and only
trans-Pacific all-business class service flying from Singapore to both New York
and Los Angeles. Transatlantic all-business class services have been operating
since 2002 by Lufthansa-Privatair and other carriers.
Singapore Airlines has configured 5 Airbus A340-500 aircraft into this all-business format. The A340 is by far the largest aircraft to be fitted into an all-biz scheduled operation. [In comparison Privatair and ANA use Boeing 737s on their all-business services whilst OpenSkies uses Boeing 757s. Bankrupt Maxjet and Silverjet operated Boeing 767s.]
The SQ A340s have 100 seats on board in a 1-2-1 configuration - meaning every seat has aisle access. The seats are lie-flat with 64" pitch and with a generous width of 30". Each seat has a 15" TV monitor.
Photo credit: Flickr juandazeng
The Singapore to New York Newark flights commenced in May 2008 with a whopping scheduled flight time of 18 hours 40 minutes! This is currently the world's longest flight route. The Singapore - Los Angeles flight (15h45 out, 18h10 back) started flying in September 2008.
The Newark flight operates daily, the LAX flight 5x weekly (Mon/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), timetabled as follows:
| Route | Flight Code | Timetable |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore (SIN) - Newark | SQ 22 | 1220 - 1800 |
| Newark (EWR) - Singapore | SQ 21 | 2300 - 0640 (+2) |
| Singapore - Los Angeles | SQ 38 | 1630 - 1615 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) - Singapore | SQ 37 | 2000 - 0610 (+2) |
The LAX service costs from around $5,600 return and the New York flight from $6,600 return. Or use a Star Alliance mileage redemption - though book well in advance.
Whether this service can remain viable in the long-term remains to be seen - ultra long-haul sectors means having to carry (and burn) a large amount of fuel; in addition the A340 is not renowned for its fuel efficiency.
A380 Alternatives: Singapore Airlines flies Los Angeles-Tokyo-Singapore and New York JFK-Frankfurt-Singapore using an Airbus A380.
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